Sad, but true; my services were no longer required and I was back in the job market – after 14 years with the same company. I decided that while I was looking for someone else happy to pay my bills, I'd do a little bit of freelance editing. Perhaps move into some fields I've never worked in. Well, truth be told, I've only ever worked on scientifically technical documents, so the possibilities were endless.
Now, before you read my posts and judge my editing, please keep in mind the old adage, "the mechanic has the worst car". The reason writers need editors is that editing your own words is really, really hard. Your brain knows what words should be on the paper (or screen); your brain knows what you intend the reader to see, and it very sneakily tells you that's what on the paper (or screen). The human brain is a con-artist of the highest magnitude and it LIES. There may be the odd missing word, the occasional really bad typo, and frequent spelling errors, but I am an editor and I will see all those issues in your document (and in my own in about 12 months time).
Why have I started a blog? To drum up business is the really obvious reason; however, I'm a little more complex than that. The reason I edit, the reason I enjoy editing, is that it helps people communicate their message more clearly. Most people are experts at something, which isn't always written language. Because we all use language every day, we assume we're all experts at it. But if that were the case, there'd only be one job – writer. And while we all may be required to write in our work-a-day lives, that doesn't mean we're all writers. I write technical reports, I write editorial commentaries ("I think you should fix this and that in your document), I write this blog and another, I write copious posts to Facebook and the occasional one to Twitter – that does not a writer me make. (See, unnecessary fancy twist of words, creating a blip of confusion in the reader's mind – not a good writing trait.)
Okay, so the reason I've started this blog is because I'm passionate about helping people communicate more clearly with their written words. I thought if I started an editing blog and set myself the task of regular (hopefully daily) updates I could perhaps communicate some of my passion and knowledge to the work-a-day writer, who may never need my services as an editor.
On my other (personal life) blog (An Ordinary Life) I am attempting to follow Noah Scalin's, "365: A Daily Creativity Journal: Make Something Every Day and Change Your Life!". This is a book with a creative challenge per day for a year. Noah suggests picking a theme (skulls, birds, quilting, etc) or medium (writing, painting, sewing, etc) for the year. In my personal challenge I opted for three criteria: words OR fabric AND create no clutter. As a starting point for this blog, I thought I might use the Journal as an inspiration leaping point. If my "words" theme from An Ordinary Life coincides, I'll cross-post. Otherwise, I'll aim to come up with something new and fresh from the world of language.
Before I start the Journal though, today's thought, inspired by the post title I choose.
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| Loose loses an 'o'. |
