I just want to kind of talk about how I got here and how excited and scared I am for this new avenue. Let all you lovely people get to know me better.
Since I was a teenager, I knew I wanted to be a writer. That wasn’t a hard decision for me. Writing felt—and feels even more so now—intrinsic to the core of my being. Without it, I feel like something’s missing or wrong. But even as a teenager, I knew getting publish wouldn’t be easy or quick. I knew I had to plan for a future without it in order to have a future with it.
College had never been a question for me. I had planned on going since I could understand the concept of higher education and how it would benefit me. I was the typical overachiever who was bored unless I was in an AP or honors class, the only ones that challenged me even slightly. Again, like writing, the decision to major in English wasn’t a hard one. It was honestly the only natural one. I didn’t consider anything else. So, I majored in English with concentrations in creative writing and professional writing and editing.
And no, to the million people who asked oh, so you want to be a teacher? when I told them my major, teaching is the last thing I want to do. I would make a terrible teacher. I hate being in front of a group, even children. It terrifies me. No, thank you. No way. Nu-uh.
I wanted to be an editor. I started entertaining the idea of editing as a day job around my senior year of high school. It seemed like a good option, although I didn’t have any experience in it at the time besides looking over friends’ papers and works in progress. My experiences in college just solidified that desire.
The best decision of my college career—and I don’t say this lightly—was my job as a writing consultant. I took a pedagogy course under the director herself, a brilliant, articulate woman I admire. The first time I met her, I thought, I want to be her when I grow up! Years later, part of me still does, minus being in academia, of course.
I worked alongside some crazy smart and creative people. There, my understanding of the English language and my writing and editing abilities were tested and pushed past what I anticipated going in. I didn’t expect to learn that much, but I’m so thankful I did. I learned how to work with others in a one-on-one setting, often working around language barriers in the case of English-as-second-language (ESL) students and also in the sense of working with technical jargon-filled dissertations I had little understanding of. It often took me out of my comfort zone.
I got my first freelance gig around that time. I wanted to gain some paid experience, so I joined a freelance site and got my first professional job editing a historical fiction. Instantly, I was hooked. I loved editing fiction as an actual editor. I’ve freelanced for over five years now, working off freelance sites and through word of mouth. I have almost two dozen books and novellas under my belt–all done without serious marketing.
Editing day jobs are not something where I live. So, out of college, I took a regular day job. My boyfriend wasn’t (and still isn’t) willing to leave his elderly parents, and I will never be willing to leave him. It’s as simple as that. I worked my day job and continue to edit when I wasn’t there for years. It worked well enough until the environment at my day job turned toxic as the company made more and more changes that pushed them in a direction I didn’t agree with.
Recently, I hit my breaking point and quit. I had already given them years of my life. I wasn’t willing to give them another week. It was the push I needed and had secretly been looking for.
Now or never. I’m jumping into full-time editing on my own like cannonballing into a pool, and I think it’s honestly one of the best decisions I could have made for myself. Yes, it’s a risk. However, I think it’s worth the risk to do something I’m good at and something I genuinely enjoy.
So, authors, I’m here to prove that I’m a good choice in the sea of qualified editors. Give me a chance. I promise you won’t regret it!
Check back Wednesdays for my weekly blog discussing various topics on grammar, craft, and style. This week: What the Interrobang!?
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