Comments on: I Am Not a Writer

By: Kate Pilkington

Kate Pilkington — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 14:58:46 +0000

I think the frustrating part is that a lot dream jobs are possible, but they require doing jobs that are NOT dream jobs for a while first. There isn’t a job I’ve seen that wants just an editor in their advertisements, but they all involve a lot of editing.

The frustrating part for me is that I like writing and I enjoy, but I hate editing. It’s the one thing I always do badly on in performance evaluations. I dread the end of a project because I hate the scrubbing/clean up phase that I know the text needs. However, in order to be a writer, I have to do some editing.

In order to do editing, you’ll have to be a writer for a while.

By: William Morris

William Morris — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:14:54 +0000

Here’s the thing, JB. In order to get into a position where your main job is editing, you first need to work for awhile as a writer — unless you want to make a career of copyediting.

The reason for this is that the editing jobs where you are doing seriously developmental editing are generally management level. For example, in pr/mkt you get a job first as a account manager or staff writer or pr coordinator, etc. It’s only when you move up into an assistant director/director/editor position that you do the major editing.

There are a few exceptions that you might look at:

1. Book publishing. This is a brutal world, but if you get hired on with a large enough publisher as a copyeditor, you’re copyediting will also include some developmental editing.

2. Grants. Most smaller non-profits need somone to be the grant writer, but if you can find a position at a large enough organization (esp. a University), you can (at a fairly entry level) get a job doing pre-work and then putting the final polish on grant proposals that others (faculty members, department heads, etc.) write.

3. Hollywood. Okay so you pretty much have to pay your dues as a writer first, but if you do and you get luck you could become a script doctor.

4. Human Resources/Training. Bascially anything where there is a need to train people on new policies/initiatives/programs, etc. You’d again have to move up the ranks, but at some point you could be the “Professional Development Manager” or whatever and basically outline and then review all the training materials, communications, etc.

By: Jon Boy

Jon Boy — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 21:55:26 +0000

It could be that my (admittedly brief) experiences with technical writing gave me an unrealistic perception of what the job really is. But Brinestone did technical writing for several months, and she often seemed pretty frustrated with work. Again, it could have just been that project, but it’s made me scared of technical writing.

By: Farmgirl

Farmgirl — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 17:51:43 +0000

Well, I knew the purple and green had to do with personality types — I’ve taken that test before. It was the other — which he has now fixed!

By: pooka

pooka — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 02:40:50 +0000

I’m surprised you don’t think you’d be good at technical writing. You don’t have to create, you take the information and put it in a (hopefully) systematic form. Of course it will probably feel a lot like homework. But no job is pleasant. That’s why they have to pay people to do them. I have a friend who teaches sociology at Duke and she can’t believe how mind-numbing even that is. Well, it’s either the mind-numbout of a neccessary field or the futility of an unneccessary field.

My recollection of linguistics 101 was that half the students were trying to withdraw by midterm because they didn’t get it and were failing. They were pretty nice about not wanting to kill me :) I thougth that if something that was so hard for so many people came easily to me, it must be worth doing, and maybe it would be if I’d had the guts to go for grad school or law school or something. I’m not bitter about it, I’m pretty happy with my life at the moment.

By: Mr. Anderson

Mr. Anderson — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 18:53:10 +0000

You’re sounding a lot like me, in a way. My whole life, I’ve wanted to be an architect. But now that I work in drafting, I’m seeing a lot of designs that I don’t know if I could create something similar from stratch. However, I can look at a set of plans and pick out things that are wrong with them or don’t make much sense all day long.

I’m not to the point of realizing exactly what it is I want. I guess it’ll probably take some architectural school to figure that out.

By: Brinestone

Brinestone — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 18:21:17 +0000

I think the word like is missing between “I” and “systems.”

Or maybe it’s the purple and green part you don’t understand. If so, Jon Boy or I will have to do a quick rundown of Peirce for you.

By: Farmgirl

Farmgirl — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 18:09:32 +0000

I hope you find something exactly fitting for you. You definately do have a very unique “niche”, but your gift is that, so it is just a matter of finding someone who is looking for exactly what you are.

I don’t understand this sentence: “As a purple with green undertones, I systems”