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GETTABLE GRAMMAR: I come to praise typos, not to bury them

Thursday August 15, 2013

Summer is often called the silly season—it is, after all, generally a time of cheap escapist paperbacks and brainless blockbuster movies (Sharknado, anyone?). So, in honour of that most thought-free, indolence-inspiring and cogitation-challenged of seasons, for this posting I will neither opine nor berate; instead, I will celebrate the little language mistakes that make us […]

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Gettable Grammar grammar mistakes proofreading typo typos

pen_dictionary

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An Editor Who Laughed at Her Work

Tuesday March 4, 2014

As an editor Karen Virag never seemed to flinch when she spotted a gaffe. Why should she? She had the smarts to identify the problem and the skill to correct it. She also recognized that without bad writing she wouldn’t have a job. Such virtues apply to any competent editor, but Karen went further. She […]

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editing editors Karen Virag word choice

Path through snowy trees

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Wasted Words: The Elements and Style

Tuesday December 2, 2014

It’s the time of year when heeding weather reports is a good idea: setting out with meagre insulation can be foolhardy. (News flash: “Hypothermia Blamed When Editor Vanishes.”) I glean data from all sources and sally forth properly kitted, but meteorological claptrap can be irritating. A local CBC station announces that temperatures overnight will go […]

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language redundancy reporting usage Wasted Words weather reports word choice writing

Red snowflake ornaments

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Administrators General EAC

Letter From the Editors

Monday December 22, 2014

Dear Readers, Thank you all for your readership over the past year. We value our subscribers and would love to hear your thoughts about the blog. If you’re interested in becoming a contributor or have a topic in mind that you’d like to see addressed, please let us know! There will be no post tomorrow, […]

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letter from the editor

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Perilous Punctuation: The Email Salutation

Tuesday May 31, 2016

An old friend from Ottawa recently visited me in Vancouver. We hadn’t seen each other in years. “One thing I’ll never forget about you,” said Ann (who is not an editor), “is that you taught me the right way to begin an email. Every time I write ‘Hi comma So-and-So period,’ I think of you.” […]

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comma Frances Peck grammar punctuation style usage

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Virginia Durksen

The Inner Editor: The Voice and Its Vices

Tuesday September 27, 2016

When editors talk about a writer’s “voice,” we usually mean something like a writer’s style or tone or stance. Even if you’ve never given much thought to this term, you’ll know what “voice” means if you can recall a moment when you, as a child, first heard “Don’t use that voice with me, young lady.” It’s a command […]

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editing voice Inner Editor style Virginia Durksen writer's voice

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Rosemary Shipton

Editing Is Lifelong Learning

Tuesday June 20, 2017

Editors enjoy their careers for various reasons — the opportunity to work in the exciting literary world or the more lucrative realms of government or business, or to specialize in particular areas of expertise. For me the major attraction is the simple fact that every project is different — I learn new things every day. […]

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biographies books Canada Canadiana career editing career editors at work lifelong learning memoirs Rosemary Shipton the joy of editing

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Photo 1

New knowledge is great, but international connections are priceless. Left to right: British editors Joanna Chisholm, Linsay MacLean and (in back) Lesley Ellen, U.S. editor Laura Poole (centre front) and Canadian editor Marion Soublière at Edinburgh’s historic Ensign Ewart Pub. Ellen, the mini-conference’s gracious and talented organizer, arranged for those still in Edinburgh post-conference to take part in the Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour, an evening of great fun. As tour-goers drifted between drinking establishments in Old and New Town, two skilled actors entertained with stories and antics — some in the musical Scots language of Robert Burns.

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book cover of Guide to Canadian English Usage

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Vocation, Avocation: Margery Fee and Canadian Usage

Tuesday July 9, 2019

We editors have our own celebrities. At the March meeting of Editors BC, which featured Stefan Dollinger, editor-in-chief of the DCHP-2 (A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, second edition), a name on the guest list caught my eye. Could it be? Really? It was. In the audience was Margery Fee, associate editor of the […]

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Canadian usage editing Frances Peck linguistics Margery Fee

Illustration of two hands typing on a typewriter. The paper in the typewriter says “New Chapter.”

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Letter From the Editor: Passing on the Torch

Thursday June 25, 2020

It’s been my pleasure to be the managing editor of The Editors’ Weekly since 2013, when the blog was just a year old. This month I’ll be stepping down from the position and handing the reins over to Lucy Payette. It’s been a rewarding journey, and I’m excited to see what the next phase of […]

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