This article appeared under the same heading in PEGboard July 2018. Time | Quality | Price Prompt delivery (time), excellent standards (quality) and affordability (price). As editors, this is what we want to deliver and it's what clients of editing services should...
What is grammar?
This is an extract taken from The PEG guide to grammar and punctuation (2018) by Myf Steynberg. Grammar is the greatest joy in life, don't you find? - Lemony Snicket 'Grammar' is the term used to cover the rules or conventions of English usage that help us to...
A snapshot of the social media landscape in South Africa
In this second of the two-part article on marketing and (social media marketing) SMM for editors, the focus will be on the social media (SM) landscape in South Africa, as at end 2020. In my previous PEGblog post, I defined social media marketing (SMM) within the wider...
The intricacies of editing academic texts for examination purposes
This challenging and often prickly topic has elicited a great deal of controversy. There are many editorial purists who do not see editing as a process but who are prescriptive about what should and should not be done. They believe that a line is firmly drawn in the...
International Mother Language Day
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. - Nelson Mandela Happy International Mother Language Day! We use language every day to communicate with each other, but our mother...
Understanding marketing and social media marketing
In this first of two articles, I will try to situate social media marketing (SMM) within the wider marketing discipline, after situating marketing within organisations. However, I will strip everything down to the bare bones and provide sound-bite type information...
Feedback: PEG’s Editing Fiction webinar
On 11 December 2021, PEG held an online workshop, attended by 30 wordsmiths, on the subject of editing the genre of fiction. It was also the pretext for officially launching PEG's latest guide, Editing fiction, authored by Máire Fisher and Nella Freund, with the...
When to use a hyphen
This article appeared under the heading To hyphenate or not to hyphenate: that is the (thorny) question in PEGboard July 2018. Judging by the queries raised on the PEG chat group, the humble hyphen seems to have a lot of explaining to do! In this post, I focus on its...
10 tips for better blog writing
Have you ever considered blog writing? In this edition of PEGblog, Faeron Wheeler gives us 10 valuable tips for better blog writing. Blog writing has become something of an artform on its own. There are rules and best practices that define the skill of writing...
Professional editors adhere to an ethical code
In the first post in this series, we defined professionalism and identified three criteria of being a professional editor. We discussed specific knowledge and skill in the second post and remuneration in the third. In this final post, we'll look at an ethical code of...
Why should a thesis be edited?
A good editor can add significant value to the quality of a thesis. In this edition of PEGblog, Jacqui Baumgardt tells us why and how. The worth of a thesis A thesis is the personal work of a student attempting to achieve a master's or doctoral degree in a chosen...
Professionalism means fair remuneration for expert services
In the first post in this series, we defined professionalism and identified three criteria for being a professional editor. We looked at skill and knowledge in the second post. Now it's time to think about what it means to charge for professional editing and...
The heart of New Hart’s Rules
Who is at the heart of the New Hart's Rules? Helena Opperman tells us his story. His gloves were neatly folded on the shore; his body was found floating in Youlbury Lake near Oxford. It was 9 October 1916 and a few months into the third year of the First World War....
Professionalism is rooted in skill and knowledge
Part two of a four-part series on professionalism. The first post in this series defined professionalism and identified three criteria of being professional. This post discusses the first criterion - specific knowledge and skill - within the context of PEG's Code of...
How to use colons and semicolons
Ever wonder how to use colons and semicolons? In this edition of PEGblog, Lyn Aecer attempts to win over some editors to the use of these marks while they improve texts. This article appeared under the heading Colons and semicolons: More honoured in the breach than...
What does it mean to be a professional editor?
To kick off our blog, editor and writing consultant Alexis Grewan tells us what it means to be a professional editor in a four-part series of posts. Part one of a four-part series on professionalism. As editors, we like to think of ourselves as professionals, maybe...
Welcome to PEGblog!
PEG is proud and pleased to announce the launch of PEGblog. We hope that you will visit us often to read the latest posts and to interact with PEG and its members. Who are we? PEG has a subcommittee for PEGblog. In alphabetical order: Anna Herrington: PEG marketing...