Editing consciously
The hearts of editors beat faster in April when the University of Chicago Press announced that a new edition of the Chicago Manual of Style, number 18, would be released in September. It’s come a long way since the 1st…
Word of the year
Artificial intelligence was a hot topic in 2023; this is reflected in the Merriam-Webster and Cambridge Dictionary choices for word of the year.
Is it real or is it ChatGPT? (and does it matter?)
Over the past several months, every day seems to bring news of another leap forward in artificial intelligence (AI).
Getting published: A smorgasbord of choices
Here are some of the pros and cons of publishing your manuscript with a traditional publisher or self-publishing.
Editing, writing, training for 30 years
May 2022 marks 30 years since Nancy Flight, Anne Norman, Claudette Reed Upton, Lois Richardson, John Ricker, Barbara Tomlin, and Yvonne Van Ruskenveld formed West Coast Editorial Associates (WCEA). What do you give a partnership on its 30th anniversary? Pearls?…
Everything in its place
As an indexer, I tend to be obsessive about organizing things alphabetically—the books on my shelves, the spices in my cupboards, the DVDs and CDs in the basement . . . Of course Joan Aiken should come before Kate Atkinson,…
Watching our language
One of our neighbours has been downsizing recently, and discards from her bookshelves have shown up on the curb by her house. One volume I snapped up was Watch Your Language by Theodore M. Bernstein, described on the cover as…
Summer viewing, on the ice
I don’t watch a lot of television. And though I’ve seen numerous clips from America/Britain/Canada/Outer Slobovia’s Got Talent! circulated by friends on email, I’ve studiously avoided getting hooked on reality TV shows . . . until this summer. Over the…
New Year’s resolutions
’Tis the season of New Year’s resolutions—with a constant stream of articles, TV and radio news stories, and online clickbait telling us what we need to do to have better health, better productivity, and a better life in 2019. I’ve…
Aids to editing
When I’m not editing, one of my favourite activities is horseback riding. For 10 years I owned my own horse, Cannon, a retired Quarter Horse “schoolmaster” with a huge personality—think Alistair Cooke with a glass of port and a wry…