Editorial and Curatorial Work in Everyday Life
As
an English major, writing essays is an essential part of the work I complete
each semester. These assignments tend to focus on particular elements, themes,
characters, etc. from different novels or other texts. For me, essay writing is
a gradual process. I never sit down and write a paper in one sitting. Unless I
create multiple drafts (usually around 4), I do not feel as if I have written a
successful piece. Each time I look over a draft, I look for areas that need
improvement. Usually my first draft or two of a paper is fairly rough; I try to
just put my arguments and ideas on paper so I know what direction I want to
head in. The more I write, the more I have to edit. When I edit, I play the
role of an outsider. I think about how the essay would come across to someone
who doesn’t know much about the subject. I use Microsoft Word features when I
make changes/corrections. I’ll highlight, change the font color, insert
comments, boldface, etc. Essentially, I try to make my feedback as clear as
possible. That way, when I return to edit the next time, I will know exactly
what I wanted to change. My editing process always involves looking at both
upper-level and lower-level concerns.
Another
common area that requires me to edit is with digital text. Whether it’s sending
emails or texts, or posting on a social media platform, I take the time to edit
my words in the online context. Even as a teenager, I never really used “texting
lingo;” I rarely do nowadays. I think being an English major, Writing Coach,
and bookworm has allowed me to become much more aware of the way I speak and
write, even when it doesn’t apply to schoolwork. I want to present myself as a
person who has a decent understanding of grammar, who can construct logical
sentences, and who can express ideas clearly to those I communicate with
through technological mediums. I’m that type of person who will spend 10 minutes
reading a short email before I send it, in fear that I made an obvious grammatical
or syntactical mistake. If I post a phot on a site like Instagram, I usually
end up editing my photo caption a few times over for the same concerns. Even as
I write this less “formal” blog post, which I try to make as freely and
creatively as possible, I still worry that some aspect of it makes me sound unaware
and unprofessional.
I
know I don’t have perfect grammar or perfect writing skills; of course I never
will. However, I still strive to write as clearly, accurately, and passionately
as possible. Writing and communication are two skills that the majority of us
do every day, with a variety of people. For me, I want to fine tune my writing,
reading, and communication abilities now, so one day I will have the opportunity
to use them in a professional setting in a career/field I believe I belong to (or
deserve to have).
"When I edit, I play the role of an outsider." Excellent. Does this role ever seem to evade you? That is, speaking for myself, I often find that that role is difficult to take on. I'm grateful to have a husband who is a very, very detailed editor; he sees things I simply cannot (seem to) see!
ReplyDeleteAre you currently working as a writing coach? How exciting! Your clients are very lucky to have you! I'd love to hear more about that!
Sometimes I do struggle with my "outsider" role. Every now and then I'll ask my parents, brother, or roommate to read my work while I'm writing. My parents especially point out the things they like or have questions on. However, for the most part, I often find some key errors or irrelevancies when I create and read over different drafts. I took a class called ENGL300A a few semesters ago where I discovered Microsoft Word's "Comment" feature. That by itself has been SO helpful when editing and revising.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes I am! I was hired at NIU's writing center in the fall of 2017. Thank you! I am willing to talk to you about it any time!
I feel the same way you do about writing, until I had a professor named Kathy Fitch. She teaches here, have you ever had her? Anyways, I always felt like I never had a perfect or even close to semi-good piece, until I took her Engl-350 class. At first, I hated her class! I mean absolutely dreaded it because she as such a free thinker and came up with these crazy essays. However, throughout the semester, when I learned to just let go of my previous standards of writing, I learned to have fun again. She let us write about our interests for once, and she had us capture new meaning within our papers. I just wrote a piece for her class, and absolutely fell in love with it. She had us pick a photo from the top 100 Times Magazine “most influential photos” list, and then write about the author, analyze the photo, express the emotions that it draws to the audience, and what changes have been made because of this photo. I picked the 9/11 south tower being hit by the plane photo, I know drastic, but I learned so much! Had a lot of fun using my creative half. I haven’t been able to write creatively in a class for a while, and I loved it!
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