From aspiring writer to editor: a bookish journey
Like many editors, I spent much of my childhood hoping to be a writer. I loved books more than anything in the world, and I spent many happy hours writing the epic first pages of a dozen bestselling fantasy novels that never got past chapter three. I wrote poetry and short stories in my notebooks and for my high school literary magazine.
I loved writing, but like many editors, I found that I was better at writing individual sentences than crafting an engaging plot. I was better at improving stories than coming up with them myself.
After spending high school and university editing my friends’ papers for free, I had the realization that people actually do this for a living, that every book and article and press release and video game script needs editing before it can be released to the public. I realized that I could turn a hobby I was passionate about into a career I’d love.
They say that those who can’t do, teach (which is an absurd statement, as teachers are critical to every society and do incredible work for far too little pay and appreciation), and I sometimes feel that it applies to editors, too. Writing might not have been the path for us, but we can still be involved in the book world in an essential way. That’s what Rookwood Editing does. We help your words take flight and make a mark on the world.
We all need editors sometimes!
Every industry writes. Doctors write, engineers write, artists, musicians, accountants write. (Yes, writing that did feel a bit like Ella Fitzgerald’s “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love),” but I think the comparison works.) Every industry needs to communicate effectively, but in many cases, these professionals don’t have extensive training in writing and grammar. That’s just fine; I sincerely hope that the person who put together my oven spent more time learning about appliances than about comma splices.
That’s where editors come in. We can make sure that press releases are in plain language, that they’re engaging and easy to understand. We can ensure that a statement on public relations never becomes a much more scandalous statement on pubic relations. Everyone needs a little help sometimes. That’s why we’re here.
It’s a wild world out there.
Do you ever look around at the chaotic, illogical world around you and wish you could just fix something? Make your little corner of the world a little more orderly and organized?
Me too.
I created Rookwood Editing to do just that. To help you add order to the chaos. I offer four different types of editing, each as important to a manuscript as the rest, but I take particular delight in copyediting. Copyediting is the editorial version of cleaning your house so there aren’t socks in the kitchen and bowls in the bedroom. Copyediting is putting everything in its proper place and imposing order.
Copyediting lets me definitively, tangibly fix something, even while I’m stuck at home in a pandemic and can’t do much to fix everything else. Copyediting is a balm for an overburdened soul—sit down and work, and when you stand up, you will have made the world a little bit better, a little bit clearer and more consistent.
Clean and consistent communication is what we all strive for, whether we write fiction or blog posts or instruction manuals. Whether you’re working to reduce jargon in your company newsletters or trying to get the romantic tension right between your novel’s protagonists, Rookwood Editing is here for you. Let’s chat!
Molly Rookwood is an editor, reader, tea drinker, and cat mum in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She loves Jane Austen and epic fantasy, and her bookshelves are forever overburdened. When she’s not playing D&D or taking turns about the room, she can be reached at [email protected] or by following @RookwoodEditing on Twitter.
Lovely intro piece and a beautiful website!
Thanks so much!