a while (couple weeks) ago, i applied for my dream job for a publishing house here in town (imagine that...a publishing house in bloomington). i hadn't heard anything. that is, until today.
i just got an email from the pre-publication services manager asking me to take an editing test! woo!
i'm a little nervous. it's 10 pages of absolute SHITE, and i have to dig through it armed only with my natural instincts and grammar ability and a newly-purchased copy of the chicago manual of style (i'm not familiar with it...yet.) my fear: doing too much and getting into questions of content, something i've been strictly warned against. this would be a good time to have a mentor.
i just got an email from the pre-publication services manager asking me to take an editing test! woo!
i'm a little nervous. it's 10 pages of absolute SHITE, and i have to dig through it armed only with my natural instincts and grammar ability and a newly-purchased copy of the chicago manual of style (i'm not familiar with it...yet.) my fear: doing too much and getting into questions of content, something i've been strictly warned against. this would be a good time to have a mentor.
posted by:
|
Chicago
|
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Wed, March 16, 2005 - 10:20 AMYAY! Lotsa good juju being sent your way love! You'll do good I know it, you're already prepared knowing it's absolute shit... blow some sunshine up their asses.
-
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Wed, March 16, 2005 - 10:35 AMfrom you, this means much, since i've dropped the ball majorly.
tanks. -
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Wed, March 16, 2005 - 10:38 AMWooooooo Hooooo.........You will do just fine..... : )
-
-
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 7:53 AMthis is harder than i thought. -
-
Unsu...
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 8:09 AMI imagine it is. Good.
No one ever said being extraordinary was easy. Of course you could always quit and disappear into an obscure life of mediocrity... maybe something nice in accounting? ;)
Keep at it! -
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 8:13 AMoh go get tagged, would you? <wink>
it's just that i don't know where to draw the line. it would be so easy to completely rewrite this horrible prose, but i don't know how heavy a hand i'm supposed to have, and i'm sure that's just a sign of my inexperience.
they said this was only supposed to take an hour. shit. i've already spent 30 min and i'm not even done with the first page. -
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 8:18 AMconsistency. what the fuck does that mean??
-
Unsu...
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 8:24 AMI believe it is the writers job to rewrite and the editors job to tell them what sucks. That being said, don't rewrite it. -
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 8:27 AMthanks, shady. it's just hard cause it REALLY sucks. the prose is so shitty. "You can't have a stressfull school and a tranquil classroom." arg. -
-
Unsu...
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 8:29 AMMaybe you should just attach a note that says, "We cannot use your piece at this time..." -
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 8:33 AMseriously. i wonder if they're gonna do the whole "most manuscripts you will handle won't be this bad" thing at the interview (if i get one).
lemme tell ya now, though: my grammar and punctuation has reached a whole new level of correctness with my studying as of late. -
-
Unsu...
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 8:35 AMI guess I'll have to take your word for it... ;) -
-
This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 8:36 AMha ha.
question: second person is bad, right? i'm tempted to get rid of it, and have except for one instance, and i'm not sure if i should do this one too...it's a little dramatic. -
-
Unsu...
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 8:39 AMSecond person is bad if you don't know how to use it. Or if you over do it...
Go with your gut. Editing - much like reading - is subjective. Take care of the fundamental stuff then worry about use of second person... -
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 8:41 AMthanks shady. i'm slogging through it. -
-
Unsu...
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 8:42 AMYou're supposed to be editing lady, no playing around online...
Get to work!
(and good luck)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 11:01 AMit's been, oh, 3 hours. i've done 7 pages, freaked out twice, made a phone call to an actual editor (friend of a friend), was reassured, made lunch, changed clothes, and changed and re-changed many changes.
i've got 3 more pages and another overall reading to do, and i have to get done in time to go get my paycheck before 5.
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Fri, March 18, 2005 - 1:03 PMdone! finally! it only took about 5 hours, but that's okay. i just wanted to make sure it was good.
phew. -
-
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Sat, March 19, 2005 - 1:20 PMi dunno. hopefully early next week.
-
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Wed, March 23, 2005 - 5:49 AMDear Shannon,
Thank you for taking the copyediting test. It was certainly challenging
and reflected the type of manuscripts we deal with on a daily basis.
While you made several excellent edits, the number of missed corrections
or errors did not fall within the range we were looking for. Therefore,
I am unable to proceed with the interviewing process. Thank you again
for taking the test.
(eh..i'm not surprised. i was such a rookie anyway. i asked if they could somehow let me know what my mistakes or missed mistakes were so i can do better later.) -
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Wed, March 23, 2005 - 10:10 AMPractice, practice, practice. The blessing of trying to work with words is that most people don't want to be bothered with it, so there'll always be work out there doing it for when you're up to speed, you know? So keep on being irritatingly corrective with your grammar and such, and you'll slip right in before you know it ;) -
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Wed, March 23, 2005 - 10:21 AMirritatingly corrective...you say it like that's a bad thing. (: -
-
Re: dream jobbing it
Wed, March 23, 2005 - 3:28 PMHey, you know me: I love language. As such, it's a very good thing ;)
-
-
-
