The sound of pencils scratching on paper filled the boardroom of the Ongwanada Centre as the editors of the Kingston twig delved into a task that was once the mainstay of the editorial profession but is rare today: marking up paper manuscript pages. I had brought along an exercise for practising hard-copy marks that I use with students in my Ryerson editing class, and everyone gave it a try. Some younger attendees were new to this task, while some veterans (myself included) found themselves a bit rusty. But everyone seemed to find it satisfying to produce a physical product by their editorial labours for a change.

While almost all editing is done onscreen these days, traditional paper marks for copy editing and proofreading still have a strong association with the editing profession, and are still used in some contexts. Editing students still learn the basics in most programs, and the proofreaders’ symbols especially are finding new life in onscreen PDF markup in the form of custom stamps.

Before breaking out the homework, we looked at various sample lists of marks and discussed the differences (which are either trivially minor or startlingly significant depending on whom you ask), shared stories of the last time we used them, traded tips for making them clear, and theorized about when certain more esoteric examples might be used (hair space, anyone?).

And I, showing off a decades-old example of my own hard-copy markup, was astonished at how neat it was! My skills have sadly deteriorated through disuse.

Announcements from National

Stephanie shared some news from Editors Canada:

• Editors Canada’s second international conference will be held in Montreal at the end of June
• Stephanie participated in the most recent meeting of twig and branch
  co-ordinators, which are now being held fairly regularly; there was a good exchange of information and ideas, with the overall lesson being that many other local groups face similar struggles to ours of fewer members or volunteers as they’d like
• A number of national committee positions and National Executive posts are open; if you’re considering volunteering at the national level, contact past chair Gael Spivak for more information

 

More Great Guest Speakers Coming Soon!

March 11: Shelley Tanaka, award-winning Kingston writer and editor, especially known for children’s and young adult literature

April 8: David Sweet of Books and Company, beloved indie bookstore in Picton

Join Us

Ongwanada Resource Centre
191 Portsmouth Avenue
7 to 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Free for Editors Canada members
$5 for visitors

Find Us on Facebook

Whether or not you come to our gatherings, feel free to join our Facebook group and chat with other Kingston-area editors and assorted word nerds.

 

The pointy symbol on the Editors Kingston logo is …

• (a) an upside-down letter V, illustrating how editors put language right when it has gone awry
• (b) a tent, symbolizing a snug home for every word in the wilderness of text
• (c) a witch’s hat, because editors work deep magic
• (d) a caret mark, used in traditional paper copy editing to show exactly where in a line of text a change written above the line applies

While all of these frankly seem plausible to us (good editing surely has something of the magical about it!), we are told that the Editors Canada logo designers had (d) in mind. Clearly, while almost all editing is done onscreen these days, the traditional marks that copy editors used for most of the twentieth century to show changes on a paper manuscript still have a strong association with the profession.

These marks are still used in some contexts, and editing students in most programs are required to at least become familiar with them. The related (but not quite identical) marks used traditionally at the proofreading stage are used perhaps even more often, and are finding new life in onscreen PDF markup in the form of custom stamps.

So we thought it would be fun and instructive to spend the next twig gathering exploring these squiggles together! We’ll have some hands-on paper exercises for everyone to try, an onscreen demonstration of downloading stamps for pdf markup, and plenty of time to share experiences and opinions. If paper editing is new to you, come to learn;  if you are an old hand at it, come to share your knowledge—and perhaps discover some variations on it

If you have a document that you (or someone else, with their permission) has edited on paper with traditional marks, bring it in to share—even better, scan it and email it to Stephanie (sstone4@cogeco.ca) by Tuesday, February 11, and we can compare editing “handwriting.”

More Great Guest Speakers Coming Soon!

March 11: Shelley Tanaka, award-winning Kingston writer and editor

April 8: David Sweet of Books and Company, beloved indie bookstore in Picton

Join Us

Ongwanada Resource Centre
191 Portsmouth Avenue
7 to 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Free for Editors Canada members
$5 for visitors

Find Us on Facebook

Whether or not you come to our gatherings, feel free to join our Facebook group and chat with other Kingston-area editors and assorted word nerds.

by Camille Croteau

On Wednesday, January 8th, the Editors Kingston twig met for its monthly meeting. I’m a new member to this twig, and I was very eager to meet my colleagues and learn about the unique role that John Thompson plays as the web editor for Nunatsiaq News. Not only did we get a chance to hear about the intricacies of publishing for a multicultural and geographically massive region, but John also shared with us his experiences of working remotely.

