I recommend a local discovery, Working Words by Elizabeth Manning Murphy, a professional editor of this parish both sound and interesting on usage, grammar, style and editing of text. Hers is a book which could be a textbook for a proper course in English, but also, like Fowler, or Partridge or Gowers, will give pleasure, satisfaction and smugness in equal measure even to the already literate. Literally.

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While John Linnegar and I were attending the annual conference of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders(SfEP) in Oxford in September, we had the pleasure of meeting a delightful Australian, Elizabeth Manning Murphy, and the opportunity to purchase copies of her book Working Words, which had just been published by the Canberra Society of Editors in Australia.

Working Words is a collection of ‘chats’ (chapters written in a chatty style) about aspects of editing and writing, and is based on articles written by Elizabeth Manning Murphy for the society’s newsletter, The Canberra editor, over a period of ten years. Besides the chats, there are also a few fun pieces scattered throughout the book, called ‘itchypencils’, which describe instances of itchypencilitis (the disease that afflicts all true editors when they find themselves without a writing implement and are confronted with public signs and notices they think cry out to be corrected, clarified or recorded).

Its blurb describes Working Words as follows: The book is for dipping into – it’s not a textbook, but is a companion to books on grammar, style, punctuation, plain English, editing, and the business of being a freelance writer or editor.

All this is true, and points to the fact that Working Words is not meant to be a language-usage manual or a reference text. However, John and I were completely taken with it, somewhat unexpectedly finding ourselves reading it for hours on end instead of ‘dipping into’ it. That’s how good and relevant it is.

Working Words has been divided into eight parts, with their headings providing an idea of the scope of the topics covered in the book: ‘The craft of editing’; ‘Editors beware: Ethical and legal considerations’; ‘The business of editing’; ‘Grammar – some basics’; ‘Grammar—beyond the basics’; ‘Punctuation—marks that matter’; ‘What is style?’; and ‘The future of working words’. The author is a trained linguist, an editor of long standing, a consultant in communication skills and a trainer in effective writing; and in the course of her varied career has reflected on many of the numerous issues that give editors pause for thought on a daily basis. The book thus goes to the nub of the issues, problems and challenges that editors inevitably experience with most of the manuscripts they take on.

According to Elizabeth Manning Murphy, many of the topics for the chats ‘happened as a direct result of requests from working editors, would-be editors and people who didn’t learn the whys and wherefores of English grammar at school’. Her approach to language usage is both authoritative and open to different ideas. As the author tells us, ‘I am a descriptive linguist, not a prescriptive grammarian.’ At the same time, this is not a case of ‘anything goes’. Despite her flexible touch and egalitarian ways, the author consistently explains and clearly substantiates her views on the issues she raises.

This attitude applies equally well to all the other topics in the book. Again and again, one marvels at solid content accessibly expressed, at the work of someone who clearly loves to share and impart knowledge accumulated through long reflection and experience.

The tone is engaging, personal, practical and immediate, and the book acts as a friendly mentor that is always within one’s reach. Elizabeth Manning Murphy has a crisp, fresh way with words. Each chapter sizzles with energy, and offers clear thinking, wisdom and good humour in large quantities.

Described slightly differently, this is a title that provides good cheer and encouragement on the path of an editor’s life. Working Words is the kind of book that makes more experienced practitioners feel both affirmed and challenged. At the same time, I cannot think of a better buy for someone starting out on a career as an editor (especially as a freelance); it will make new editors feel grounded.

In summary, this is a book to be savoured, a steadfast companion not only to other books but also to its readers. You will find it useful to dip into, especially since it has a decent index. However, don’t be surprised if you find yourself including it in your holiday or your fireside reading.

Isabelle Delvare works as a writer, editor and a lecturer in publishing studies. She currently heads the Professional Editors’ Group (PEG) in South Africa. This review was first published in the group’s newsletter, PEGboard, in December 2011. http://www.editors.org.za/

Used with permission.

Val Rice will be the Society’s guest speaker at its first meeting in February 2012. Her talk will cover the history and development of Society for Freelance Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) from its first meeting in 1988 to the present day.

Val joined the SfEP in 1995 and is now an Advanced member. She has also been awarded the City and Guilds Licentiateship in Editorial Skills (LCGI). She originally trained as a bilingual secretary at the Lycée Français de Londres and worked as a secretary before training as a teacher of shorthand and typing at Pitmans Central College in London.

