Oh, I know your type, writer. You’re a real whiz with grammar, know all the punctuation rules, you even know a couple of those cool proofreader marks. You’ve often said to yourself (particularly after being raked over the editing coals), Pooh! I could do that.
And I know this, writer, because I am that writer.
But after spending about 20 minutes taking the Society for Editors and Proofreaders Self Test, I threw in the red pen. Not so much because I didn’t know what was what, proofreading-wise (though I’m not ruling out that possibilty). It was more of an eyes-glazing-over and not knowing what was what until my head slammed into the laptop and woke me up.
For crying out loud, how many times was I going to have to correct the same &*^% page?
Turns out, proofreading and editing require a ton of patience, an attention to detail, and the singular ability to find every stinking thing wrong on the page. Who knew?
Anyway, I think I’ll just stick to being a writer. But you all go right ahead and give it a go.
(P.S. I think I found this link on my Writing World newsletter–you should give this site a go the next time you’re looking for writing info. And to all those hard-working editors/proofreaders, I’m very, very sorry. I take all those Poohs! back.)
You showed courage in the taking on the task, that's worth a kudos. I agree, thank you proofreaders, it is often a thank-less job.
Why, thanks, Sally. I *did* try, huh?I don't feel quite so bad now. 😉
And here I thought editors had it pretty easy! Thanks for showing me the error of my ways, which editors certainly would too, and for sharing the web site.
Hahaha! Oh, Anita, you write beautifully. And I'm sure that's exactly what an editor would say!
Are you sure those weren't trick questions? Once you awoke from your nap, you probably scored pretty high.