my proofreading course

I did a one-day proofreading course on Saturday. I enjoyed it. I would love to be able to change my career by the time I move to Adelaide and make an income from proofreading and/or copy editing. Freelance. At home.

I am not someone who can stand to have her time ‘owned’ which is how I feel if I am supposed to be in an office from 9 to 5 every day. Some people thrive in an office environment, but I have a huge compulsion not to go. I feel as though I am driving into a cyclone-strength headwind when I am driving to work. Which is to say it goes against the grain.

You’d think proofreading would be a bit boring, more boring than drawing pictures all day. And it might be, but at the moment it feels comfortable. Words and language are my thing. Pictures never were.

You’d be surprised how much more there is to proofreading than meets the eye. For example, in a magazine there are headings, sub-headings, side bars, captions, break-out boxes, section heads, and on and on. A proofreader has to check that all these are done in a consistent style, in the right position with the right content, and then check for typos and grammatical errors. It’s not like being a school teacher and marking spelling mistakes on essays.

So it seems a long shot that I might get some work in this on the basis of one day’s study and no experience, but I’m going to give it my best shot. It’s not that I don’t know all I need to know – I think I have all the information I need – but I think it will take a lot of practice to become fast enough and accurate enough to do it at a money-making pace.