Writing Prompts

How Do I Become an Editor?

A simple guide to becoming an editor

Are you wondering “How do I become an editor”? Well, the answer is actually quite simple: the same way you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice, practice, practice!

While there is no single educational or occupational path to becoming an editor, those interested in editing as a career tend to have one main thing in common: obsessive–compulsive editing disorder (OCED). They also share the following traits: a passion for language, reading, and learning; attention to detail; an overwhelming urge to improve communication; and a qualification in a subject such as English, journalism, technical communication, or teaching. Some people plan to be editors right out of school, and others come to the profession in a more roundabout way. But one thing they all have in common is a natural predisposition for wordsmithery.

Education and training

Years ago, there were no formal training programs for those aspiring to become editors, but this is no longer the case. Some U.S. educational institutions that offer editing courses include the following:

A list of Canadian institutions that offer editing courses can be found on the Editors’ Association of Canada web site. This association, and others like it—such as the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors, and the Society for Editors and Proofreaders—also offer training courses, certification, workshops, and seminars.

Editing as a career

To become an editor, you must have an excellent understanding of grammar, strong analytical skills, sound computer skills, a working knowledge of various style guides, good people skills, strong organizational skills, the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines, and an overwhelming desire to help people communicate as clearly as possible.

There are many types of editors and many industries in which editors work, ranging from the publishing and educational fields to the scientific and medical fields. Editors can work alone or in collaboration with others, such as writers, publishers, or project managers. Whether you are interested in being a freelance editor or being part of an editorial team, the road to becoming an editor is an educational adventure. If you choose to do freelance work, keep in mind the importance of building and maintaining a strong network of colleagues, acquaintances, and friends. You never know who may be able to tip you off to a good job in the future. It is also important to market yourself, something that is easy to do using the various social and professional networking sites available.

So, what’s stopping you? Start on the path to editing as a career, helping others communicate more clearly and learning interesting new things every day. While there is no cure for OCED, becoming a professional editor is a great outlet for your compulsion!

Basic English Grammar: What It Is and Why It’s Important

What is basic English grammar?

English grammar is defined as the body of rules that describe the structure of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences in the English language. Whether you have just started learning English or are a native speaker, you need to know the basic rules of the language. Developing a solid foundation in basic English grammar helps you construct sentences correctly and makes it easier to improve both your spoken and written communication skills.

FYI: A simplified history lesson

The Indo-European family of languages dates back to 3,000 BC and consists of nine language groups: Indian, Iranian, Anatolic, Albanian, Celtic, Hellenic, Balto-Slavic, Italic, and Germanic. The Germanic tribes occupied central and western Europe, and the Anglo-Saxons partly descended from the Germanic tribes who migrated from continental Europe and settled in the south and east of Britain beginning in the early 5th century. The term Anglo-Saxon is also used to describe the language that is today more correctly called Old English, which was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons in England (and parts of southeastern Scotland) between the mid-5th and mid-12th centuries. After that time, the language was known as Middle English. Even though the English we use today is a Germanic language, its parent is Indo-European. The first published English grammar rules were contained in the Pamphlet for Grammar, written by William Bullokar in 1586. Over the centuries, basic English grammar rules have evolved continuously.

Why is basic English grammar important?

Language clarifies relationships, regulates interactions, increases an individual’s persuasive power, reveals discrepancies, and manages impressions.

The English language has historical, social, and regional variations (dialects). Standard English can be formal, such as the English used in published works, business meetings, classrooms, school reports, and formal speeches. Standard English can also be informal, such as the English used in our conversations with friends and in casual letters. Another form of English is classified as nonstandard English; it is characterized by faulty word usage, slang, and incorrect grammar. Using nonstandard English can make your writing seem as though it was written by an uneducated person.

Written standard English is shaped by the occasion, audience, purpose, and setting. It includes ordinary language (such as that used in everyday speech and writing), scientific language (which is more precise than ordinary language and is typically used to report technical data and facts), and poetic language (which is descriptive and meant to appeal to a reader’s senses). It is important to note that there are grammatical differences between the standard forms of British English, American English, and Australian English.

As you can see, the diverse forms of the English language, as well as their associated grammar conventions, are quite complex. As you might also expect, your use of basic English grammar will indicate your level of education or professionalism to your audience, be it a prospective employer, a potential partner, or the general public. Your grasp of the basic rules of English grammar could be of major significance to your future—economic or otherwise!

Inbound Marketing Explained in Three Easy Steps

Inbound marketing is one of the best ways to attract and nurture new leads and potential prospects. When executed properly, this permission-based marketing tactic drives relevant traffic to your website, turning visitors into prospective customers and converting leads into sales. This method of attracting qualified traffic to your website is both effective and efficient.

So, how can you get customers to invest in your inbound marketing? It all starts with the creation of compelling content.

The inbound marketing funnel

According to HubSpot there are three distinct steps to inbound marketing lead generation:

Step one: Get found

The production and distribution of informative, engaging content will maximize the number of people you attract to your inbound marketing funnel, which in turn will impact the number of customers who come out of the funnel.

The creation of great content impacts your website in the following ways:

causing your site to perform better in organic search engine results
attracting natural backlinks from other websites
spreading information through social networking and sharing sites
increasing newsletter subscribers and widening your distribution network

All of these outcomes will help you bring in warm leads that are more likely to convert into paying customers. Getting found is the most important step of the process — you can’t convert visitors into customers if you don’t have any visitors to begin with after all!

Here are three top tactics for getting found online:

Blogging

Companies that blog have been shown to get 55% more leads than those who don’t.

Search engine optimized content

Most customers begin their buying process by searching for product information on Google. Make sure your website is listed prominently on search engine results pages by integrating targeted keywords and properly optimizing your website code.

Content marketing

Once you’ve got the knack of publishing content to your blog, take things one step further and develop a content marketing strategy. Unlike blogging, content marketing isn’t restricted by a medium or platform. A robust content marketing strategy can include viral videos, webinars, white papers, and more.

Step two: Convert

Step two of the inbound marketing funnel kicks into high gear once qualified visitors hit your website. This is the beginning of the lead nurturing process. Well-crafted content, call-to-action buttons, special offers, and targeted landing pages will help you lead potential prospects deeper into the funnel.

Not sure how to nurture leads on your website? Here’s a quick and easy three-step process:

Build a targeted landing page. Remember all of the content that you created and distributed back in step one? All of this content should have included backlinks to one or more targeted landing pages on your website. This way, when a visitor clicks on this call to action, they’ll be taken directly to a page where this action is fulfilled…after the user subscribes to your email marketing list, of course!
Stay in touch with email marketing. Email marketing is a great way to nurture long-term relationships with potential prospects and loyal customers. Focused email campaigns that contain relevant content will help establish your company as an industry leader and guide people through the sales process.
Get personal with marketing automation. Keep the lines of communication open by sending customized marketing messages to your company’s followers. For example, if a visitor downloaded a case study from your site, you might want to send them a series of emails that contains related information. However, if this visitor signed up to participate in a webinar, you might want to change any follow-up communication in order to ensure relevancy.

Step three: Analyze

No inbound marketing campaign is complete until you’ve sat down and reviewed the numbers. Once you’ve started to convert visitors into leads and leads into sales, it’s time to analyze your inbound marketing funnel in order to figure out ways to make the customer attraction and retention process more efficient. This will involve looking at website visitor metrics, leads, conversion rates, sales, and industry benchmarks.

All of this information will help you set and track specific marketing goals that will ultimately have a positive impact on your bottom line.