Editing Standards

Here is an anecdote from Greg Ioannou a professional and influential Canadian editor:

In its early days, the Editors' Association of Canada (then the "Freelance Editors' Association of Canada") sent its members a series of sentences to edit, to see which were the most common approaches to fixing some kinds of problems. We were in the very very early days of thinking about standards. One sentence, memorably, was edited by 101 editors. Only one pair of editors made the same corrections to it. So there were literally 100 different edits trying to fix a two-line sentence. And almost all of those edits worked perfectly well.

In response, Sharon Stewart mentioned that

a linguistics prof wrote an algorithm to create a sentence describing a cartoon of a phone booth out in the middle of nowhere in which a bear was making a phone call. The algorithm came up with 22 million grammatically correct ways to describe the cartoon. I used to mention that story to editors-in-training to show them that there's more than one way to say something.

The general public believes that editors are rule-bound prescriptivists dictating 'correct' English, but the truth is editing is more an art than a science, and professional editors (as opposed to your annoying cousin and some improperly trained Language Arts teachers) understand there are many ways of saying the same thing well, and that there is no one correct way that all must adopt. Indeed, the joy of English is the many different nuances of meaning and emphasis available by subtle changes in word choice, word order, punctuation, and so on. A professional editor strives for clarity while working to maintain the authors' intent and voice. Professional editors know that one frequently breaks 'the rules' to convey meaning, purpose, tone, voice, and so on--what the public has learned to call poetic license. Well, everybody has license to write as they wish, not just poets, and the purpose of editing is to up one's language game, not restrict it with arbitrary rules. Of course, there are many common errors where an author may word something that could be more precise, concise, or clearer if slightly altered, and an editor might make that suggestion. But it's always up to the client to say yea or nay.

TimeFall

Just received my copy of Alison Lohans' Timefall in the mail from the publisher. I was the structural editor for this revised and updated ominbus edition, and am pretty happy with the results . . . and am loving the Ann Crowe cover!

Editor, Kathryn Shalley

Kathryn Shalley, one of the editors at EssentialEdits.ca, has been accepted into the Masters of Fine Art program at the University of Saskatchewan for fall, 2018, on an SSHRC scholarship. Kathryn will continue to work part time at EssentialEdits.ca, but we wanted to congratulate her on both taking this next step in her professional development, and on her winning a prestigious SSHRC scholarship.

Candas Jane Dorsey Tribute

Candas Jane Dorsey has been a driving force behind the literary scene in Alberta (particularly Edmonton) for over 40 years. As an award-winning author, editor, publisher, organizer, and activist, she has pushed to create a literary arts community as vital as any in the country. In tribute, a group of authors led by Rhonda Parrish have produced a tribute anthology: Praire Starport: Stories in Celebration of Candas Jane Dorsey. The volume is free from https://dl.bookfunnel.com/5sjui795et and includes one of my early short stories along with my brief tribute to Candas related to the story.

Here are the links for all the places people can get copies of Prairie Starport:

Official website: http://www.poiseandpen.com/publishing/prairie-starport/
Book Funnel: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/5sjui795et
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/prairie-starport
Playster: https://play.playster.com/books/10009781988233390/prairie-starport-john-park
Apple/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1381578127
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1128621942?ean=2940155635376
Amazon ($0.99): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CX9CFPJ/
Paperback ($9.99): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1988233380/

Supporting Graduate Student Writing

My recent presentation to Spark, University of Lethbridge Teaching Symposium, entitled "Supporting Graduate Student Writing in a Thesis and Dissertation" is now available on SlideShare.

The talk covers roughly the same material as my 32-page guide, "Writing Strategies for Theses and Dissertations", except this time from the point of view of thesis/dissertation supervisors. I am trying to make supervisors understand that it is not enough to support graduate students through the literature review, proposal, research methods selection, data collection, and data analysis, but that they must also explicitly provide instruction in thesis-writing. All too often, a student successfully completes all their graduate coursework, their thesis proposal, data collection and analysis, and then suddenly the support from the advisor dries up as they say, "great, now run along and write that all up" as if writing a thesis were not as problematic as every other step. My basic argument is that graduate students have to unlearn the writing strategies that made them successful term paper writers and undergraduate graduates, and must now learn an entirely new and different set of writing skills to master the writing strategies required for any sustained piece of writing.

