Editing, Drawing, and Writing
My first editing class at DU made me humble and taught me much. On the first day, the instructor gave our class a long paragraph to edit. I knew that I would get everything correct. Wrong! My returned paper showed many red marks, which stood out and surprised me! What had happened? Fortunately, there was a reasonable explanation. The instructor used one manual of style while had I edited using another.
You’d think that editing is editing is editing. Not anymore. A good example can be found in the writing of numbers. In business or technical writing, we tend to use words for the numbers 1 through 9 and figures for those 10 and up. However, the majority of writing that has a literary bent doesn’t use figures until reaching 100. Of course there are many exceptions: a score of 21-6, 25 cents, population of 20,093, 40-hour week, forty 41ยข stamps, to name a few. To add a bit more confusion, manuals do change their rules now and then. Also, each publishing company chooses their own manual of style. The most important thing, though, is to be consistent.
I find the inconsistency of various manuals of style fascinating! Punctuation left out here and there actually saves space as well as money by using less ink. Reasons usually lurk behind the various rules of punctuation.
I also love arts and crafts. One day, someone saw my sketches and declared that those elementary drawings depicted the style she wanted in her booklet. Who’d have guessed that my cartoon drawings would be appreciated! That thrills me about as much as when I see someone enjoy the stories and articles that I write. For instance, having finished a short article for a newsletter, I walked into the kitchen and gave the writing to my family and friends to read. They each chuckled at the right parts. Amazing! Creating a work of writing that affects people in any way is a true high for me. That event, that feeling of my complete joy in seeing someone appreciate my work, appears in my article “Why I Write.” It feels good and worthwhile to provide laughter, information, education, joy, escape, awe, etc., to another person.
I love having my own business. I hope you decide to choose WordShop Ink for your editing, writing, or desktop publishing needs. Please send me an e-mail with any questions you have concerning the services we provide at WordShop Ink.
~~Education~~
BS in Education
MA in Liberal Studies (Arts and Literature)
Advanced Creative Writing Certificate
~~Teaching Experience~~
Reading, English, ESL, Mathematics, Art, Testing and Evaluation
~~Work Related Positions~~
Editor, Writer, Illustrator, Desktop Publisher, Photographer
~~Other Jobs~~
Math Lab Coordinator, EMT, Tutor, Guitar Instructor, Gifted Coordinator, Mom, Volunteer, Executive Assistant
~~Interests~~
Biking, Sewing, Camping, Reading, Guitar, Piano, Star Gazing, Stock Market Investing, Consciousness Studies, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Recipe Collecting
~~Organizations and Groups~~
SCBWI, IWWG
Denver Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club