Friday, May 6, 2011

Hey, Whipple, edit this

On Tuesday morning eight adventurous students will start my Red River College Intersession course, Editing Print and Online Media.

For seven weeks, two mornings a week, we will practise editing – making print and online materials make sense for audiences.

There will be some spelling and grammar and a bit of numbers.

We will spot screwups in written work from books to billboards to building walls, and in online material from everywhere.

But, more importantly, we will look at how editing and organizing can improve all sorts of writing and other activities.

You can follow the students’ weekly blogs on the list on the right side of this screen.

The last time I taught this course, in the fall of 2010, I was impressed by how broadly students were able to define editing. Check out some of their blogs:

Neil Babaluk wrote about editing video, a time-consuming but rewarding task.

Shelley Cook discussed editing political priorities (are you listening, newly elected MPs?).

Stacia Franz edited Europe (Napoleon and others tried but failed).

Sandy Klowak considered the editing that should go into novels but often doesn’t.

Kimberlee Lawson edited time (I wish I could).

Keep spotting those screwups!