At first, I didn’t think I needed to join the Professional Editors’ Guild (PEG). However, it became clear to me that it was important to do so.

I joined PEG in October 2019, although I had called myself an editor since 2003. I had come to know of PEG’s existence, but saw no reason to join. I had been part of professional organisations since my time as a newspaper journalist in the mid-1970s, followed by my membership, as a user of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator^®, of type-related associations in the United States, Australia and South Africa during the 1990s and early 2000s. Did I really need this one?

Yes, I did – for two important reasons.

• I needed to show a level of professional competence

During 2019, the head of department (HOD) at one of the university faculties for whose students and staff I had been editing for several years contacted me. Did I belong to a professional editors’ organisation? If not, I risked being removed from their list of approved service providers. So, I joined PEG and happily sent the HOD my proof of membership.

Only then did I begin to appreciate the second reason that I needed to belong…

• I needed to gain a level of professional competence

A couple of weeks into my PEG membership, the awful truth began to hit me: I still had much to learn.

The discussions on PEG-CHAT (now PEGforum) were the first inkling that for years I had been editing intuitively and without reference to guidelines, editors’ handbooks and the like. My participation in PEG webinars drove home the point: I was an amateur editor. Not necessarily a bad one, judging by my satisfied clients’ feedback, but still an amateur.

In the nearly six years since I joined PEG, I hope that I have gained some measure of professionalism. A modest library of resources perches on a small book rack behind my laptop screen, while the many resources on the PEG website are only a click away. In the ongoing quest to improve my competence, I recently completed John Linnegar’s online course Editing academic texts: the essential fundamentals through the University of Cape Town.

I have another invaluable resource that cannot fit on my desk: the Eastern Cape region of PEG.

Regional community: Local is lekker

A few months after I had joined PEG, the Covid-19 pandemic changed everything. As so many others did, I relied more than ever on the internet to practise and grow in my craft, since it was a time of acute isolation.

In mid-2021, as we emerged from the Covid-19 restrictions, PEG members in the Eastern Cape received an email from Dawn Green who, I soon learnt, lived and edited on a farm in the Maloti-Drakensberg mountains north of Barkly East. That’s about as remote as one can get in the Eastern Cape.

Dawn invited us to form an Eastern Cape branch of PEG ‘to support each other and ensure our needs are met and voices heard in PEG’. The pandemic had left many editors feeling cut off, but the size of our province made in-person meetings impractical. So Dawn proposed that we meet online every two or three months to chat and exchange ideas and resources. We’d also occasionally ask an experienced editor to share their expertise with us.

So began the story of the PEG EC region – a story that has been told, in part, in the August 2024 issue of PEGboard. However, being part of PEG EC for the past four years has not only taught me so much about editing, collegiality and mutual support but has also led me into the rewarding practice of volunteerism.

Service with a smile

I’m no stranger to caring about and supporting others, having been an Anglican priest for 45 years. But being part of PEG EC has added a new dimension: volunteerism.

Dawn led our region for two years, laying solid foundations; and when she needed to step back, I volunteered to take her place. It turned out to be a bigger job than I had realised: arranging, hosting and following up on monthly online sessions, networking via email and WhatsApp, welcoming new members, encouraging local face-to-face gatherings, attending PEG’s online national executive committee meetings… However, I found all of it enriching and energising – and it helped me to accumulate many CPD points!

I completed two years as chair in May this year, and happily handed over to Kate Davies, who is bringing fresh ideas and great creativity to the role.

It has been a privilege to work with talented, committed colleagues, serving them for no other reward than gaining new friends as we have learnt together and built a virtual community of editing professionals.

Professionalism, regional solidarity, volunteerism: these have been at the heart of my PEG experience. I am not alone in this. PEG is served richly by people in regional and national leadership who share those qualities. I hope that even more of our members will join us on that journey.

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