For two years, several hours a week, I wrote or edited for my college newspaper (The Stanford Daily) and then spent eight months working full-time in journalism internships.
I was exploring a career path but my writing skills ended up far, far better. As onecommenter noted, my style tends toward “plain,” “simple” and “concise.” This is a reflection of my journalistic training.
Also, if anyone wants to try this out, I can probably hook you up with one of the internships I did. It’s a pretty sweet gig, you will learn a lot with a great editor in a small office. The only qualification is being reasonably intelligent. PM me.
Interesting, who would you define as a ‘helpful’ editor? Would it be limited to people with formal journalism skills or would someone of equal ability to yourself be beneficial for the benefit of a fresh eye?
Someone of equal or greater ability who can clearly explain their judgments.
Editors in a formal journalistic setting carry responsibility; if something is difficult to understand, wrong, or badly worded they’re on the hook. Whereas a friend is more likely to say ‘Oh that’s nice’ for fear of offending you.
In a nutshell: write a lot for helpful editors.
For two years, several hours a week, I wrote or edited for my college newspaper (The Stanford Daily) and then spent eight months working full-time in journalism internships.
I was exploring a career path but my writing skills ended up far, far better. As one commenter noted, my style tends toward “plain,” “simple” and “concise.” This is a reflection of my journalistic training.
My newspaper writings.
Also, if anyone wants to try this out, I can probably hook you up with one of the internships I did. It’s a pretty sweet gig, you will learn a lot with a great editor in a small office. The only qualification is being reasonably intelligent. PM me.
Interesting, who would you define as a ‘helpful’ editor? Would it be limited to people with formal journalism skills or would someone of equal ability to yourself be beneficial for the benefit of a fresh eye?
Someone of equal or greater ability who can clearly explain their judgments.
Editors in a formal journalistic setting carry responsibility; if something is difficult to understand, wrong, or badly worded they’re on the hook. Whereas a friend is more likely to say ‘Oh that’s nice’ for fear of offending you.