Comments on: How To Find Jobs For Copy Editors http://freelancewritingresource.com/how-to-find-jobs-for-copy-editors/ Freelance Writing Resources and Information Tue, 19 May 2009 16:18:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: GeaVox http://freelancewritingresource.com/how-to-find-jobs-for-copy-editors/comment-page-1/#comment-83 GeaVox Tue, 16 Sep 2008 02:28:50 +0000 http://freelancewritingresource.com/?p=15#comment-83 I wanted to point out that writing is a skill rooted in education, not an education in itself. All too often we find writers on the Internet have a superficial 'coating' of education, with neither depth nor breadth. This becomes evident the moment they attempt to write anything more ambitious than a search-engine snippet. The best advice for any future writer is: READ! Read literature, reviews, the quality press (ignore the tabloids, they will infect your language skills with the "colloquialism virus"). Read constantly and, most importantly, read critically. Remember: English is not a language that benefits from convoluted construction and complex phrasing, it reads best at its most linear simplicity. "The cat sat on the mat" can be the beginning of prose and poetry, one can follow-up with almost anything, while "the mat was sat on by a cat" is the beginning of the end! I wanted to point out that writing is a skill rooted in education, not an education in itself. All too often we find writers on the Internet have a superficial ‘coating’ of education, with neither depth nor breadth. This becomes evident the moment they attempt to write anything more ambitious than a search-engine snippet.

The best advice for any future writer is: READ! Read literature, reviews, the quality press (ignore the tabloids, they will infect your language skills with the “colloquialism virus”). Read constantly and, most importantly, read critically.

Remember: English is not a language that benefits from convoluted construction and complex phrasing, it reads best at its most linear simplicity. “The cat sat on the mat” can be the beginning of prose and poetry, one can follow-up with almost anything, while “the mat was sat on by a cat” is the beginning of the end!

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