I haven’t started in on the Chicago Manual yet. It looms so large in my view that I’m trying to distract myself with other reading. So I picked up Editors on Editing instead. Not sure it was more soothing than reading Chicago would be, though.
Reading through these essays from professional editors talking about their experiences editing, I wonder if I would be that dedicated to my job. It sounds pretty crazy, being an editor, no matter what kind of editor.
And then I talked with my boss about what sort of real job I’ll be looking at getting. Watching a computer screen the whole day makes me incredibly tired, and she informed me that most editing these days is done by computer. Joy. So I could freelance edit, which would allow me to set the kind of schedule I would be comfortable with while editing. That route, however, requires me to be the provider of my own insurance and grown-up things like that. Although not the end of the world, it would be easier to have company insurance.
It’s normal for me to experience rising anxiety as something foreign and unknown approaches, so that might be what this is all about. I might just be freaking out because, well, that’s what I do. I’m going to try and dismiss my fears by focusing on that as a reason. I’ll experience the Publishing Institute and allow that to help me make up my mind about what sort of publishing job I would like to get. I shouldn’t get too carried away by my imagination until I have more information about all of this.
There. I feel better. I should keep reading my book.
howdoienglish 