Month: February 2024

My love-hate relationship with printers

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Printers. Just about everyone who has a computer needs one. How else would we make hard copies? How else would we create things to pin to our bulletin boards? I could go on forever.

I love printers (specifically our HP DeskJet 4155e).

I love them because they can take blue, yellow, magenta, and black ink and combine them to form a vast pallet of colors.

I love them because they are fast. I am old enough to remember the slow, noisy dot matrix and daisywheel printers of yore. The one at my home is an inkjet.

I love them because it is not too difficult to install and change their ink cartridges. If I can do it, anyone can—even if I sometimes have to refresh my memory by viewing a YouTube tutorial. My mother bought a Brother printer a little over a year ago and I installed the cartridges in it without any problems.

I love them because they connect to my laptop via Wi-Fi, without messy cords and cables dangling off desks and waiting on the floor to trip me.

I love them because they do their job without audibly saying, “Don’t tell me you’re printing this!”

That being said…

I hate printers.

I hate them when the paper jams. Granted, this rarely happens with ours, and I don’t think most modern printers jam much, if at all.

I hate them when the cartridges run out of ink. This always seems to happen when I am printing something very important, and it is why I always order ink ahead of time so I can keep new cartridges handy.

I hate them when they go offline for a reason I cannot figure out to save my life.

I hate them when they stop being supported by their manufacturer and refuse to print in color or to print correctly. Then I need to buy another whole printer. Planned obsolescence.

How about you? Do you love printers or hate them? Or both?

How to behave in discussions

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If you are in a professional organization, chances are the organization maintains a discussion list or board (I’ll say “discussion list” for the rest of this post, even though I mean both). Such a list is an invaluable tool for sharing and getting great ideas, telling the occasional (appropriate) joke, and encouraging others, to name some. One of the professional organizations of which I am a member has a wonderful discussion list, the posts on which I read regularly. I also post on the list occasionally, when I have something important to say or have a question.

However, there are some people out there who make a discussion list harmful. These are the people who dress others down in front of thousands of other members when a mistake or an offense is made. They are the people who insult others and start fights. In the horrific summer of 2020, I witnessed a discussion list go into major meltdown.

How do the members of a professional organization keep a discussion list safe and comfortable for everyone? In my opinion, they do so by following the “three B’s and a T.”

Be respectful. Remember that not everyone shares your opinion. Remember that the people on a discussion board might not look like you, have your financial status, or even come from the same country as you, so do not assume that they think just like you do. Also, remarks or jokes that are critical of others—whether they look like you or not—are inappropriate and have no place on a discussion list.

Be kind. If, for example, an upset novice editor posts on the discussion list about how they  shortchanged a client by accident, don’t jump on the list and scold them, telling them how they should have used such and such timekeeping software and plugged in their brain. Instead, give them helpful suggestions along with an “I’m sorry this happened to you.” Right now, they need sympathy.

Be fruitful. By this, I mean that if you have a great idea about how you made something work for you, share it. Others on the discussion list will be grateful and may even thank you in a post. You can also pick up great ideas from others who share them.

Treat others the way you want to be treated on the discussion list. This one goes without saying.

If you are or have been on a discussion list or board, what has been your experience?

Background sounds, anyone?

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Different people (not only editors) listen to different kinds of background sounds while they work.

As for me, I prefer silence.

I do not like sounds in my vicinity while I am editing. I do not want the dishwasher, clothes washer, or dryer running while I work. I do not like hearing the grim sound of leaf blowers or lawnmowers outside my office space window.

And I especially do not like the white noise emitted by the heating/air conditioning vent that occupies a space on the wall directly above my work desk.

The world, however, does not revolve around me, and others have different preferences.

I had a roommate in college who liked to listen to music while she studied. Vocal music distracts me from working; however, because my roommate was such a sweetheart, I let her indulge herself with—gulp—country music. Not my preference by any means, but I tolerated it for a semester.

There were others in college whose tastes in background sound were even more offensive. They loved to blast hard rock or alternative rock music while they worked. Unfortunately, their music would inevitably be shared with me, since the dorm room walls were thin. That was when I would grumble and head to the library.

I have to say that at the moment I am typing this post, I feel rather hypocritical because I am not writing it in silence. I have classical music coming from the desktop computer behind me, courtesy of YouTube. I heard it said decades ago that instrumental classical music is the only music that actually enhances a person’s work or studying. I believe it. I love instrumental classical music (as long as the piece isn’t too loud) and right now it is relaxing me and fueling my brain as I write.

What do you like to listen to while you work, if anything?

A website is what you make of it

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If you are a freelance editor (or freelancer of any kind), chances are you have a website for your business. If you don’t have one, you really should—at least in my opinion. But this week’s blog post is not about why you should have a website. It’s about the essential things to have on it.

There is always, of course, the Home page. This needs to pique the interest of potential clients. There should be visual elements, such as pictures, to break up the paragraphs. (Having a photo of yourself is optional.) Just make sure you have permission to use the pictures! The Home page should also explain why your services are necessary to the client. For example: “Why should you have your writing copyedited?”

The Services page is also one of the most important. It explains exactly what you do. Be specific here; do you copyedit, line edit, or do developmental editing or ghostwriting? Some freelancers list their fees on the service page, while others choose not to.

The About page is where you list your credentials and show the client why you are good at what you do. You can also slip in a sentence about, for example, your hobbies (“When not reading or writing, I enjoy traveling.”) This paints you more as human rather than an editing machine.

The Testimonials page shows all the praise clients have given you. My advice is to ask for a short testimonial from every client who is happy with the work you have done for them. Do this right after the job is done, so that the client remembers you and your work clearly.

A blog is optional for a website, but having one and updating it regularly shows that you are diligent. You must be disciplined about blogging and do it once a week (or however often you have decided) and not just whenever you feel like it.

If you are a freelancer, what have you found is essential to put on your website?