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Wasted Words: Channelling Orwell

Tuesday November 1, 2016

“Insincerity,” says George Orwell in his classic commentary of 70 years ago, is the “great enemy of clear language.” Political discourse is “designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable…” For Orwell, insincerity was more a result of lazy writing than a deliberate attempt to conceal the truth: “…if thought corrupts language, language can […]

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Sue Archer

Review: The Complete Canadian Book Editor by Leslie Vermeer

Tuesday November 29, 2016

When I first heard about The Complete Canadian Book Editor, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the notion of a “complete” resource on book editing. I edit the works of self-publishing authors, so my knowledge of the world of traditional book publishing is limited — gained mostly through conversations with other editors and my […]

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book editors book publishing book reviews editing resources editor's role publishing industry Sue Archer trade book editing

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Virginia Durksen

The Inner Editor: December Is the Cruellest — and Shortest — Month

Tuesday December 20, 2016

The little knot forming in your chest isn’t a reaction to the cold weather. It’s the freelance editor’s anxiety kicking in right on schedule, just before the holidays. When projects disappear in other months, the freelance editor adjusts her schedule and cash flow projections and stoically reminds herself that this month’s famine may well be […]

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business of editing business practices Christmas freelance editors freelance finances freelancing holiday blues Inner Editor Virginia Durksen

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Anna Williams General EAC

Year in Review: The Best of 2016

Tuesday January 10, 2017

With another year behind us, we’d like to know what you liked best on the blog in 2016 and what you’d most like to see in the new year. Let us know in the comments! Here are some of our top picks: Should You Only “Edit What You Know?” by Sue Archer. Should we only […]

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Anna Williams Year in Review

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Margaret Sadler

The Weird and the Wonderful: The Art of Selecting Clients

Tuesday January 24, 2017

What do you do when a clearly weird and off-balance writer asks for your professional services? “Run!” is the response I got from several editor colleagues, and that has been my gut reaction, too. Such projects can often feel particularly intriguing. And sometimes there’s a sense that good money is there. But then the warning […]

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business practices clients editors freelancers freelancing Margaret Sadler red flags

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Anita Jenkins

Quick and Dirty

Tuesday February 7, 2017

When I was following the editors’ chat group, I often found myself silently screaming, “Who cares?” Or perhaps not so silently. The conversation frequently dealt with moving the words around in a sentence to make it “perfect” or correcting a fine point of grammar or checking what Chicago says about the em dash. Most of […]

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Anita Jenkins deadlines editing speed editors at work government reports time management

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Wilf Popoff

Wasted Words: Respectable Stoners

Tuesday February 21, 2017

Legalizing marijuana makes it acceptable, but will it make it respectable? Jumping that second hurdle will be difficult, requiring us to forsake the vast vocabulary it has spawned. I don’t see that happening right away. While I cringe at seeing chief justices, bishops and other bigwigs described as stoners or potheads, if they come out […]

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connotation of words nomenclature slang usage Wasted Words Wilf Popoff

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Administrators

Reminder: New Post on the Editors’ Weekly

Thursday March 9, 2017

Due to technical issues, you may not have received your usual email notification this week about the latest post on the blog. “Canada is a kaleidoscope of cultures and languages from around the world. As the number of residents whose native language isn’t English increases, the need for editors who can edit their writing effectively […]

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Marianne Grier

German Lessons With Mrs. Cheese

Tuesday April 4, 2017

At the feisty age of 16, I was given an opportunity to study in Switzerland to improve my French language skills. After committing, I found out that the only exchange spot was in Bern, the country’s German-speaking capital. My teenage determination told me I could learn the language quickly enough to complete my school year […]

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editing editor's role English language Marianne Grier

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Paul Buckingham

Stepping Into the Arena

Tuesday May 30, 2017

We’ve all as editors had the odd grumble over something an author has written. Maybe a string of noun clusters has pushed us to the limit of our patience, or we’ve broken down over a text awash with comma splices. It’s easy to criticize when we’re on the sidelines, though. Our problems are not the […]

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author-editor relationship authors editor's role Paul Buckingham writers