Helpful Links
The site of genderqueer radical copyeditor Alex Kapitan: “The concept of radical copyediting is based on the fact that language is not neutral. Through language we communicate values, norms, and ideals. Words matter: they can be used to harm or to heal; to perpetuate prejudice or imagine a different world; to oppress or to liberate.” Alex’s blog article “The Racial Copyeditor’s Style Guide for Writing About Transgender People” is especially useful.
Autistic Hoya is the website of Lydia X. Z. Brown: “I’m a writer, dreamer, activist/organizer, and speaker/educator. Some of the many marginal identities/experiences I hold are that I’m autistic and multiply otherwise neurodivergent and disabled, queer, asexual-spectrum, genderqueer/non-binary and sometimes read as feminine, and transracially and transnationally adopted east asian person of color from China (into a white adoptive family.” Their blog post on Ableism/Language is an excellent overview and guide, and this more substantive piece, “Violence in Language: Circling Back to Linguistic Ableism,” is well worth your time.
A blog post from New York Book Editors that explains the difference between these two tasks. You can also check out this quick summary from Grammarly, or this post at Upwork.
This is a delightful, good-humored site full of great tips and reminders, run by Karen Yin, winner of the 2017 Robinson Prize for furthering the professional craft of editing. AP vs. Chicago is “[a] style guide comparing Associated Press style and Chicago style for editors, writers, teachers, students, word nerds, and anyone else who gives a dollar sign, ampersand, exclamation point, and pound sign about style.” (There’s even merch!)
Also founded by editor extraordinaire Karen Yin, Conscious Style Guide is “the first website devoted to conscious language. Our mission is to help writers and editors think critically about using language—including words, portrayals, framing, and representation—to empower instead of limit. In one place, you can access style guides covering terminology for various communities and find links to key articles debating usage. We study words so that they can become tools instead of unwitting weapons.”
I do my best to help every writer I can, but I recognize that as a cisgender white woman, I may not be the best fit for your project. Karen Yin has also organized this fantastic tool: “Our database highlights language and content editors, sensitivity readers, proofreaders, and other editorial professionals from underrepresented communities and cultures.”
