Meet the Instructor: Moira White

Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Katie Beaton

Framed by her short white hair, Moira White is smiling in this photo while wearing a long, red scarf and black shirt.

On Saturday, April 28, Editors BC presents Moira White’s seminar, “Eight-Step Editing.” This seminar breaks the editorial process down into tasks to improve the readability of an author’s written work. The eight steps are to shorten sentences, take out the trash (i.e., unnecessary phrases), deflate long words and phrases, reduce negatives, eliminate the equations (i.e., equating or linking verbs), activate the passives, lead with strength, and parade your paragraphs.

Moira White is an Ottawa-based editor, writer, and trainer with decades of experience in plain language editing, writing, and teaching for government and corporate clients. She entered the work world as a social worker and later moved into social policy with a master’s degree in the field. In both professions, she found that her organizational skills, attention to detail, and love of words pointed her in the direction of editing. Currently, she teaches writing and editing courses in Ottawa and across Canada. Moira is a past president of Editors Canada.

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Moira about her work and her forthcoming seminar.

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April 18, 2018: Editing and Writing in the Video Game Industry

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What: Editors BC monthly meeting
When: Wednesday, April 18, 2018, 7:00–9:00 pm
Where: Welch Room, 4th floor, YWCA Health + Fitness Centre, 535 Hornby Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: Free for Editors BC members and student affiliates, $10 for non-members, and $5 for non-member students with valid ID. Registration at the door.

Branching dialogue, visual novels, role-playing games, narrative design, and game localization: welcome to the world of writing and editing for video games. Tonight’s meeting will reveal the ups and downs of working in a media niche most of us know only as consumers. Get the inside scoop on the unique process of game development, the roles that writers and editors can play, and the opportunities and challenges related to breaking into this competitive sector.

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April 28, 2018: Eight-Step Editing

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What: Editors BC professional development seminar
When: Saturday, April 28, 2018, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: Room 810, 8th floor, BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: $175 for Editors Canada members ($145 early bird), $240 for non-members ($210 early bird), and $110 for student affiliates. Advance registration required. Registration closes April 24; early-bird rates are in effect through April 10.

Eight-Step Editing teaches an approach to editing that helps writers and editors alike. Everyone who has ever clarified a sentence in an email, a report, or another written work can benefit from this workshop.

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Event Review: An Introduction to Editing for Accessibility

Written by Ritu Guglani; copy edited by Maggie Clark

Iva Cheung, a certified editing professional and member of Editors BC, spoke to a room full of eager participants at Editors BC’s January 2018 meeting. Her presentation topic was editing for accessibility. While editors live in a world of nuances and judgment calls, Iva re-affirmed that it is always a good idea to use the basic principles of plain language to remove communication barriers for people with disabilities.

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March 21, 2018: Abuzz with Networking

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What: Editors BC monthly meeting
When: Wednesday, March 21, 2018, 7:00–9:00 pm
Where: Welch Room, 4th floor, YWCA Health + Fitness Centre, 535 Hornby Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: Free for Editors BC members and student affiliates, $10 for non-members, and $5 for non-member students with valid ID. Registration at the door.

Do you feel bees in your belly at the word networking? Ever wonder how, when, where, or why to network? Does going to events alone fill you with dread? Are you biting your nails at the very idea you’ll be talking to new people in this interactive workshop? Well, this March session aims to take the sting out of networking for you!

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March 24, 2018: Editorial Design Basics

What: Editors BC professional development seminar
When: Saturday, March 24, 2018, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: Room 420, 4th floor, BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: $165 for Editors Canada members ($135 early bird), $230 for non-members ($200 early bird), and $100 for student affiliates. Advance registration required. Registration closes March 20; early-bird rates are in effect through March 6.

Good design is so much more than just placing words on a page—it uses subtle visual cues to reinforce and expand on the sense and meaning of writing. Do you wish you had a better understanding of how text, images, and space complement each other? Do you want to know what you, as an editor, can do to make the design process run more smoothly, for clients and colleagues alike?

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February 21, 2018: Behind the Scenes

What: Editors BC monthly meeting
When: Wednesday, February 21, 2018, 7:00–9:00 pm
Where: Welch Room, 4th floor, YWCA Health + Fitness Centre, 535 Hornby Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: Free for Editors BC members and student affiliates, $10 for non-members, and $5 for non-member students with valid ID. Registration at the door.

Our February meeting offers a chance to learn more about how Editors BC works. Come out and meet the current BC branch executive as they explain the inner workings of Editors Canada’s westernmost branch. Find out how the branch is run and decisions are made. Get a preview of some exciting initiatives and programming and share your ideas. Learn how to maximize the benefits of membership and reap the rewards of being involved.

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Meet the Instructor: Lana Okerlund

Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Chris Baxter

This photo depicts a headshot of Lana Okerlund smiling.

On Saturday, February 24, Editors BC presents Lana Okerlund’s seminar, “Crunching the Numbers: Using Performance Measures to Manage Your Editing Business.” The seminar will introduce the performance measurement cycle—a widely used concept in the business world—and help participants apply it to the business of editing.

A partner with West Coast Editorial Associates, Lana Okerlund edits, indexes, and writes non-fiction books and teaches editing and business writing courses. In her former career as a business consultant, Lana spent nearly a decade working with clients on business improvement projects, including performance measurement.

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Lana about her work on performance measurement.

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Event Review: Academic Editing with Lesley Erickson

Written by Wendy Barron; copy edited by Katie Heffring

On Saturday, November 25, 2017, a group of 20 editors gathered at the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s downtown campus for Lesley Erickson’s seminar “Academic Editing: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” Lesley has more than 20 years’ experience as an author and editor in scholarly publishing and is currently a senior production editor at UBC Press. Her session provided a glimpse into the cultures of both academia and scholarly publishing. Throughout it, she offered strategies to address challenges both common and unique to academic editing and practical tips and tools for editors to give and get the best from the editing budget.

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February 24, 2018: Crunching the Numbers: Using Performance Measures to Manage Your Editing Business

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What: Editors BC professional development seminar
When: Saturday, February 24, 2018, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: Room 420, 4th floor, BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: $165 for Editors Canada members ($135 early bird), $230 for non-members ($200 early bird), and $100 for student affiliates. Advance registration required. Registration closes February 20; early-bird rates are in effect through February 6.

Is your editing business successful?

If you’re like a lot of editors, you may have a hard time answering this question with any specifics. You may have a vague sense of how your business is doing, and you might even feel comfortable with that level of uncertainty. But having real, hard data about how much you work, where your work comes from, and how much you earn for different types of projects or clients can empower you to take charge of your business and steer it in the direction that you want it to go.

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