How many interns does it take to edit effectively?

A lot more than I originally thought. At Friends Journal anywhere from five to ten different people read the same article multiple times and each person sees different improvements to make.

This week I’ve enjoyed starting to participate in lots of different stages of Friends Journal’s production. I spent most of the week reading and commenting on submissions for the October issue, and copyediteding feature articles, book reviews, and forum pieces for August. I also got to participate in a layout meeting where we discussed the August cover and page layouts. So much time and thought goes into each article to take it from an author’s idea to a published piece and I really like being a part of that process. I’m also finding copyediting to be surprisingly satisfying—I guess the perfectionist in me enjoys polishing grammar and discovering missing punctuation.

Although I'm enjoying my editorial work, I'm certainly experiencing a learning curve. Like anyone in a new position I’ve made some errors—I’ve used the wrong editing symbols, had to ask for directions to be repeated, and forgotten to save my work. I’m a little self-conscious when editing the work of others or when making comments that other staff members and interns will read. However, as I become more familiar with Friends Journal's procedures my confidence, especially as a copyeditor, is steadily increasing. I guess I’m just going to have to work on trusting myself and on asking for help when I need it.

Speaking of overcoming insecurities, I'm feeling very confident in my train-taking and navigational skills. After testing a few routes from train station to office I finally found the fastest one! What took me about ten minutes the first few days now only takes about five. I took the picture above along my route on a particularly beautiful day this week.