Writing Prompts

Make Writing A Habit

By writing much, one learns to write well.

– Robert Southey

Editing Jobs

A guide to the different types of editing jobs

Just as there are different types of engineers, doctors, or teachers, there are also different kinds of editors and editing jobs. Typically, when you think about editors, you think about the publishing industry. However, editing jobs can be found in many other fields as well, such as the broadcasting, film, educational, scientific, and medical fields. Editing jobs can be found everywhere! Editors can be generalists who deal with a wide variety of subjects or specialists who deal with very specific subjects. They can work alone or in collaboration with others, such as writers, publishers, or project managers.

Editing is a very rewarding, yet demanding, career. When undertaking editing jobs, you will rely on your innate love of language and reading, attention to detail, overwhelming urge to improve communication, strong organizational skills, and your abilities to work under pressure and meet deadlines.

Types of editing jobs

The following are examples and brief explanations of some of the different kinds of editing jobs that are available.

Editorial assistant: This might be the first editing job that you get in the field of editing. An editorial assistant does what other editors won’t or don’t have time to do and supports the editorial staff. The work includes editing copy, proofreading, checking for accuracy, researching, and liaising with others. The actual amount of editing will vary according to the industry and employer, but this type of position eventually leads to bigger and better editing jobs.

Copy editor: This editing job involves checking text for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, ensuring smooth syntax, and applying style. Copyediting is rules-based and very mechanical. Copy editors are employed by organizations such as newspapers, magazines, publishing companies, public relations firms, and advertising agencies.

Managing editor: A managing editor is a senior member of an editorial team who is in charge of day-to-day operations. This editing job consists of many responsibilities, ranging from making daily decisions that affect the entire editorial team, such as scheduling, adjusting deadlines, and enforcing editorial policies and procedures, to editing content.

Editor-in-chief (or executive editor): This is the top editing job. The role of an editor-in-chief is all-encompassing and includes such responsibilities as setting editorial tone, direction, and policies; strategic planning; budgeting; and representing the employing organization in the public realm. An editor-in-chief is ultimately responsible for the final product put out by the employing organization.

Senior editor: Managing teams of editors is the main task associated with this editing job. A senior editor oversees content creation, ensures that style rules are followed and quality standards are met, sets deadlines, ensures editing is completed in a timely and effective manner, edits, and is responsible for ensuring overall consistency and accuracy.

Technical editor: A technical editor has very specific knowledge and edits very specific documents of a more complex nature, such as clinical protocols and manuals. This editing job necessitates collaborating with researchers and subject matter experts to ensure accuracy.

These are just some of the editing jobs that are available. There are also editing jobs—such as video editor, film editor, photo editor, and sound editor—that require more specific skills. So, if you are interested in becoming an editor, do a bit of research to find out exactly what it takes!

To brush up on your editing skills, check out our online editing training course. This comprehensive online course features interactive exercises and self-tests to help you expand the knowledge you already have, and it may even teach you a trick or two about editing to help you land that coveted editing job.

 

7 Movies Every Marketer Should Watch

Marketing is an all-pervasive but little-understood sector of the world economy. As with any other aspect of human existence, however, it has not been overlooked by the film industry. Whether you are an eager marketing student or a jaded marketing exec, the cinema can bring you a fresh perspective on the tasks you face in your chosen career. Whether for education, inspiration, or just entertainment, these seven films will help you reassess your approach to marketing.

Every Home Should Have One

This Britcom from 1970 explores the moral dilemmas faced by advertising executives. Teddy Brown, a marketing executive, is tasked with creating an advertising campaign for frozen porridge. Brown decides to use sex to sell his mundane product, which runs him into trouble with moral campaigners, including his wife. The film appeared at the turning point between the Swinging Sixties and the aimless Seventies, and it highlights the care marketers should take in detecting society’s moral compass.

Europe After The Rain

This 1978 documentary focuses on the Dada and Surrealist movements. You will recognize the struggle between original thinkers when creating something new. Another point of interest from these movements is their influence on modern perception, irony, and humor, three crucial aspects regularly used in contemporary advertising. Inspiration and guidance may arise from the most unexpected corners of the counterculture—yesterday’s avant-garde is today’s mainstream.

The Ad and the Ego

This film takes a scholarly approach toward advertising, marketing, consumerism, and globalization. After a rundown of the evolution of advertising, invited academics expound on the interaction among the advertising industry, society, culture, and product development. The movie highlights the resistance of the general public toward being sold something. This explains why counterculture concepts were co-opted by marketers to blindside the resistant consumer.

