Freelance Editing
In my introducemyself post I discussed my career, which has included working as an editor and writer. But mostly I have done a lot of editing. Lots and lots of editing.
A few job titles I've had: copy editor, technical editor, freelance editor. And even though these are all different job titles and included slightly different tasks, all of this type of work includes one thing: editing people's writing. That's what it boils down to.
Several people commented that they'd like to learn more about my editing career and how they can start doing freelance editing. So, this post was born.
A Good Command of the English Language
I have always been good with the English language. I was one of those annoying kids who would correct people's grammar. (Trust me: don't do this. It only annoys people!)
If you have a good command of the English language, a must if you want to work and make money as an editor, then keep reading.
Volunteer to Edit for Free
But what if you have absolutely no experience editing? Well, in that case, I'd suggest the easiest way to gain experience is to offer to edit for free.
You probably have friends who need help with their resume or with a school paper. Offer to edit it for free.
For the purposes of this post, let's say you will edit your friend's resume.
You will gain experience editing and rewriting, which can be a good amount of what editing entails.
Edit the Work and Then Edit It Again
When you're first starting out with any new type of job, it's a good idea to double check your work. That is, to edit your work!
When you edit your friend's resume, for example, make sure all company names and addresses are correct. Do this check for any verifiable information. Look it up online and verify that the information is accurate.
Read each line several times: once to get the meaning then again to check for errors like misspellings and poor grammar then again to check for consistency and formatting issuesThere is more to editing than simply reading something once and emailing the file back to your friend. Double and triple checking is key to doing a thorough editing job.
Read It Aloud
As another pass through of the resume, read the document out loud. Go slowly and actually read the words written on the page, not what you think they should be.
If there is anything still wrong, reading aloud is a great way to catch missing words or usage of the wrong word.
Set It Aside and Then Read It Again
As a final check, read the resume one more time.
But first, set it aside for at least an hour then go slowly and read the resume again like you're seeing it for the very first time.
Return the resume to your friend and be proud that you just did some freelance editing.