Nunatsiaq News is the newspaper of record for Nunavut and the Nunavik territory of northern Quebec. It’s published online daily and in print weekly, and it’s been around since 1975. Nunatsiaq News is read by over 70,000 readers each week, many ­­of whom live in the Arctic.

It’s important to recognize that not all Indigenous groups are the same. Inuit, Métis, and First Nations peoples represent the three groups of Indigenous peoples in Canada, and each has a unique culture and history.

Inuit means “the people.” Some say that makes “the Inuit people” redundant. Also to be avoided is “Inuits.” Inuk refers to one person of Inuit descent. There was also some discussion around periods of word transitions and the debates around proper language usage. For example, some argue that Inuktut should be used as an umbrella term for different dialects of the language. The term Inuktitut has historically served this purpose, but it also refers to several specific dialects spoken in Nunavut. Either way, as an editor, it can be difficult to manage these words-in-flux so that readers understand the written content and so that the writer’s story is accurate.

In addition to these uses, other uses of originally Indigenous words could be negatively received if written in the adapted (or stolen) English spelling. For example, in some circumstances it could be culturally insensitive to spell words such as iglu and qajaq using English spelling. It makes me wonder whether editors who are not writing for the Nunavummiut explicitly are considering these types of cultural concerns during the editorial process.

We also learned some rather humorous mistakes that can occur when working with the Inuit language. The crowd favourite was the word Iqualuit, a misspelling of Iqaluit (the capital of Nunavut) that means “people with unwiped bums.” I’m happy to finally have a word for that! Additionally, I hadn’t known about the historic implementation of syllabics in Inuktitut. Syllabics is a form of abugida, which is writing that is based on consonant–vowel pairs. The language is very intuitive, and, for many, using it is considered a part of the Inuit identity.

John’s talk opened my eyes to the relationship between language and Inuit identities. This was also mentioned by Jim Penistan, who talked about the book he had recently purchased, Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writers by and about Indigenous People. Language, when speaking about the Indigenous population, is particularly important since language can convey importance, respect, and values. Respecting Indigenous language identity and ownership should be a priority for editors when discussing the Indigenous community.

Coming Up

February 12: Fun with Hard-Copy Marks—Let’s explore these retro editing squiggles together! Come to learn or to share your expertise (or perhaps a bit of both). We’ll have hands-on exercises and a discussion of contexts in which the marks are relevant today.

March 11: Shelley Tanaka, award-winning Kingston writer and editor

April 8: David Sweet of Books and Company, beloved indie bookstore in Picton

Join Us

Ongwanada Resource Centre
191 Portsmouth Avenue
7 to 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Free for Editors Canada members
$5 for visitors

Find Us on Facebook

Whether or not you come to our gatherings, feel free to join our Facebook group and chat with other Kingston-area editors and assorted word nerds.

Elizabeth d’Anjou and Stephanie Stone

Editors Kingston coordinators

What’s the one typo you really need to avoid in Inuktitut?

To find out, join us on January 8 for the first Editors Kingston gathering of 2020, where John Thompson will share his experiences as web editor for Nunatsiaq News and other publications based in the North.

We’ll also learn about the editing process at an online news site, how staff residing thousands of kilometres apart collaborate, and what it was like to live and work in Iqaluit.

About John

John Thompson is a writer and editor who has spent more than a decade working as a journalist in Canada’s North. From his current base in Kingston, he serves as the web editor of Nunatsiaq News, the newspaper of record for Canada’s eastern Arctic.

John started his journalism career working as a reporter and assistant editor for Nunatsiaq News while living in Iqaluit, Nunavut. He then moved to Whitehorse, where he reported for the Yukon News and later served as that newspaper’s editor. Before returning to Nunatsiaq News, he spent a time serving as the managing editor of the online news startup Arctic Deeply.

More Great Guest Speakers Coming Soon!

