Write to the Point is a team of people passionate about language and writing. We are from diverse backgrounds and have worn many hats. Together, we balance and complement each other. We share a background in editing and a common conviction that anyone can learn to communicate clearly, concisely and correctly.
Kristina Davidson has worked in Europe and South Africa, across sectors (SME, NGO, Corporate) and disciplines (administration, manufacturing marketing). For over 20 years, she has been exposed to the worst and the best of business writing, and has witnessed firsthand the importance of clear, accurate written communication. She combines practical, logical thinking with visual creativity, and her strengths are structuring, summarising, and translating gobbledygook into plain English. Kristina holds an MBA from the UCT Graduate School of Business, speaks French, and believes that, while creativity has a place in the business world, creative writing is best reserved for novels. She has a good general knowledge and understands business and economic development.
Sukaina Walji has been a Communications Professional for 15 years, working across a range of industries including digital publishing, public sector marketing communications and education, both in the UK and South Africa. She has extensive experience in the use of language across multiple media and the implications of social media on our language use. She tutors business and academic writing skills both face-to-face and in an online environment, as well as developing courses for e-learning environments. She is sensitive to the needs of second-language English speakers and believes that rapid results can be achieved through immersive and innovative teaching strategies. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Professional Editors’ Group of South Africa, where she is the webmaster and holds the Communications portfolio. Sukaina has an Honours degree from Oxford University and has just completed her Master’s in Online Education at the Open University, UK.
Carol du Toit has taught at both high school and primary school levels, and facilitated adult learning workshops in computer literacy and English as a Foreign Language. For the past 10 years, she has focused on editing and proofreading, specifically educational textbooks for primary and high school and FET colleges. Her interests include plain language (concentrating on getting the message across simply and directly) and keeping current with language and technology. Her qualifications include BA (Psychology, History), HDE (Guidance and Counselling, History), FDE (Computer Assisted Education), Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL).
The Editors’ Circle
At Write to the Point, we believe in lifelong learning. Language evolves, which means that our skills have to keep developing. And the best way to learn more about editing is from working with other editors. That’s why we set up the Editors’ Circle, as a community of practice (CoP).
The main purpose of the Editors’ Circle is to develop members’ editing skills through discussion and practical examples, but it also provides an excuse to get together with people who enjoy debating the merits of “this” versus “that”! Finally, the discussions will help hone the Write to the Point editing standards and style guide.
Meetings are held monthly and revolve around one or two topics. The range of topics is as unlimited as the English language. Topics range from the use of “there is” and “it is” to punctuation conventions; from avoiding the passive voice to the importance (or not) of the author’s voice; from what is Plain English to structuring paragraphs and sentences.