Back to the Grind

Revising and rewriting just to do it all again. That seems to be my current writing phase with a manuscript I've been tweaking off and on for the last three years. Don't think that this is my only project right now. Oh, no. I'm the kind of person who always has a new writing project to work on. Plus, I've renewed my never-ending editorial job search since the holidays are past and people are back in their offices. I've sent two follow-up emails this morning concerning resumes I sent out in December. I'll be searching job listings after I finish this post.

Speaking of job listings, it's amazing just how many of them have typos. Including the listings for editors and proofreaders. It's not just ads that need editing, either. Newspapers, books, magazines, websites...I've found errors in all of these that a proofreader should catch. Like the time I was reading a novel and found the word "traffic" with three f's. That's one of those things that makes me wonder how it slipped through, but I know things happen. A brief moment of distraction is all it takes for an editor or proofreader to miss something like that. Not to mention how overworked editors are. I admire the job they do, editing manuscripts, dealing with occasionally obtuse authors, dealing with the politics of publishing... I'd say I don't know why they stick with such a thankless job, but it's the kind of job I'm hoping to get into myself. Yes, I'm as crazy as the next editor. I love seeing a manuscript evolve through the revision process. Being able to help the author find ways to improve their work is so uplifting. And once the manuscript is ready to go, there's a sense of pride knowing I helped with its preparation.

Now, I'm off to do a little editing of my own work and to search for an editing or proofreading job. As aggravating as the publishing business can be, I love it and can't imagine not being a part of it in some way.