My presentation to the Sparks Symposium seemed to go over very well, and my online version of the presentation received fifty-hits the first week, so pleased with the initial reception. Hopefully, the presentation will continue to gain some momentum, because unless the problem is recognized and addressed by supervisors, we will continue to see a 50% attrition rate among graduate students in thesis and dissertation route programs.

If you do download or review the presentation, make sure to read the "notes" section as well, as the notes include some of my verbal commentary not on the slides.

Tweet from the Faculty of Education, at the University of Lethbridge.

I like the quote obviously, but the thrust of the paper is that students need to understand why, after years of academic success, they suddenly discover they can't write when they sit down to write their thesis. Understanding that a thesis is different than anything they've done so far, that they essentially have to unlearn all the strategies that have helped them so much up to now, is a prerequisite of success.

Struggling with a Thesis or Dissertation?

Cover of Anxiety Magazine an art project by @crayonelyse to encourage discussion of mental health issues. Used with permission. ©2017 @crayonelyse

Doing graduate work? Need outside moral support? A writing coach can help.

Stuck while writing a thesis or dissertation? You are not alone: over 50% of those who start a thesis or dissertation never finish. That's an appalling statistic because it either means graduate program selection committees are universally terrible at choosing candidates for thesis-route programs, or that there is some structural problem with supervision.

What is most revealing is that 85% of those who fail to complete their thesis or dissertation drop out after successfully completing all their coursework and research. It is understandable if after a year in the program some students decide it's not for them and drop out. But that represents only about 15% of those who don't make it. The rest are people who stall out writing while writing their thesis— often after seven or eight years in the program. The financial, career, and emotional costs of such a high investment of time and energy for no return is clearly unacceptable, yet these statistics have not changed in over 50 years.

It doesn't have to be this way. Since the dropout rate is highest while students are registered in the thesis or dissertation, I would argue that the real reason people fail is that no one has taught them that undertaking a sustained piece of writing, such as a thesis or dissertation, requires different skills and strategies then other forms of writing; that they must unlearn the strategies that got them through their undergraduate papers and learn a whole new approach.

A key aspect of that new approach is understanding that angst is an inevitable part of writing. Almost everyone is anxious about their research-writing, as aptly illustrated by the cover of Anxiety Magazine. Since the problems that afflict 50% of thesis-route graduate students is the actual process of writing the thesis, a writing coach may be the best way to address these issues.

If one is struggling with writing basics—sentence or paragraph structure, transition sentences, citation format, and so on—then most campuses have a writing center that can help even graduate students improve their writing skills. The service is free. If one has generalized anxiety or test anxiety or thesis anxiety, most campuses similarly have professional counselors to help talk one through emotional issues.

If, however, your problems relate specifically to your thesis with things like writers' block, your ideas not 'jelling', lack of motivation, angst over your research writing not being good enough, and so on, then a writing coach might be what you need. Some campuses offer thesis-writing seminars, workshops, and so on ... but many do not. A private writing coach charges fees, but the fees are likely less than the cost of a typical graduate course or even just the fees charged to continue your registration for yet another extension as you struggle alone to finish your thesis. A writing coach can get you through the writing portion of the thesis faster, with less pain [there is no such thing as 'painlessly' when it comes to thesis-writing] and with a greater likelihood of success.

Start with the FREE 32-page guide from EssentialEdits.ca to understanding the thesis-writing process and strategies to address the logistical and psychological barriers to completing a thesis. (See also the "thesis" button on the EssentialEdits.ca homepage for other useful resources for Graduate Students, such as the pamphlet on how to choose your thesis supervisor or the pamphlet on keeping key files safely backedup.)

For personal coaching on your thesis or dissertation, Dr. Runté and his staff are ready to help. $400-$500 buys ten hours of coaching. All coaching, tutoring, and editing is done within the ethical guidelines of the Editors Association of Canada.