In this series, editors share their experiences, insights, and tips on the practical aspects of working as an editor. In some of our previous “Editors Advise” instalments, our contributors have shared their thoughts on various topics, including part 1 of this series, editorial niches, and inclusive language resources. For this edition, four editors share their recently attended webinars and professional development training.
Which webinar or professional development training that you have recently attended would you recommend to fellow editors?
Holly Vestad (she/her), non-fiction editor and sole proprietor at hollyvestad.com
I attended Crystal Shelley’s webinar for Editors Canada titled “An Editor’s Guide to Assessing and Addressing Problematic Content,” and I definitely recommend it. In addition to the guidance Shelley provides about how to identify potentially problematic content using various style guides (many of which I wasn’t aware of beforehand), I liked her call to normalize providing this kind of feedback.
Editors, Shelley reminded us, hold the potential to be drivers of change – whether a writer makes changes to their work based on your feedback is outside of your control, but if that writer receives the same feedback many times, there might be a reckoning. I liked this deceptively simple reminder a lot. Even if it feels like the time you took to write thoughtful commentary was ill-spent on a dismissive or defensive response, if all editors commit to offering it there may be a powerful cumulative effect.
I also appreciated Shelley’s reminder that certain tools, like macros, templates, PerfectIt’s style sheets (your own or Sofia Matias’s conscious language style sheet, for example) and text expanders can help you manage the time it takes to address problematic content and write feedback that is thoughtful and professional.
Bonus: I am additionally grateful to Erin Brenner of Right Touch Editing for compiling this database of training for editors led by editors.
Alicja Minda (she, her), editor at the Senate of Canada
My most recent discovery is online training offered by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in collaboration with ACES: The Society for Editing. The institutions have developed introductory, intermediate, and advanced editing certificates, each consisting of several courses that can be taken individually as well.
The intermediate program is focused on “more advanced facets of editing, from ethics to law to tech,” as well as working with writers. The advanced certificate is meant for “experienced editors who are seeking to move their work to a new level,” as the Poynter website states, but has not been released yet.
Courses include “Grammar Deep Dive: Getting Below the Surface of Our Language,” which I recommend to anyone who wishes to reinforce or brush up on their knowledge of more complex issues related to subject-verb agreement, sentence structure, possessive forms, etc. The next one I have my eye on is “Editing Tools: How to Use Roy Peter Clark’s ‘Writing Tools’ as an Editor.”
Erin Della Mattia, freelance editor specializing in books for young readers
Earlier this year, I used my “one free EC webinar coupon” to order Julie Kay-Wallace’s “Editing Stories in Images.” I have started to edit more picture books this year and am hoping to get into graphic novels (if only a publisher would give me the chance!), so figured this would offer a good overview of working with images, and I wasn’t disappointed.
In the webinar, Julie breaks down what it means for an editor to work with image-oriented texts at different stages of development (from early art ideas to inking, colouring, and typesetting). Importantly, she offers a clear explanation of the level of editorial intervention possible for each stage of the illustration process. I think this webinar would be best suited for editors who do developmental work on picture books, comics, and/or graphic novels, since they are more likely to follow the book through most of the editorial and illustration process.
When copy editing picture books, I historically haven’t spent much time thinking about the art notes – I worried about overstepping into developmental territory. But after watching this webinar I realized this may be an error on my part. I should still be making sure that the text doesn’t over-describe or explain bits of information that the illustrations will provide. I think I’ll be more comfortable pointing out potential image-text issues moving forward.
Małgosia Halliop is a freelance writer, editor, and educator who lives and works in Tkaronto/Toronto.
My freelance workload has been quite steady this year (hurray!), so I’m realizing I’ve attended fewer professional development webinars and courses than in past years. One that I did attend in the spring and would highly recommend was the Editors Canada webinar “Anti-Islamophobia Editing: Using Inclusive Language and Plain Language to Counter Hate Speech,” with Dr. Amber Riaz. This was a thorough overview of basic tenets of Islam, harmful myths and stereotypes about Islam and Muslims, and media examples of Islamophobia, followed by recommendations on how to apply intersectionality, conscious language, and plain language to make sure edited material relating to Islam is inclusive, respectful, and authentic. This webinar is available as a recording through the Editors Canada site, and it’s well worth watching.
The other excellent seminar I attended earlier in the year is one that I believe is not available in recorded form. This was “Crafting a Meaningful Land Acknowledgement,” with Rhonda Kronyk, hosted by Editors British Columbia. Rhonda shared a wealth of material on the challenges of creating a meaningful land acknowledgement, helped participants workshop their own land acknowledgements, and pushed us to tie our land acknowledgements to concrete actions for reconciliation and relationship building. I’ve still got the notes from this workshop open in my browser, and I continue to reflect and work on integrating my learning and taking more effective actions as a settler on this land. One key takeaway for me from the workshop was that an effective land acknowledgment can’t be a rote gesture – it should challenge us and make us uncomfortable!
This article was copy edited by Amy Scanlon Boughner, a communications professional and freelance editor living in Ottawa. She is currently enrolled in courses to complete the Professional Editing Standards Certificate at Queen’s University and is teaching herself about content design.
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