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fedora

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The Editor’s Fedora Part 1

Tuesday February 25, 2014

As an independent writer myself and a passionate believer in the indie ethic, I have to acknowledge one of its major downsides: a real or perceived shoddiness in the final product of self-published authors. Which is where I now switch hats and replace the bohemian beret of the writer with a more conservative form of […]

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authors book editors book publishing editing editor publishing self-publishing writers writing

chameleon

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Invisible Writing

Tuesday May 6, 2014

Thirty years ago, in his film Zelig, Woody Allen portrayed a “human chameleon” — a man who took on the personalities of people around him. A ghostwriter must be something like that: a “chameleon” who can write in the voice of any client. As a ghostwriter, you must convey your client’s message to the public. […]

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authors ghostwriting language word choice writing

cows_sepia

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Facts and Fiction: English, Cows and the TLS

Wednesday July 2, 2014

This is the first in our “Facts and Fiction” series of mini-book reviews. Each blog entry will briefly describe one non-fiction and one fiction title that might interest editors and other lovers of language. The Story of English By Robert McCrum, Robert MacNeil and William Cran (third edition). Penguin, 2002. I’ve always loved this book, […]

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book reviews English language Facts and Fiction language poetry short stories usage

Peter Midgley

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An Intricate Relief Carving on an Eggshell: Working With Peter Midgley on The Last Temptation of Bond

Tuesday July 22, 2014

This is the first in our new “Editors in the Spotlight” series, spotlighting editors who have won awards or participated in award-winning projects. In this post, Kimmy Beach interviews Peter Midgley, who won the Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence for editing her book, The Last Temptation of Bond. ~~~ Peter and I meet at […]

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authors book editors editing editor's role Editors in the Spotlight Peter Midgley writing

Paper stack with red and black pencils

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The Lucky Ones

Tuesday August 26, 2014

How often have I heard the comment that editors are failed writers — or, in the scholarly environment in which I work, failed academics. Even when said in jest, the underlying suggestion is that one way of interacting with words and ideas — the editor’s — is somehow inferior. Such statements also hint at a […]

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editing editor's role editorial skills editors writers writing

sonia_morris_left_roma_franko_right_2006

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How Skype Helped Support a Family Editing Tradition

Tuesday December 9, 2014

Upon retirement from their teaching careers at the University of Saskatchewan, my late mother, Sonia Morris, and her sister, Roma Franko, embarked on a labour of love: translating Ukrainian literature into English. For many years they shared desk space in one another’s homes in Saskatoon. Roma focused on translating, and Sonia on editing. I provided […]

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collaboration communication editing editing tools editors at work family projects long-distance editing Skype

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Victoria Neufeldt

Undue Care and Attention

Tuesday October 13, 2015

Are you ever guilty of writing with undue care and attention? If you didn’t spot the clunker in the preceding sentence, prop your eyes open and attend! We think we know the language and may even make our living by writing and editing, but the ways to slip up are infinite, providing sport for many […]

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common errors paying attention slip-ups Victoria Neufeldt

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Wasted Words: Don’t Meddle With Shakespeare

Tuesday November 10, 2015

You might think that, as an editor, I would endorse a plan to rewrite Shakespeare in modern English. After all, as the advocates of this undertaking argue, Shakespeare’s language cannot be understood by contemporary audiences, and our profession is all about understanding. However, this has little to do with editing. If Shakespeare’s writing comes across […]

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KJV Bible modern English Shakespeare Wasted Words Wilf Popoff

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Dwain Richardson

English Editing in Quebec: All About Style

Tuesday November 17, 2015

Whenever you do a concordance reading or translation, you certainly notice that the two or more languages you are working with show many stylistic differences. English and French are no strangers to this phenomenon. For instance, have you observed that French texts and translations are often longer than texts written in or translated into English? […]

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Dwain Richardson English Editing in Quebec French to English hyphenation punctuation style