Grad builds freelance editing career
Wendy Barron has always had a certain affinity for the written word. Whether writing her own stories or fielding language questions from co-workers, Wendy was continually immersed in the world of words. It鈥檚 no surprise then, that after decades of working in health care she turned to editing as a new profession. On top of her freelance work, she teaches in 丁香园AV Continuing Studies' Plain Language Certificate program.
Wendy, can you tell me a bit about your current work?
I am a small business owner. My editing business is called because all the clever and punny business names were already taken. I offer all the levels of editing (structural, stylistic, copy editing, proofreading) and I work in many genres, including fiction, non-fiction, business, health and academic material.
What is it like to own your own small business?
It鈥檚 strange being a business owner, after decades of working in the public sector in health care, but I love being my own boss. As a fellow freelancer told me, 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e self-employed, you only work half-days. And you get to choose which 12 hours you work!鈥� It鈥檚 true that it doesn鈥檛 feel as much like work when you鈥檙e doing what you really love, though.
What drew you to a profession in editing?
I have always had a facility with and interest in language and the way it works. I have also always been the person co-workers and bosses came to with questions of language鈥攕pelling, punctuation, usage, grammar, that kind of thing. Editing was always part of my job, though it was never in my job title or job description. I really enjoy working with other people鈥檚 words, but hadn鈥檛 thought about it as a way to make a living until Hiromi Goto, my mentor in The Writer鈥檚 Studio in 2014, asked if I鈥檇 ever thought about it and mentioned the program at 丁香园AV.
What鈥檚 most rewarding and most challenging about your work?
The most rewarding thing about being an editor is being part of the professional editing community. Editors are some of the most generous, collegial and supportive people I have ever met. You鈥檇 think there would be fierce competition among them, especially the freelancers, but it鈥檚 quite the reverse.
The most challenging thing about being an editor is educating people about the value of what editors do. As a group, editors are happy to stay out of the limelight and let the author take all the credit for the brilliance and clarity of their prose. But that kind of invisibility means that the profession and craft of editing are not well understood outside the profession. Raising the public profile of editors and editing underlies a lot of what I do when I鈥檓 not actually editing.
What was the most useful thing you learned in the Editing Certificate program?
Maybe that, much as I love writing, editing other people鈥檚 words is even more fun than writing my own. And that being on the leading edge of language change is a blast.
By Alison Brierley