The Joneses

This gently comedic drama centers on an ideal family following a move to a suburban house. The members of the family soon inspire friends and neighbors to copy their purchases and pursuits before the much-admired Joneses are revealed to be a localized marketing campaign. The movie applies the marketing concept of celebrity endorsements to average neighbors.

Jobs

No one in the current era has had as much as success in the design-to-sale process as Steve Jobs. This film is a biography of the recently deceased genius and follows his departure from and eventual return to Apple.

Winnebago Man

An artless promotional video by a Winnebago salesman goes viral on the Internet, making him a success. This is a true story and an early example of how content marketing can promote products for free.

Glengarry Glen Ross

A real estate agency owner pits his sales team against one another by creating a competition on sales turnover—the first and second place earn a prize, the third-place salesman gets the sack. Is this a winning formula for goal setting? Probably not. But you knew we had to include it here!

 

Learning Grammar through Reading: What Harry Potter Can Teach Us about English Grammar Rules (Week 2)

Commas and the Chamber of Secrets

Last week in our “Learning Grammar through Reading” series, we covered the first Harry Potter book with our discussion of common English homophones. Today we’re going to pick up our grammar lesson by taking a look at comma usage in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It’s all Tom Riddle, Moaning Myrtle, and Basilisk fangs from here on out. And, you know, grammar stuff, too.

As I did before, I must warn you that this post contains spoilers, and I must ask that, if you have not read the Harry Potter series, you do so immediately. Run, do not walk, to the closest library or bookstore. I won’t even be mad that you haven’t read this post yet, as long as you promise to come back when you’re done reading. (If you’ve already gone and come back, I already know what you’re here to say. You’re welcome.)

Introduction to Commas

Commas are tricky little pieces of punctuation. Even the most experienced writers and editors sometimes struggle with correct comma usage. I could write an entire article on comma usage alone, but instead I am going to focus on three of the most common uses of commas.

Comma Use 1: Offsetting Non-Restrictive Clauses

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

A non-restrictive clause adds extra information to a sentence. This information is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. In the above quote, Dumbledore is speaking to Harry. Harry knows that Dumbledore is speaking to him, and the reader does as well. Still, Dumbledore feels the need to say Harry’s name, because he’s old, he’s wise, and he’s Dumbledore—he can get away with stuff like that. Harry is offset by two commas because it is a non-restrictive clause.

Comma Use 2: Separating Items in a Series

“Voldemort,” said Riddle softly, “is my past, present and future, Harry Potter. . .”

Spoiler alert: Tom Riddle is Voldemort. Or rather, Tom Riddle will become Voldemort. If you’ve read the book—which, I believe, we’ve already established that you have—you know what I’m talking about. In the above quote, commas are being used to separate items in a series. Tom Riddle messes with all our minds by referring to himself in the third person and warping our sense of time, something he definitely couldn’t have done without his artful use of commas.

Some of you may be wondering why there is no comma following present in this quotation. This type of comma, known as a serial comma, is typically not used in British publications, so you won’t find it in the Bloomsbury editions of the Harry Potter series. If you’re reading the U.S. versions, published by Scholastic, the above sentence will read like this:

“Voldemort,” said Riddle softly, “is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter . . .”

Don’t ask me why Americans and Brits can’t seem to agree on the use of the serial comma. I don’t have the answer. If I did, I would probably also know how Gilderoy Lockhart was ever hired as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher despite his raging incompetence. I don’t have all the answers, people.

Comma Use 3: Joining Independent Clauses with a Conjunction

There had been no more attacks since those on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, and Madam Pomfrey was pleased to report that the Mandrakes were becoming moody and secretive, meaning that they were fast leaving childhood.

An independent clause does not need additional information to make sense; that is, it can stand on its own as a logical sentence. Madam Pomfrey’s clause, like Madam Pomfrey herself, can totally stand on its own. (Shout out to independent witches everywhere!) Even though independent clauses can act as their own sentences, it’s sometimes nice to put related clauses together in one sentence. It adds variety to sentence structure, making writing sound better and more natural. There are a few ways to combine independent clauses. One of these ways is to use a comma with a conjunction (words like and, for, but, so, and yet). The information about Justin and Nearly Headless Nick is related to the information about the Mandrakes, which is why these clauses have been joined rather than made into two separate sentences.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading this week’s Harry Potter grammar lesson. If you missed last week’s article on homophones in Harry Potter and the Philosopher‘s Stone, please consider checking it out.

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