Who is edi‑tor.com?
Video coming soon.
I come to this work queer and late-identified neurodivergent. I’m also middle-class, middle-aged, cisgender and white. I’m British and learning what it means to be living, temporarily, on unceded Anishinābe Algonquin territories in lands known today as Canada.
I tell you this because positionality matters in this line of work.
I moved to Canada in 2021, after 15 years’ living and working in the shadow of Glastonbury Tor, in the UK. (That’s the hill illustrated across this site, with thanks to artist Angie Rooke for her kind permissions.)
Glastonbury is more than a town (and a famously muddy music festival); it’s a contradiction. A locus of pagan lore and a place of Christian pilgrimage. A community that calls itself inclusive and too often wheels out cultural appropriations as its evidence.
It’s in this context that my journey through editing into inclusive language and beyond really took hold.
The Tor is a landscape I’ve long called home, and it’s the uphill work of leaning into discomfort and learning to do words differently. A challenging climb that pays off in a patchwork big picture, transforming incrementally over time.
It’s the tor in edi-tor.com: services aiming to harness and hone words as nuanced tools that can advance equity, diversity and inclusion—the e, the d and the i.
Vanessa Plaister (she/her) works best with coffee in hand and brown noise playing in the background. I love the sparkle of the deep winter snow and the rich crunch of it underfoot. In summer, you’ll find me in a tiny pool, celebrating the invention of tethered swimming. And, yes, I have a cat. Of course I have a cat.
‘Vanessa was asked … to provide a sensitivity review… of my forthcoming book. Given the subject matter (spoken language, identity and prejudice), it was especially important that the language used in the book itself was as inclusive and accurate as possible, and Vanessa was the ideal person to check that this was the case.
‘She provided a detailed review, highlighting all the instances where particular words or particular phrasing could be adjusted so as to be more sensitive, appropriate and inclusive.
‘She didn’t criticise; she simply pointed out instances where she felt something could be worded differently, and provided well-informed and constructive suggestions as to how I could make those changes if I agreed that they were necessary.
‘The whole process was insightful, supportive and valuable, and I would have no hesitation in recommending Vanessa for her expertise in this area.‘
Rob Drummond, sociolinguist and author, You’re All Talk: why we are what we speak (Scribe, 2023)
‘I’m struggling to find words to capture how incredible Vanessa’s editing skills are. I learned so much from her. Her edits not only improved my writing, but also expanded my thinking and awareness.
‘I particularly appreciated how her commentary and explanation for her edits provided the insights my autistic brain needs.
‘It was a joy to work with Vanessa and I’ll be recommending her to all of my neurodivergent writer friends… Hell, I wish neurotypical writers would work with her, too! What a beautiful reading world that would be!‘
Jackie Schuld, registered expressive art therapist and author, Life as a Late-Identified Autistic (self-published, 2024)
'Vanessa was my first point of contact with our professional membership body; her very human organisational voice was a welcome change from what I’d experienced elsewhere.
‘As I got to know Vanessa and her work, her commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion shone through all she did. In our interactions in public and member spaces, I could see her striving to shift organisational culture in real time.
‘She’s a passionate, fiercely caring, relentless advocate, whose presence made me feel not just safe, but welcome and even needed in our shared spaces. The policy changes Vanessa drove meant I could participate in ways I’d never expected as an overseas member of a UK-centric organisation.
‘She also did not shy away from gently, yet firmly challenging me when my own words could have been hurtful, and she did so without making me feel attacked and helped me learn about the impact of seemingly innocuous words I tend to use casually. She’s shown me how my own work as an editor can have valuable incremental effects on inclusion and helped me make my editorial practice more sensitive, especially in areas such as ableism and mental health.
‘I know that Vanessa describes herself as a “human-centred, trauma-informed” editor—and I’ve often sought her out when the personal and professional have collided painfully… In some ways, a tiny Vanessa sits on my shoulder and I’m a better editor because of it!’
Bhaskar Raman, editorial consultant | typesetter | project manager, freelance
‘When Vanessa was elected to the board of our professional membership body, it was immediately clear that she was determined to bring about positive change in the organisation’s culture, policies and practices. I enthusiastically supported her work to embed protections for members from marginalised and minoritised groups, to audit the organisation to better serve all its members, and to ensure that the online and in-person spaces members shared were safe and inclusive – something previously taken for granted.
‘It was Vanessa who laid the groundwork for me to join the board as its first EDI director. Her impact had been transformational: our colleagues now understood and were committed to EDI values, and we were engaging with conscious language as central to editing in the 21st century. There were tangible organisational outcomes too: not only a more diverse membership but also the active and vocal participation of members from groups it had historically marginalised.
‘Vanessa brings to all of her work a deep understanding of and commitment to EDI, as well as the learning mindset that is essential to meaningful change.
‘I’ve since worked with Vanessa to consult professionally on inclusive language, and I’ve seen in that context too the same combination of learning mindset and empathy with meticulous attention to detail.
‘I sincerely hope that I'll have opportunities to work with Vanessa again in the future.’
Luke Finley (he/him), copy-editor and plain language specialist, Luke Finley Editorial
'I worked with Vanessa when she was developing a dignity policy and complaints procedure for her professional membership body. Vanessa was an extremely engaged board member and she considered every aspect of the policy carefully.
‘As a professional in the field of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), I’ve found Vanessa to be committed, dedicated and expansive. She thoroughly researches all new developments in the field, and she uses appropriate and explanatory language with great sensitivity.
‘I have no doubt that Vanessa's interest, knowledge and professionalism re EDI and inclusive language will make edi-tor.com a huge success.’
Lou Hart, managing director, Lou Hart Consultancy | associate, The Board Agency and The Diversity Trust
'Given the fact that my education in English advanced no further than O level, Vanessa faced an uninviting task in copy-editing Friston on Costs. It was twice as long as War and Peace, Vanessa had a deadline to work to that was a twentieth of the time I took to write it, and she had to bring it up to a standard acceptable to major university publisher whilst at the same time preserving the highly technical meaning of the original text.
‘Oh, and she had to make about 75,000 edits to make it gender neutral — and check at least 20,000 footnotes. And all this with an author who repeatedly changed the text.
'Given the above, it is little short of astonishing that she noticed references to obscure delegated legislation being out of date, incorrect or incomplete references to 16th and 17th century authorities, and internal inconsistencies that were separated by hundreds of thousands of words.
'In short, her work was not just excellent, but exceptional. She was Professor Henry Higgins to my Eliza Doolittle.'
Mark Friston, barrister and author, Friston on Costs, 3e (Oxford University Press, 2019)
Let’s figure out how I can help you where your words can do EDI work.
If you’ve read all of this and think we’d make a good team, drop me a line with a few details and I’ll get back to you.