EdANZ welcomes everyone to 2021
by Caroline Simpson
Kia ora
It’s the last month of summer but we know more hot weather will come. As I work from home, this is one of the two seasons of the year when I sometimes wish I worked in an office.
I secretly long for the air conditioning to run at someone else’s expense so I can justify turning it on. In winter I have the same issue. But in autumn and spring my office is delightful, benefitting from the afternoon sun without being too hot.
There are other advantages to working from home. The ‘lunchroom’ is only a step away and my lunch is always fresh — no naming of Tupperware and leaving it in the fridge for me. It doesn’t matter when the tradie turns up because I’m always home. I don’t have to ask the boss if I can leave early for a family emergency because my time is my own to account for.
But there are disadvantages too. If I am ill then I must negotiate with the client or meet the deadline anyway. Or it may be bad enough that I need to ask an editing colleague to help me out, in which case I face a loss of income.
While slotting domestic tasks in during work time is useful, the converse is the lack of boundary between work and the rest of my life. It takes a great deal of will power to ignore those client emails that turn up at odd times — like 10pm on Christmas night.
For those of you who habitually work in an office, after last year’s lockdowns you will have a good idea of both work environments. I would love to hear your thoughts on the advantages or otherwise of them and which you found more conducive to editing.
Noho ora mai
Caroline
Caroline Simpson, EdANZ Branch President
edanz.president@iped-editors.org
New members
We are pleased to welcome new associate members Heather Taylor and Elspeth Kendall-Carpenter, and new student member Rina Wongpanich.
Past events
Achieving clarity through plain language – Thursday 19 November 2020
Perfectly timed for that just-before-the-exam brush-up, this speaker event, featuring Meredith Thatcher, provided excellent insight into the principles of plain language. Meredith regularly works in plain language for her clients, both editing and teaching it. She talked us through the rationale for using easy-to-understand language, explaining how its use engages readers — which is exactly what our clients want.
She gave us 17 pointers to help with writing and editing to plain language principles — a fascinating reminder that we need to write and edit our words with the reader in mind. Easy-to-understand language doesn’t dumb things down, it makes information more accessible to everyone.
The following day we received a bibliography of references Meredith had used in the preparation of the presentation, a great idea as there are often more questions after the event. Now we knew where to look.
Coming events
Canterbury editors lunch with guest speaker Quentin Wilson
Date: Saturday 20 March 2021, 12.30pm to 2.30pm NZDT
Venue: Meshino Café, 75 Rutland Street, St Albans, Christchurch
Cost: IPEd members NZD$11; non-members NZD$16
Meet and have lunch with fellow editors and Quentin Wilson of Quentin Wilson Publishing.
Quentin has more than three decades of experience in all aspects of book publishing, producing six to eight books a year in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction genres. Categories of published fiction books include literary, historical, genre (including crime, thriller, sci-fi and fantasy) and young adult, plus creative and general non-fiction (including biography, history, gardening, hunting and fishing, and politics). Quentin also provides professional production services for small publishers or those wishing to self-publish, from editing, book design and printing to marketing and distribution.
Book here.