KOK Edit: Your favorite copyeditor since 1984(SM)
KOK Edit: your favorite copyeditor since 1984(SM) KOK Edit: your favorite copyeditor since 1984(SM) Katharine O'Moore Klopf
Blog

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Software: Niche Spelling Checkers

This week, I've come across recommendations from colleagues for several spelling checkers other than those sold under the big-name brands. I haven't used any of them and so can't rate them, but you might want to investigate them.

  • Personal Best Spelling offers medical word lists that you can purchase and import into Microsoft Word to create custom dictionaries.

  • OpenMedSpel is an open-source medical spelling checker.

  • Inductel produces spelling checkers for medical, scientific and technical, and legal terminology.

If you have favorites that aren't listed here, please share details and links in the comments.

publishing

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

How Does an Editor Switch Mental Gears Between Projects?

A colleague asked me today, "What techniques do you use to transition from one project to the next within the same day?" She asked because yesterday I had posted to my Facebook wall that I was switching mental gears to move from editing Japanese medical English to editing a historical novel.

I replied that these are the steps I take:

  1. I move away from my desk for a few minutes and do some physical task or go outdoors for a while.

  2. If I had been sitting when I finished the first project, I stand up to start working on the next one. And if I had been standing, I sit down.

  3. When family members are home, I try to get them to give me total silence for a few minutes while I start the new project. With my husband and two sons having attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, I don't always get that silence, so sometimes I use my cabinetmaker husband's hearing protection (which looks something like this) for a little while.

If you're an editorial professional, how to you switch mental gears? Please share your techniques in the comments. Maybe some of your tips will be helpful to a colleague.


publishing

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

A Kind Word

What an unexpected pleasure to get a public shout-out from a fellow editor on Twitter!


publishing

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