Doing something for a long time does not equal expertise. I’ve been singing in the shower for years, but you would not want my tips on training your vocal cords. For years I cut my daughter’s bangs. But you don’t want me touching your hair. Experience versus Expertise I’ve met a lot of freelancers over…
Along with teaching at Club Ed, I freelance as an editor for publishing companies. And this time of year always comes with a crunch of deadlines as companies try to wrap up projects before the end of the year. And it reminds me of the perennial problem of keeping boundaries as a freelancer. I wanted…
I’m learning how to speak Spanish, and sometimes I get discouraged because it takes a while. (This is not unlike learning any important skill). One of the most helpful bits of perspective-taking I do is to consider whether I encounter the same problems when speaking in English. For example, people often interrupt me to finish…
I’m here in Málaga, Spain celebrating Thanksgiving, which isn’t a holiday here. But my daughter and I are celebrating anyway because for us this has always been a day for reflecting on what we’re thankful for. And this year? We’re thankful to be basking in the Spanish sunshine. Moving here took years of planning and…
The other day I was reading about a controversy inspired by the CEO of Salesforce. It was the usual “I once supported the values of the former president but now I support the values of the current president” kind of nonsense that owners and executives of large companies often (always?) spout in order to make…
The other day, I encountered a Washington Post headline that read, “These editor’s notes are poison. I learned from every drop.” I didn’t click the link because I don’t want to read about how writers should learn to appreciate abuse. And I’m not onboard with idolizing abusers. Every now and then you hear these stories…
The first time I had the entrepreneurial urge, I was about seven years old and I sold jokes, written on little scrolls and tied with string, to neighborhood kids for five cents each. As soon as my parents found out, they put a stop to it. The next time I had an entrepreneurial urge, I…
Though this scam affects writers, not editors, it’s a good one to be aware of as it may happen to one of your clients. The other day, a writer I’ve worked with in the past emailed me and said that someone from Little, Brown and Company (a well-respected traditional publishing company) had contacted her regarding…
A few years ago, two students started taking classes at Club Ed. Both had solid backgrounds that helped them quickly grasp the principles of developmental editing – one had a teaching background and the other had a journalism background. One of these students recently celebrated their first $10,000 month. The other student got bogged down…
The setting of a novel consists of multiple elements, big and small, that nest inside each other like those little Russian dolls. We might show this hierarchy of settings like so: If you think about it, the micro setting of “the living room of 601 San Mateo Road Apartment 16” implies the existence of all…