Hmm.... An Editing Business... Hmm....

So I'm back from Germany, and looking around for a job, and after my rant on Facebook about the lack of basic punctuation and spelling on the web and elsewhere, it occurred to me that maybe I should hire myself out as an editor.  Okay, so everyone, even the best and most careful of writers, has a typo every now and again, and there are times we all say "damn you autocorrect!" 


But that's just my point:  everyone makes errors.  Some of them are slight; and some of them are horrible, disgusting, and degrading to the English language.  Okay, maybe not that bad, but still egregious.  I certainly make errors, and bad ones sometimes, because after hours of writing it becomes one big blur and I can't see the trees for the forest.  (Yes,  I meant to phrase it that way.)  However, I care about the quality of my writing enough to ask someone else to go over it, just in case I might have missed something.  Heck, even with more than a pair of eyes scanning the work, errors still get missed.  We're human.  It happens.


Some people don't care whether their prose comes off as being...hmm...less than good.  That's fine.  They wouldn't be my customers.  However, people who do care how they sound, look, and communicate would be, whether they write fiction or nonfiction.

My qualifications?  I've written eleven novels and four novellas for major U.S. publishing companies.  I've been a technical writer and editor over the course of fifteen years.  I've written and edited various documents in all the jobs I've held for close to thirty years.  I've edited and proofread academic papers, articles for medical journals, software documentation, structural and civil engineering documents, and environmental engineering documents and proposals and so on.


And I also know that depending on whether you go by Chicago Manual of Style, APA, or Gregg Reference,  whether you capitalize after a colon will differ.  :-)

As far as editing fiction writing goes, I've been in a critique group for longer than I've published.  I've been a judge in the national Romance Writers of America Rita contest, as well as a judge of various chapter contests.  I have also personally contacted certain contest entrants whose writing was superb and urged them to pursue publishing...and their works have become published.  I know good writing when I see it.  And I can tell you why it's good.


Most of all, I love writing.  I love the English language.  The art and craft of it is a passion for me.

Sigh....

Well, I must say when I first began writing this blog post I was feeling in a bit of a funk.  But now that I've written about the things I know and love, I have to say, I'm feeling pretty good about it.


So I think, I really do think, I might just pursue the idea of offering my editing and copy editing services as an independent contractor.  I'll see, I guess!

The Perfect Mom

Okay, there is a Local Single Mom somewhere who not only makes $10,000 in 15 days working part time, goes to college while supporting her family on government grants that nobody knows about, but is 55 and looks 30 by removing her wrinkles following one weird tip that she developed.  Dermatologists apparently the world over are gunning for her because they don't want anyone to know.  I see this all the time on Facebook and internet ads. 

Either this woman deserves a medal or she deserves jail time for fraud and making the rest of us look bad.  I'm just sayin'.

How to make a kiwotsukete kit (also known as the UMCOR health kit)

"Kiwotsukete" means "take care!" in Japanese. 

My niece Erika has a lot of friends in Japan, and many of them want to help their fellow citizens in the aftermath of the terrible earthquake and tsunami.  She suggested that they put together a clothing and food drive, which is a great idea.  You go, Erika!  :-)

What I'd also like to suggest is putting together what I call a "kiwotsukete kit"--or, as the United Methodist Committee on Relief call it, a "health kit."

It doesn't take much--even people who don't have much themselves can make up a kit. You can get these things at a dollar store.  But they are essential items that people need to keep up their health and help keep sanitary in disaster areas.  Even in a clean-conscious society as Japan, in a disaster of this kind, the badly affected areas are going to be highly susceptible to diseases because people's basic washing supplies have been destroyed.  Food and clothes are great, but what donors often don't realize is that keeping clean means prevention of disease that is rife after such disasters.  So, if anyone is interested, here is how to make a "kiwotsukete kit":

You need to get one gallon zip-lock bags.  In each one, put the following items:

1 hand towel 15" x 25" (38 cm x 63 cm) up to 17" x 27" (43 cm x 68 cm)
1 wash cloth
1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)
1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)
1 bath-sized bar of soap (3 oz and up, still in original wrapper or box)
1 toothbrush (single brushes only in original wrapper or box)
1 large tube of toothpaste (expiration date must be longer than 6 months)
6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages

Lay out the hand towel flat on a table. Lay the washcloth flat in the center of the hand towel. Place all remaining items on top of the wash cloth. Fold over the sides of the hand towel to cover all of the items. Fold over one end of the hand towel so that it covers all of the items. Grasp the bundle of items tightly and roll over the remainder of the hand towel tightly. Place the tightly rolled bundle in the plastic bag. Remove as much air as possible and seal the bag.

For those who are living in Japan and want to make these kits, it probably wouldn't hurt to include one or two small bottles of hand-sanitizer, too (the kind you can take on airplanes).

If you're in the U.S. and want to send these kits to Japan, you can send them with $1 tucked in an envelope for processing.  The instructions for putting together the health kit above is not complete for those sending from the U.S., so please go to this web site for more complete instructions:

http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/getconnected/supplies/health-kit/

Send them to one of the following address of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (do NOT put any messages in these packages, because they'll have to be removed to comply with--I think--federal regulations):


UMCOR Sager Brown Depot
P.O Box 850 131 Sager Brown Road
Baldwin, LA 70514-0850
Contact For Help: 1-800-814-8765

UMCOR West Office and Depot
1479 South 700 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84104-1605
 Contact for Help: 1-801-973-7250

Use whichever address is closest to you.

Church folk send these kits to UMCOR all the time so that they have them ready when disaster strikes.  But they always get dangerously low when there's a disaster, so they can always use more.  These kits really help keep people healthy and alive in the aftermath of a disaster.

If you want to donate money instead, 100% of any funds given to UMCOR go to relief aid (the administrative costs are paid for by church members).  You can do so directly at this web site:

http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/

Ranting

So, I'm looking at some comments after news reports here and there regarding the Japanese earthquake and there are more than a few people who use this disaster to proclaim that it's useless to pray and it proves there's no God. Which is pretty damn heartless, in my humble opinion. If someone's response to this horrible disaster is to pray, then let them if it gives them comfort and gives others comfort. I do not see the point of stripping people of what hope and comfort they can find when facing real horrors just because you don't believe the same as they do. If it gives them hope and if it helps them survive, then as far as I am concerned, let them believe what they want.

This also goes for people who are blaming the Japanese people for this disaster because of whatever so-called environmental "sins" they might have committed. That's no better than some fundamentalist blaming gays for hurricane Katrina.  Heartless? Yeah.

Drop the politics, people. Take up a donation instead and start helping. And praying, if that's your tradition (it's mine, by the way). It can't hurt to extend caring and benevolent feelings toward others.

Natural disasters happen. No one is to blame. They just happen. When disasters occur, the best response is to give comfort and aid in whatever way you can.

End of rant.