Written by Lola Opatayo; copy edited by Meagan Kus
Did you finish everything on your reading list this summer? Maybe you did, or maybe you didn’t really have one to begin with. Whatever the case, I’ve compiled a list of 10 books you can plan to read before 2021 ends.
Written by Janis Cleugh; copy edited by Meagan Kus
The email came at the right time.
Written by Holly Sawchuk; copy edited by Janet Millar
Have you ever thought about what you would write in a memoir? Not your full life story, like an autobiography, but an exploration of a particular situation in your life, its emotional arc, and what it ultimately meant.
Written by Frances Peck; copy edited by Annette Gingrich
Review of “Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style” by Benjamin Dreyer (Random House, 2019).
Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style hit the shelves a year ago. Or perhaps I should say it briefly touched the shelves, seeing as copies sold as fast as they could be printed. Repeating the improbable success of the book Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss, Benjamin Dreyer’s guide sold umpteen copies and topped bestseller lists.
I’ve long followed Dreyer on Twitter, where he is natty, chatty, and sometimes catty. The same irresistible combination makes his book, from cover to cover, a trove of delights.
Written by Janice Love; copy edited by Emma Caplan
Does your editing career need an edit? Are you doing the kind(s) of editing you want to do? Are you gaining the value, whether monetary or otherwise, you want from the editing work you do?
These are all questions I had, and so Lana Okerlund’s offer to help via her guided strategic retreat for editors was worth the winter trip to Vancouver from Vernon!
Written by Karen Smith; copy edited by Katie Beaton
This past June, I flew from British Columbia to Nova Scotia and joined Editors Canada in celebrating the organization’s 40th anniversary conference. It was both my first Editors Canada conference and my first time in Halifax. As a novice conference attendee, I wanted to learn as much as I could at the training sessions. I also hoped to make some new connections in the publishing world. However, as I prepared to fly east, I wasn’t sure what to expect at the conference and whether it would be worth the time and cost to attend. Ultimately, it was an overwhelmingly positive experience, and I was glad to have been part of it. In return, I hope that sharing my experience may give other editors insight into whether attending the conference will be of value to them.
Written by Nancy Tinari; copy edited by Katie Beaton
The “Three-Degrees-from-Normal” panel event occurred on October 19, 2018, and it featured authors Kevin Chong (The Plague), Claudia Dey (Heartbreaker), Waubgeshig Rice (Moon of the Crusted Snow), and Rabindranath Maharaj (Adjacentland), with Claudia Casper moderating the conversation. In their new books, all of these authors wrote about crisis situations.
These writers also have in common tremendously vivid imaginations; however, the discussions about where the ideas for their books came from made these three-degrees-from-normal scenarios seem eerily plausible. Even though their settings and situations may seem extreme, they are all intimately related to what is happening in the world right now.
We got a taste of each writer’s imaginative world from Casper’s introductions and brief readings by the authors. Casper then asked the panellists to explain how the scenarios and ideas expressed in their novels could be related to current events.
Continue readingWritten by Jessie Laven; copy edited by Rebecca A. Coates
Review of “Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors ” by Bill Bryson (Doubleday Canada, 2008; Anchor Canada, 2009).
Bill Bryson is well known for his books on travel, science, history, and the English language. And this particular book of his, Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors, is an eclectic mix, reflecting the varied experiences of Bryson’s long and distinguished writing career. It’s different from his usual writings, and perhaps more dry, but no less valuable or insightful.
Before turning to writing, Bryson worked as an editor for several newspapers, including the Independent and the Times. During this time, his manuscript began as a collection of notes that were assembled piece by piece over the years as he encountered questions or uncertainties. The resulting book is a useful guide for new writers and editors, answering questions they likely wouldn’t think to ask. It is driven by a desire to enlighten the reader and help them avoid common pitfalls.
Written by Sarah Mitenko; copy edited by Karen Barry
Review of “The Elements of Eloquence: Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase” by Mark Forsyth (Icon Books, 2013).
Have you ever wondered what makes Shakespeare’s writing so darn good? Or Wordsworth’s, for that matter? And have you ever wondered how musical artists, like Katy Perry and Alanis Morissette, create lyrics that are catchy and memorable (sometimes annoyingly so)?
Notable author Mark Forsyth, also known for his blog, The Inky Fool, answers these questions and more in his third book, The Elements of Eloquence: Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase. Throughout the book, he explores the fundamentals of classic rhetoric, using examples drawn from both renowned classical works and modern-day popular culture. Most of the chapters include examples from Shakespeare, as Forsyth argues that he likely learned rhetoric in school, a subject that was abandoned not long after Shakespeare’s time.
Written by Ellen Michelle Koehler; copy edited by Emma Caplan
Review of the workshop Introduction to Applying Proofreading Markup to PDFs with Barbara Tomlin (offered by Editors BC on March 19, 2016)
Although Barbara Tomlin’s workshop on applying PDF markup was directed toward new editors like myself, there were quite a few more experienced editors and proofreaders who attended, showing that with new technologies (and upgrades to programs) come new ways to mark up text. Even the experienced editors had questions and followed along closely as Barbara told us all about the best practices of applying proofreading markup to PDFs.
