#StetChat: editing courses

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I enjoy #StetChat. It’s an hour-long discussion for editors on Bluesky. Freelancing can be quite solitary sometimes, so I appreciate the chance to chat with other people in my line of work.

This week’s conversation was about certificates and courses for editors. I had a lot to say because I’ve taken quite a few courses over the years.

We began by talking about certificate courses. These are modular programmes with assessments, so it is possible to fail them. I’ve completed the University of California San Diego’s certificate in copyediting. Someone else in the chat had taken the University of Chicago’s editing certificate.

I think it was generally agreed that tutor-assessed courses like these are very useful for editors. They teach techniques that can be used on almost any text. They also show students what good editing looks like.

We then discussed other courses. Among those that received high praise were Library Juice Academy’s introduction to book indexing and the Poynter ACES certificates in editing. I’ve taken a few short courses with Poynter; I think they’re excellent.

Some editors pointed out that editorial training is expensive and not necessarily affordable for everyone.

On the subject of cost, I made the same point twice because I feel quite strongly about it. In the online editing community, there is a very strong culture of training and learning. I think this can sometimes lead people to feel that they need to take courses almost continuously. (I felt like that myself at one point.)

Taking courses feels productive, and it’s often very nice to be part of a learning community. However, there is no guarantee that any course will improve your employment prospects or result in more work.

In my experience, the best courses have assessments, deadlines, interactive activities, reading assignments, and tutors. They often take place over a staggered period, giving the learning a chance to sink in.

Not all courses are equal.

Editing courses that are simply a series of printouts or webpages can feel like overpriced books. Of course, some are worth their weight in gold, but it’s often not until you’ve paid for them that you find out whether they’re any good.

Personally, I’d advise anyone on a tight budget to investigate cheaper alternatives, such as books or podcasts, before committing money to this type of course.

If you’re considering editing as a career, you might find the following books and podcasts help you decide whether or not to spend hundreds on formal training. There is a lot to learn from all of them:

Shales are interesting

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I’m a freelance proofreader and line editor. My job often involves looking at texts produced in fields of work that I’m unfamiliar with. I prepare myself for that by learning about new subjects in my spare time.

Recently, I’ve been exploring geology. To start with, I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know what geologists did beyond identifying rocks. The resources I’ve read and watched since then have shown me that geology is actually quite exciting!

Rocks and minerals are a record of events that happened millions of years ago. We live surrounded by ancient history. This was brought home to me by a recorded lecture I watched through my membership of the Geologists’ Association.

It was called “Are ‘shales’ really that dull? Continuing to shine light into dark places and what happens when you open Pandora’s Box!”

Shales are a type of sedimentary rock. They form in water from layers of clay, mud, silt, and organic matter. Like tree rings and deeply buried layers of ice in Antarctica, they’re a record of nature’s behaviour over a succession of years, long ago.

The lecturer gave the example of a particular cliff and spoke about samples taken from several different levels. The lower samples were millions of years older than the higher ones.

Each sample was thinly sliced and examined under a microscope. It was fascinating because each one looked different, showing what was happening in the water at the time. The lecturer pointed out some short white lines crossing through the layers. These were the burrows of tiny organisms living in the low-oxygen environment of the seabed.

The lecturer also showed a picture of a rock with a beautiful curved line on it. It was evidence of the water current that had deposited the sediment. It was like a photograph of the past.

Many of the details in the lecture went over my head. For example, I had to pause it to look up the meaning of anoxic event. But I appreciated the overall message. I came away understanding that shales are interesting and not at all dull.

I also understood that geologists can work in very fine detail. As a proofreader, I sometimes have to think about the correct placement of tiny punctuation marks. So I can relate to that.