In 2025, it came to my attention that there are two ways to put a loo roll on the holder – you can either have the paper rolling out from the top or from the bottom. This is something that stumped me (surprisingly,...
Editors are superheroes – at least according to a song by Samsa & Headhaunter. These were not musicians I had heard of until my son, then 18, said: ‘Mom, you’ll love this song.’ To this day, I listen to the music...
AI has changed the way academic writing is refined and polished. Tasks that once took hours can now be completed in minutes From an editor’s point of view, AI has changed the way academic writing is refined and...
This is how I tackle the copy-editing of a postgraduate manuscript, which I hope is helpful to our new PEG members who are not sure how or where to start. Breaking the ice Once I’ve been approached to edit the...
Among the array of tech tools that we editors can use to ease the cognitive load, Google Docs stands out as a free option. Although it appears similar to the MS Word spelling and grammar checks (renamed ‘Editor’ in...
You love words. You love reading. You know how to spell and whether to put an apostrophe in ‘its’. You check CVs for friends, proofread your neighbourhood newsletter and use full words and punctuation in WhatsApp...
If there’s one thing professional editors rarely have enough of, it’s time. Between tight deadlines, overlapping projects, client queries, revisions and administrative work, the working day can disappear very quickly....
I’m always trying to find ways to be more efficient – not necessarily faster, but more adept at balancing speed and quality. Having recently discovered that I can use ChatGPT in the same way others use PerfectIt, I...
An affidavit is a written document the contents of which are sworn to under oath or affirmed by the person who deposes the document. It comprises five defining elements. In South Africa, an affidavit is a...
Our members often ask: ‘Why should I take the PEG Accreditation Test? And how will it benefit me?’ Well, there are a number of really positive reasons for doing so: First, it enables each of us to benchmark ourselves...
‘… most of the criticism is valid, and if we can edit the right way [my emphasis] and make it a really good read, I will be eternally grateful …’, said an author to me after putting a section of their carefully and...
After a year spent running frantically on the hamster wheel of life (and with our gardener on leave), it was wonderful to take some time off in December to spend a few hours mindlessly pulling weeds from our garden. As...
Are you part of an editorial team for an accredited academic journal, or do you want to become part of one? In this blog, I share how I used familiar guidelines to cope with the unfamiliar editorial demands of a...
Beginning in 1985, I was blessed with a grandchild every year for five years. How honoured I felt! Birthdays come around every year and there’s always a decision about what one can give as a memorable gift. When my...
The way things were For the first seventeen years of my editing career, my LinkedIn profile was as bare-bones as it could be. It included my name, the headline ‘Freelance editor’ and the most basic information about my...
I love editing poetry. One engages both the left and right sides of the brain, in that one has to discern sentences in the midst of the words, ensuring that the underlying structure is sound, while also paying...
Abbreviations are intended to make dense text more easily readable, but too many can be irritating. They are always dealt with separately in guidelines for text and for references; the instructions sometimes contradict...
Let’s be honest – getting involved can be messy at times. I’ve been an over-the-top volunteer, a background worker and all the in-between options as well – and of course some have been more successful than others. In...
At year-end, I gathered my supporting documents to hand over to my accountant. The purpose was to compile the first set of annual financial statements and tax returns for a company that I had established for my editing...
After living and working in a city for my entire life, I changed gear for a better quality lifestyle. My husband and I now live on our farm in the Eastern Cape, bordering the Baviaans Nature Reserve, part of the...
