writing

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Event Review: The Secrets of Syntax by Frances Peck

Written by Eva van Emden; copy edited by Rebecca A. Coates

On April 22, a roomful of editors got together to talk about syntax—the order of words in a sentence. This may seem like an obscure topic to spend a day thinking about, but consider how many memorable sayings stick in your mind because of a magic combination of word order, rhythm, and repetition. Would we be able to quote the sentence “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” if it didn’t use rhythm and repetition—syntactic elements—so effectively?

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Meet the Instructor: Frances Peck

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Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Meagan Kus

On Saturday, April 22, Editors BC will present Frances Peck, who will give a full-day seminar called “The Secrets of Syntax.” In this seminar, participants will look at syntax from various angles and explore how to shape it for different kinds of texts, styles, and readers.

Frances is a Certified Professional Editor (Hon.) and writer who has worked with words for over 25 years. She prepared the Canadian edition of The St. Martin’s Workbook, a grammar exercise book; co-authored the popular HyperGrammar website; and wrote Peck’s English Pointers, a collection of articles and quizzes available on the Language Portal of Canada. A partner with West Coast Editorial Associates, Frances teaches at Douglas College and UBC and gives workshops across Canada. She is also a sometime blogger and a fiction writer.

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Frances about her work on language and syntax.

 

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Meet the Instructor: Heidi Turner

by Carl Rosenberg

On Saturday, January 28, Editors BC will present Heidi Turner, who will give two related half-day seminars for editors and writers. The two seminars, Business Planning Your Way to Success and Finding and Managing Good Clients, will offer practical advice and tools for freelancing from two different angles: using a business plan, and building and maintaining a client base.

Heidi is a freelance writer and editor with over 10 years’ experience. She has given courses as part of SFU’s editing program and regularly presents workshops and one-day courses for people in the writing industry. She has served as the BC regional director for the Professional Writers Association of Canada and founded its Fraser Valley chapter.

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Heidi about her advice for editors and writers on business planning and finding and managing good clients.

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Editors BC at Word Vancouver 2015

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by Roma Ilnyckyj

On September 27, Editors BC made our annual appearance at Word Vancouver, joining local literary organizations, publishers, writers, and other word lovers in a celebration of all things written.

Luckily it was sunny, although chilly, for our volunteers outside at the Editors BC booth. We handed out information about the organization and chatted to people about what editors do. Our booth was next to the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia, which provided a great opportunity to meet some people we’ve only ever communicated with through email and to strengthen our ties with like-minded organizations. I got some good ideas for promotional materials to think about for the future and picked up the adorable postcard pictured above (far right).

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Meet the Instructor: Lisa Manfield

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by Lynn Slobogian

Lisa-7Lisa Manfield is a writer, editor, and content strategist. She has developed print and online content, marketing collateral, and courseware for small businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions. Currently a digital writer at tech start-up Chimp, she has also been the editor of bcliving.ca, managing editor at orato.com, and marketing manager at thetyee.ca. She also teaches Writing and Editing for the Web at SFU.

Lisa will be leading Editors BC’s September seminar, Creating Compelling Web Content, on September 26. Here, she talks with professional development chair Lynn Slobogian about her career path and the evolving world of online content.

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Rows of desks face a projection screen in a classroom-like environment.
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March 19, 2015: Getting the Message Across: Clear Writing Tips with Frances Peck

What: EAC-BC professional development seminar
When: Thursday, March 19, 2015, 8:30 am – 11:30 am
Where: Library Square Conference Centre, 350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver | map

Workplace documents have one goal: to deliver a message quickly and clearly to a particular audience. But too often that message gets buried by weak organization, wordiness, abstract language, jargon, unhelpful design, and other barriers to readability.

This half-day introduction to clear writing shows you how to remove those barriers and build a document that says what it means. We’ll talk about the all-important reader, including the different types of readers and their varying needs. We’ll cover seven practical techniques for making written documents clearer. We’ll finish with a look at how page layout affects readability. (Detailed agenda below.)

The workshop includes short exercises to help you apply what you learn. You’ll also receive a list of recommended resources.

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EAC-BC at Word Vancouver 2014

Written by Alexandra Bogdanovic; copy edited by Tanya Procyshyn

On Sunday, September 28, EAC-BC participated in Word Vancouver, a free reading and writing festival. It is also part of Cultural Days, a national celebration of the arts. The festival began on Wednesday, September 24, and was held over the course of five days. Events took place at several venues, including The Paper Hound, Banyen Books & Sound, The Cottage Bistro, Christianne’s Lyceum, Historic Joy Kogawa House, and SFU Harbour Centre. The main event was held on Sunday, September 28, at the Vancouver Public Library’s Central Branch.

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Some perils of self-publishing: Part 1

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intro by Anastasia Koutalianos; piece by Ben Nuttall-Smith.

I met Ben at a writing fair last month and asked if he would be so kind to share his self-published trials and tribulations with WCE. He kindly agreed. So here is part 1 of 2, a cautionary but adventurous tale on the realities set before the indie author. The title says it all…

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You’ve written a book and you’d like to get it published. You’ve heard so many discouraging stories about finding a publisher that you’re ready to give up before the rejection letters pile up. You’ve heard exciting stories about doing it yourself so you decide to self-publish. Continue reading →