My wife can finish a novel in an afternoon and tell you exactly how it made her feel. I have never been able to read that way, and after a career spent first teaching and then editing, I have stopped apologising for it. I read slowly, and I ...Read More
An Australian writer sits down to write for an international audience and immediately hits a decision most people never consciously make: which English? The manuscripts we edit are full of the evidence that this decision is usually made by accident — organise in one paragraph and organize in ...Read More
Editor's note: this article was substantially revised in July 2026. The reading list now focuses on books about writing and editing, which is what we do. See our corrections policy. Ask ten editors for the books that actually changed how they work and you will hear the same handful ...Read More
Editor's note: This article was reviewed and updated in July 2026 to focus on how these words work in writing. See our corrections policy. Editors develop a particular relationship with vocabulary. Not the spelling-bee kind — the working kind. When you spend your days fixing other people's sentences, you ...Read More
Editor's note: This article was reviewed and updated in July 2026 to meet Expert Editor's editorial standards. Some statistics may have been updated since original publication. When teens and young adults are immersed in their smartphones, what do you think they're doing? Scrolling their Instagram feed? Chatting to friends ...Read More
Editor's note: This article was reviewed and updated in July 2026 to meet Expert Editor's latest editorial standards. What do Donald Trump, Taylor Swift, the Duchess of Cambridge and Noam Chomsky all have in common? Apart from being extraordinarily successful, they love to read. Research studies have long confirmed that ...Read More