Val taught business studies, IT and secretarial skills in secondary schools and tertiary colleges. She also worked as an examiner for Pitmans, the London Chamber of Commerce, the Royal Society of Arts (now OCR) and Edexcel (London University) and wrote shorthand speed examination passages for OCR. She ran her own secretarial centre from 1984 until 1988 providing secretarial training, editing and word processing services. She also worked with her husband to set up his chartered accountancy practice in the same premises and acted as his office manager.

In 1999, Val was elected to the committee of the Society for Freelance Editors and Proofreaders and became treasurer in 2001. Following the society’s incorporation and its re-launch as the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) in 2003 she became finance director and company secretary.

She retired from SfEP in September 2007 and she was awarded honorary membership. Valerie’s booklet—Starting Out: Setting up a small business—was published in 2006 and the first in a series of SfEP guides. She is now working on the third edition.

Now Val concentrates on copy-editing and development editing but spends as much time as possible with her husband and family, including three grandsons. When she comes to Australia she will visit her youngest son and his wife in Sydney and meet her new granddaughter who is due to be born in January.

We will celebrate 2011 with our end-of-year dinner at Ethiopia Down Under at the Pearce shops. On offer is a generous sampling of everything on the menu. Vegans, carnivores, palates spicy and bland will all find something they can enjoy. Coffee, roasted onsite by the restaurant, is also included.

Wine-writer Chris Shanahan is to be our after-dinner speaker. Chris is a writer and editor who has specialised in wine selection, marketing and communication. After 30 years in liquor retail, Chris joined a government agency where he has edited for the past few years. He has been The Canberra Times’ wine columnist for 26 years and its beer columnist for six.

Cost: $27 (includes a glass of champagne on arrival, but BYO all other alcoholic drinks). Dessert is optional for about $10 extra (payable on the night)

Register (below) and pay by 28 November. See http://www.editorscanberra.org/about/payment/ for instructions on how to pay by EFT.

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IPEd would like you to:

• upload information to the website as requested by IPEd’s company secretary, councillors, committees and member societies of editors
• identify material of value and interest to editors and add this to the website
• update the website as required and archive out-of-date information
• maintain the website’s members’ database.

The person we are looking for will:

• have experience with website content management systems
• be an editor and a member of an Australian society of editors
• support IPEd’s objectives.

Applications should be sent to info@iped-editors.org by the close of business Friday 11 November.

IPEd exists to advance the profession of editing by planning and implementing an accreditation scheme and other nationally focused activities that support Australian societies of editors and their members, and editors in general.

A link to the two programs can be found through the Style Council website http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/news/australian_style/style_council.html though the programs themselves are not yet there.

Canberra editors have the chance to review the proposed changes to the Australian Standards for Editing Practice at the October meeting. We will be emailing the proposed Standards to all members before the meeting. If you want to compare versions, you can download a copy of the current Standards at http://iped-editors.org/Editing_standards.

We will be going through the proposed Standards and the original ones with the aim of getting your ideas. Do you agree with what is suggested, or do you have other suggestions to improve the document?

Collectively, Australian editors have reviewed the standards twice – in 2005 and 2010 – and it is time to finalise the revised document. A review need not conclude that a document must change; however, working groups have identified areas that could benefit from some change.

The two prime areas of focus have been:

• active wording that provides skills-based as well as knowledge-based standards
• inclusion of new technologies in terms of editing tools as well as publishing processes and formats.

Other aspects to consider include the overall structure of the document, inconsistencies, and duplication or omission of some points.

We’ll be emailing the proposed version in the next few days so you can have a read and get some thoughts together before the meeting. If you can bring your copy of the original standards, it will help discussions. Page x lists the contents of the two documents to give you a quick overview of where the main changes are.

If you are new to the society, then this is a good chance to find out more about the Standards and how they relate to editing practice in Australia.

We would like to thank our very own Ted Briggs for the work he has done on behalf of IPEd and the societies of editors to get the revision to this stage.

Details are at: The Plain English Foundation website

Presenter
Dr Neil James is an international expert on plain English who has taught thousands of professionals on effective workplace writing skills. Neil speaks regularly on radio about public language, and is the author of Writing at Work and co-author of the forthcoming Modern Manglish.