Editorial Consultancy
I provide a consultancy service to help clients with efficient and effective editorial decision-making.
Writers cannot write, and editors cannot edit, unless they understand the aim of the communication and what choices to make.
For example, if the list of quantities in a recipe reads: 2 oz butter, 250 g flour, half a cup of sugar, the three different units of measurement would make you feel justifiably confused.
Similarly there are many choices to be made over matters such as times and dates, capitalisation, citation of references, legal cases and statutes, numbers, headings, how to refer to governments, countries and heads of state, the correct spelling and expression of a company name, and many other issues.
Just as recipe writers need to be consistent in their use of units of measurement, so writers and editors in any other field need guidance on spelling and abbreviations as well as those issues particular to their discipline.
Using common sense as a yardstick, I have written and developed house style documents to enable clients to work more efficiently and to attain their publication goals. Decisions are usually made on the basis of what is common practice or accepted wisdom, but takes into account the usual practice (if there is one) of the client.
Having Christina advise on editorial style - and knowing that I need not longer worry about either grammatical or orthographical howlers - has made a huge difference to my life as editor of a small-staffed magazine. I can now concentrate on content rather than worry about style. We have also had a number of comments from readers as to how much more professional the magazine is looking these days - which I attribute to Christina's input as nothing else has changed!
Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, founder and editor, Foods Matter