Wilfred or Wilfrid

On the eve of the beginning of the new school year, I received an email from an instructor (who may or may not specialize in online and print media editing) mentioning that the blog I was writing for the Winnipeg Free Press had lots of good writing and photos, but that I should check the spelling of our eighth prime minister. Four people reading over the blog (including myself) had overlooked the fact that Sir Laurier spelled his name "Wilfrid" not "Wilfred".

That was how my second year of CreComm was kicked off. It was an omen for the upcoming year and the utter importance of editing in any aspect of the communications business. Whether you're writing stories for a local newspaper, creating news releases for a not-for-profit organization or coming up with witty copy for a brand new advertising campaign, thorough editing is essential.

That's where the Editing Print and Online Media course comes into play. A major component of the CreComm program is writing and often "fatal errors", that could easily have been removed through the process of editing, lead to failed assignments. Had my blog post been an assignment for school, I would have been deducted 50 per cent and received a dreaded "auto-fail". Mistakes like this could easily be weeded out through the process of copy editing, which this course seeks to improve our skills in.

The editing process is much more than simple spelling correction though. Proper and thorough editing will streamline writing by smoothing out the style and formatting of the piece, while chopping out filler words. In a business that prides itself on the efficiency of writing, this process will not only make the writer's job easier, but it will communicate the essential message of the piece to audience with greater clarity.

I'll be the first to admit that sometimes my editing process is a little bit lax, a habit that was reinforced by year after year of professors paying no attention to the grammar of my writing, but last year was a wake up call and I'm working at stepping up my game. Editing Print and Online Media will allow me to improve on my skills. Now I just need to make sure I look in my Caps and Spelling before I use the names of any of our prime ministers.