March 11: Shelley Tanaka, award-winning Kingston writer and editor

April 8: David Sweet of Books and Company, beloved indie bookstore in Picton

Join Us

Ongwanada Resource Centre
191 Portsmouth Avenue
7 to 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Free for Editors Canada members
$5 for visitors

Find Us on Facebook

Whether or not you come to our gatherings, feel free to join our Facebook group and chat with other Kingston-area editors and assorted word nerds.

Elizabeth d’Anjou and Stephanie Stone

Editors Kingston coordinators

Food, fun, and friendship—and, of course, the highs and lows of editing—were all on display at the Editors Kingston holiday social.

Seven twiggers, both veterans and newcomers, gathered at Milestones on Princess Street in Kingston. More than twice that number had planned to come, but unfortunately, Mother Nature chose that day to snow and blow, keeping many people from making the trip from out of town and even across town.

But, as the song says, though the weather outside was frightful, inside it was warm and delightful.

Coming Up January 8

While the weather was disappointing for its effect on our social, the memory of it will set the mood for our January program!

Former twig member and continuing “friend” John Thompson will share his experiences working for Nunatsiaq News, editing in and about the Canadian Arctic!

Watch this space for more details.

More Great Guest Speakers Coming Soon!

March 11: Shelley Tanaka, award-winning Kingston writer, editor, and translator

April 8: David Sweet of Books and Company, beloved indie bookstore in Picton

Join Us

Ongwanada Resource Centre
191 Portsmouth Avenue
7 to 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Free for Editors Canada members
$5 for visitors

Find Us on Facebook

Whether or not you come to our gatherings, feel free to join our Facebook group and chat with other Kingston-area editors and assorted word nerds.

Elizabeth d’Anjou and Stephanie Stone

Editors Kingston coordinators

Looking forward to sharing some winter cheer with friends and colleagues at our Holiday social on Wednesday, December 11, from 6:30 p.m. at Milestones, 27 Princess Street at Ontario.

We’re expecting an excellent turnout; as of Monday midday, 14 people had RSVP’d to Nancy!

Pay as you go. Partners and friends welcome.

Coming Up January 8

You think Kingston is cold in January? Join us for a talk from twig member John Thompson about his work for Nunatsiaq News, editing in and about the Canadian Arctic!

Our usual date, time, and place: Wednesday, January 8, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Ongwanada. Watch this space for more details.

The second meeting of the Kingston Twig’s ECE3 Book Club, held on October 9, 2019, at the Ongwanada Resource Centre in Kingston, was a success:

• Shockingly, everyone in the group was discovered to have opinions—in some cases, even feelings—about at least some hyphens to some degree.
• The hyphen in attributive adjective compounds (a hyphen use discussion / a hyphen-use discussion), on which the Associated Press recently changed its guidelines, was discussed.
• The suspended hyphen (e.g., three- and four-year-old children) was examined.
• The en dash was praised.
• The hyphen table in Chicago was consulted.
• Style variations in different types of publications were explored.
• The first two editions of ECE3, brought for show and tell by Lee, were admired.
• There was a side trip to discussion of the famous spelling variants table, wherein it was revealed that Elizabeth had been responsible for the most recent version thereof.

Clearly, editors know how to have a good time!

Two newcomers to the group—Carolyn, a one-time FEAC member who now works at Queen’s and is updating her skills with the Standards courses, and John, who described himself as someone who currently edits only recreationally—were welcomed.

Snacks were consumed.

The location of the June Editors Canada national conference, its second with an international theme, and expected to have speakers and attendees from the U.S., Europe, and beyond as well as Canada, was announced: Montreal.

An invitation is extended to all: join us next month!

Join Us

Ongwanada Resource Centre
191 Portsmouth Avenue
7 to 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Free for Editors Canada members
$5 for visitors

Find Us on Facebook

Whether or not you come to our gatherings, feel free to join our Facebook group and chat with other Kingston-area editors and assorted word nerds.

Stephanie Stone and Elizabeth d’Anjou

Editors Kingston coordinators

“This morning I deleted the hyphen from ‘hell-bound’ and made it one word; this afternoon I redivided it and restored the hyphen.”

