Meaghan Steeves

Nice, Katharine! Em dashes are my close second favorite to the ampersand, and my third is the semi-colon. 😄

[Image description: A slip of paper on which “Ready isn’t a feeling. It’s a decision.” is written in shimmery brown ink lies next to a honey-yellow pen and several brown notebooks. End of description.]

big emotion things like life decisions! I guess take each word to the wise as it applies?

Have a great week, all! ✨
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Apparently this is a pretty common quote, though I’d never heard of it! I can appreciate this objective, no-nonsense way of thinking about something you’re going back and forth on. But I also think telling someone to turn off their feelings can be easier said than done, especially for (cont’d)

[Image description: A small stack of books about punctuation sits on a bookshelf next to a pink potted faux plant. End of description.]

Happy Punctuation day! {⁉️&;)*} Lots of bookish/bookish-adjacent days this week!

What’s your favourite punctuation mark? Mine’s the ampersand! 💗&😁
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[Image description: A brass and black pen lies on a graph notepad on which “Hello September! How I’ve missed you.” is written in black ink. End of description.]

I love this time so much, especially when I have myriad learning opportunities to look forward to this fall, from conferences to webinars. 🤓💗

Do you also consider autumn a prime season for learning? 📖🍂

#EditingCommunity #AmEditing #WritingCommunity #AmWriting #FreelanceEditor #NowBooking

Happy Tuesday!

Many of us relish that idyllic, brief window in early September when we feel like students starting another semester. Even after you leave school, you get to have this feeling without the new year jitters and pressures of multiple courses and assignments every week.

Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me? Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

In other news I grabbed this at a family reunion crafts table and I’m OBSESSED with it. 😁💕

[Image description: A slip of paper on which “Most businesses are built from countless little pockets of time.” is written in blue ink. The paper and a blue pen lie on white notebooks. End of description.]

It’s when I send an introductory email, draft a pitch, tweak my website, or do some marketing. When added up, it makes a real difference, and having a limited period of time helps me waste less of it. Do you find this true too?

Have a great week!
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Happy Tuesday!

I heard a concept on a podcast that really resonated with me. My business has been built, and continues to be built, on small windows of time between other work.

Agreed! These jobs are nuanced, darn it!

That's a great idea!

and
11. Martin Landau in NBNW

Okay, I echo Suzanne, Tallulah, and Pat (in Stranger) and add:
4. Thelma Ritter in Rear Window
5. Leo G. Caroll in North by Northwest
6. Doris Day in The Man Who Knew Too Much
7. Martin Balsam in Psycho
8. Leopoldine Konstantin in Notorious
9. Tippi in The Birds
10. Robert Donat in The 39 Steps

Definitely! 😁

😂 I can edit my reels on Instagram but that’s pretty much it!

No, LinkedIn. A video editor is NOT the same thing as a copy editor. 🙃

#Freelance #Editor #WritingCommunity #AmEditing #NowBooking
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[Image description: A sketchbook and a white pencil and eraser lie on grey paper. On the sketchbook is a note that reads “Writers draw pictures with words. Editors blend and lift, only erasing sparingly.” End of description.]

Here’s a metaphor for your Monday! 🤓

Editors collaborate with writers to make their projects sing. We might suggest alternatives or point out where a reader may stumble, but on principle we will not change your voice. 💗

Have a great week!

Why it’s nearly impossible to buy an original Bob Ross painting The famed TV artist was one of history’s most prolific painters. But finding Bob Ross paintings for sale is a long shot.

I've always wondered about this!

thehustle.co/why-its-near...

Purple bird pulling on a squiggle that comes from a pencil icon in the Red Pencil Conference logo. Text: Northwest Editors Guild Red Pencil Conference. November 8, 2025, Lynnwood Event Center and Online. Early Bird Registration NOW OPEN! edsguild,org/red-pencil-2025. #Edsguild 2025. Red Pencil Conference 2025 Framing our Future. Perspectives on a Changing Industry.

And keep in mind, Early Bird registration for the #EdsGuild2025 Red Pencil Conference will get you the best value on in-person, online, or in-person + online tickets—on now through 9/15! Video recordings of sessions are available for 6 months after the conference!

edsguild.org/red-pencil-2025

Look you just have to make the cool weird shit that excites you. You must. In this world besieged by bland, scrubbed boring, computer slop, you must. Make the thing you’re embarrassed to make, the thing that feels “too much” because otherwise we get drowned in a sea of cowardly work made by a button

I've got four writing projects due at various stages this month and I'm really excited about them!

What do you have going on that's got you hyped up to get to your desk at the moment? (I understand if it's nothing because summer, haha.) I'd love to hear!

Choice Words Editing

Thanks for your support!
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[Image description: An infographic that reads “Now Booking for Autumn 2025” followed by a list of Choice Words Editing’s services. End of description.]

I have some slots left for autumn so now’s the perfect time to get in touch!

I work with short and long-form nonfiction documents, including books, chapbooks, blog posts, newsletters, website copy, recipes and cookbooks.

You can reach me at choicewordsediting.com or choicewordsedit@gmail.com.

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