Meet the 2022 Board
Our all-volunteer board of directors changes a little bit every year, with most members serving a two-year term on the board that ends in February. This year we're saying farewell to 2021 board members Jesi Hanley Vega, Laura Whittemore, and Alison Cantrell, and welcoming new board member Megan Christy. MariLou Harveland, Kris Ashley, Sarah Peterson, Laura Shaw, Alicia Ramos, Erica Akiko Howard, and Ivonne Ward continue their service.
Instead of our usual formal biographies, the board this year decided to answer some fun questions as their introductions.
Member Survey Results
It's been an interesting two years since our last Member Survey, hasn't it?
We’re so pleased that almost 200 of you (approximately 50% of the Northwest Editors Guild’s membership) took the time to participate in the 2021 Member Survey, especially amidst the ongoing upheaval of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 2021 Member Survey asked about many different measures of our professional lives. We've pulled out a few things that we thought were the most interesting takeaways to share.
State of the Guild 2021
If you’re relatively new to the Guild, you are probably unaware that back in the day, prior to the pandemic, the Guild would host an annual potluck in Seattle. In addition to providing an occasion for members to eat yummy food and get to know each other better, the potluck was also the site of the Guild’s Board President’s “State of the Guild” address. This address served as a report-back to the members, but it was also an opportunity to educate members about the current scope, vision, and goals of the Guild as well as the work done by our Board of Directors (here are the 2019 and 2020 addresses). Once the pandemic hit, however, and the Guild’s potlucking days receded into the past, what was once a live “address” migrated to the internet and became a blog post.
So here it is, the State of the Guild, circa 2021, as told by your current President, Jesi Vega.
It Was a Dreary Night of November: The Importance of Setting in Horror Fiction
If you’ve read Dracula or Frankenstein, you’re probably already aware of how important setting is to the Gothic novel. If Dracula had lived in a cottage by the sea, it would have been a much different story. Unlike other stories at the time, Gothic literature was a place where setting played just as much importance as character and usually involved desolate landscapes in wild and mountainous locations, rambling castles, foggy moors, and decaying ruins.
In contemporary horror fiction—the successor of Gothic literature—setting plays an equal role. But where the Gothic’s settings reflect the fear of giving in to social vices and desires, the horror of the modern reader is focused on realities that are closer to home.
Editing While Parenting
Many of us have found ourselves busier than usual over the last couple of years, and the situation for parents has been even busier. Covid-19 brought with it concerns about childcare, lockdown, safety, and remote schooling, as well as changes to the way many of us do our regular jobs. The Northwest Editors Guild Blog Team recently had a chance to chat over Google Docs with five busy editors who are also parents, to find out how they’re making it all fit together.
How to Get the Most Out of the Guild’s Member Directory
As a member of the Guild, of course you want to make sure that your profile on the member directory presents you in the best possible light to potential clients who might find you via our search page, but there’s a lot more to that than just selecting your areas of specialty (and keeping them updated as your career progresses). For example, did you know that clients can leave recommendations on your profile? Read on a few top tips on how to get the most out of the member directory.
Give Back by Volunteering for the EdsGuild
Do you want to help create beneficial opportunities for fellow editors? All it takes is your time and knowledge and signing up for one of the Northwest Editors Guild’s upcoming volunteer options.
The Guild is now in the process of recruiting volunteers for board service (beginning in January 2022) as well as conference planning for the next Red Pencil Conference in Seattle (scheduled for late 2022).
BREATHE: Overcoming Writer’s Block
I once had a job attempting to novelize a video game that (somehow) had no script, and every time I told the project manager, “I’m stuck,” they would tell me, “It’s okay, you just need to wait for the muse to inspire you!”
Needless to say, that book never got written, because—more’s the pity—working writers don’t have the luxury of waiting for inspiration to strike. When a deadline’s looming, and the writer’s block is pressing down, you often don’t have any other option but to keep going, even when that feels like beating your head against a brick wall.
Thankfully, there are some things you can do to help break through the (hopefully metaphorical) wall.
Taking the Sting Out of Editing with Ariel Anderson of ‘Edit Your Darlings’
As a new-ish editor, I spend a lot of time researching and learning about editing, whether that’s through reading books, watching videos about it on YouTube, or listening to podcasts. Unfortunately, finding the latter can be a little tricky, since “editing podcast” or “podcasts about editing” or “show me an editing podcast, damn it” all yield results about how to edit your podcast. While I’ve learned it helps to be more specific (searching “podcasts about copyediting,” for example), to emerging editors who haven’t quite found their niche yet, it can be a little daunting when you don’t know where to start.
So I was delighted to learn that Seattle Guild member Ariel Anderson has her own podcast, titled Edit Your Darlings, where she covers a broad range of editing subjects through her interviews.
The Ergonomic Challenges of Armrests for Short People
Office chair and desk ergonomics is a well-established subject with a wealth of information freely available on the Internet. Chair height, lumbar support, and monitor height are all familiar topics for most people who spend the majority of their workday at a desk. But I want to move the spotlight over to a particular topic in chair ergonomics that isn’t discussed as much, but has huge ramifications for short people like me (under 5’4” for female-assigned bodies or 5’6” for male-assigned bodies): armrest height.