The quote is from Edwin Arlington Robinson, an American poet (hugely popular in his day) who died in 1935. But let’s be honest: it could have been any one of us, right?

There’s been a flurry of discussion about hyphenation among online editing groups recently in the wake of changes made this year to the hyphenation guidance in the Associated Press Stylebook online. Thus, it seems as good a time as any to hold the second oh-so-official meeting of the Kingston twig’s Editing Canadian English Book Club, with a focus on Chapter 4, “Compounds and Hyphens.”

The third edition of this flagship Editors Canada publication was published in hardcover by UBC Press in 2016 and as an ebook in 2017, available in all major formats, at the bargain price of $9.99 (or less).

At a 2018 gathering, the twig discussed Chapter 2, “Inclusivity.” The format of using the guide as a jumping-off point for a discussion of the issue in the work of attendees proved so successful that we never got to discussing Chapter 4 as well as we had planned. We meant to schedule it last year, but our guest-speaker dance card (guest speaker dance card?) was so full we couldn’t fit it in!

What with the raging controversy over the AP announcement, we think the time has come.

ECE3 (as it’s affectionately known) is subtitled A Guide for Editors, Writers, and Everyone Who Works with Words. If that includes you, come join us!

Reading the chapter in advance is encouraged but not required. If you have a copy, bring it along. If not, that’s fine; there will be a few extras on hand, and we can project the ebook on our screen. (But, really, at under ten bucks, why not pick one up? See the Editors Canada website for details and links.)

If you’d like to read about the new AP hyphenation guidelines, try this article in Slate; it has a lot more links for anyone who wants to go down the rabbit hole!

Join Us

Ongwanada Resource Centre
191 Portsmouth Avenue
7 to 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Free for Editors Canada members
$5 for visitors

Find Us on Facebook

Whether or not you come to our gatherings, feel free to join our Facebook group and chat with other Kingston-area editors and assorted word nerds.

Elizabeth d’Anjou and Stephanie Stone

Editors Kingston coordinators

 

 

Nine members and friends of the twig attended the first meeting after our summer break for a discussion prompted by the phrase “Today I learned …” The acronym “TIL” is widely used on Twitter as a way of introducing a comment; attendees were asked to each share something they had learned recently that was useful to their editing work.

It turns out that twiggers have learned quite a lot lately, from tips for more effective responses to potential client inquiries to thoughtful new ways of approaching structural editing to tricks for using Word that save time and reduce aggravation. One newcomer to the group shared her new knowledge about how many resources are now available to editors, especially online, compared with her memories of a previous foray into editing over a decade ago.

The coffee flowed, the snacks were shared, old friends greeted each other and new visitors were welcomed. We’re back in business!

Hope to see you soon,

Join Us

Ongwanada Resource Centre
191 Portsmouth Avenue
7 to 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Free for Editors Canada members
$5 for visitors

Find Us on Facebook

Whether or not you come to our gatherings, feel free to join our Facebook group and chat with other Kingston-area editors and assorted word nerds.

Elizabeth d’Anjou and Stephanie Stone

Editors Kingston coordinators

 

 

On “Editor Twitter,” many posts begin with the abbreviation “TIL,” which stands for “Today I learned ….” We thought that would make a good theme for an editor’s gathering. No matter how old we get, there’s something about September that makes us feel like it’s back-to-school time. And goodness knows we could all use a little wisdom.

So, we’re asking everyone to join us on Wednesday, September 11, at our usual place and time, ready to tell about something new you’ve learned recently. It could be a new editing-related skill, an insight that’s helped to improve your business, a quick trick in Word that’s doubled your speed ─ anything new you’ve learned and would like to share.

We’ll also have a short discussion of Twig business and national announcements, and plenty of time to catch up and share, network and mingle. Find out what your old editing friends have been up to and meet some new ones.

Meanwhile, we’re planning our second-ever twig annual general meeting, to be held online as a videoconference, later in the month. Details coming soon!

Hope to see you on the 11th. Bring a friend!

Photo is © alamosbasement, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

Join Us

Ongwanada Resource Centre
191 Portsmouth Avenue
7 to 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Free for Editors Canada members
$5 for visitors

Elizabeth d’Anjou and Stephanie Stone

Editors Kingston coordinators