Month: October 2025

Caution: Drainage ahead

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Based on what I’ve seen on LinkedIn lately, a lot of people are looking for work—whether they have been laid off, fired, or have just graduated from college or graduate school.

I have to say that I know how they feel, having been in a few periods of job-hunting myself. And I can honestly say that job-hunting drains you.

You search the job boards or company “careers” sites intensely for hours, clicking on a job title that sounds promising, only to read the qualifications and find out that this job is here (holding hand above head) and you are here (holding hand at chest level). Or you find a great-looking one and realize that it is three hours from your home, and you wonder how desperate you are. Your heart can only sink so many times before you break down and cry.

You tailor your resume to the job for which you are applying, and this requires some brain power. You try to make each item under each past job sound not only professional but spectacular. You want to make sure your resume stands out, but you know in your heart that this position is going to garner hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes, and you wonder if a human being will ever see yours.

If you are like me, you write your cover letters yourself, rather than using AI to write them. This can be very tiring, as you must tailor each letter to the position for which you are applying. You jot down in a notebook what attributes in the qualifications you have, and in the letter, you try to highlight each one with professional-sounding, fancy language. You try to accentuate your accomplishments without making the letter too long. And let’s face it—writing the sentence “I look forward to hearing from you” really gets old after a while.

If you are blessed enough to get an interview, you spend a ton of time preparing for it, and after it’s over, you write the thank-you email and wait. Then you follow up a week later. Then you hear nothing. Or you eventually get that love letter in your email inbox informing you that “we have decided to pursue other candidates.”

This is my own experience, although I have successfully landed jobs before.

What’s the most draining thing for you about job-hunting?

I’m not a fan of AI.

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There. I said it.

This time I know what I’m talking about, too.

In September, I completed a course called Introductory AI for Editors, which was taught by a seriously brilliant instructor named Erin Servais. In this online course, we students learned how to use AI to perform copyediting, developmental editing (AI is better at editing fiction here), research, and fact-checking. We also explored many of the ethical considerations of using AI in editing.

I am very glad that I took the course, because now I am much more versed in what AI can do, and I know how to use AI to do it. Also, Erin is a phenomenal instructor and her assistant, Katie, gives wonderful feedback on the homework assignments.

That having been said, I am turned off by the use of AI in editing and writing.

For one thing, many people are using AI to write cover letters for job applications now. I think this practice is dishonest. The point of a cover letter is to show the potential employer how well you can write. AI can write a wonderful cover letter (for one of our homework assignments, I had ChatGPT do this), but all it really shows is how well you know how to prompt AI. It’s like asking your brother to write a cover letter for you.

It’s the same thing with blog posts. I want you all to know, dear readers, that each one of the posts on this blog are 100 percent written and edited by me. Many people have AI write their blog posts for them now. Of course, it saves a lot of time, since AI can write a blog post in seconds. But are you really getting to know an editor and how well they work when you read a post that they didn’t even write?

As for the developmental editing of fiction, I have less to say, since I do not edit fiction. However, I really don’t think I would want to read a novel that had been developmentally edited by AI. I want the author to think for himself or herself about character and plot development and such. Or at least I want a human editor to have read the book and make such suggestions.

What do you think of using AI in editing?

Motivated and alone

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In my last post, I indicated that this week’s entry would be about how to stay motivated when you freelance and work alone every day. Here we go…

When you are your own boss, it can be very tricky not to go too easy on yourself. Of course, you should not beat yourself up or call yourself incompetent every time you make a mistake. Still, you should not tell yourself that it’s okay to take every other day off or nap during every workday. You need to stay motivated if you want your freelance business to succeed.

So how do you do that?

Probably the most effective thing that motivates me is deadlines. Every project I have comes with a deadline that I had better meet. I am proud and happy to say that I have never missed a deadline in my years of running a freelance editing business. When I receive a project, I plan how much work I will do every day up until the day before the deadline. I always plan to finish a project at least a day before the deadline in order to give myself some breathing room.

Another powerful motivator I have is my husband. He loves it when I work hard. Don’t get me wrong—he’s not the “crack the whip” type. But he does like to see me make money (let’s admit it—who doesn’t like to see their spouse do so?). And when he is happy, I’m happy.

This might seem incongruous given that it doesn’t have to do directly with my work, but getting to the gym in the morning motivates me. Oftentimes, it’s the only opportunity I have to get out of my condo building. And having a good workout or a good swim makes me want to throw myself into work when I get home. (I don’t really know why, but it works.)

If you freelance and work alone all day, how do you stay motivated?

Going crazy working from home alone? Not me.

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I am an introvert, so I really don’t mind working alone. It’s just me, sitting at my computer, with minimal distractions. No beeping coming from the office fax machine. No phones ringing (my husband and I ditched the landline in 2010, and I can silence my cell phone any time I want to). And, most importantly, no coworkers having a conversation near my workspace. The only distractions I usually deal with come from outside my window.

I would imagine, however, that an extrovert would go crazy doing what I do. From what I understand, extroverts thrive on the company of other people. (Do they? I have never been one, so I am not certain.)

If I had to give advice to an extrovert who freelanced alone from home, my top piece of advice would be the following: Join at least one professional organization.

This is the best way to avoid isolation. I am a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) and American Copy Editors Society (ACES), and I credit these two organizations for helping me meet other editors, interact with them, and exchange tips, advice, and encouragement with them. I have met many independent editors through Zoom webinars, and a lot of them I have never seen, but I interact with them in discussion forums.

The bonus? Finally meeting these editors in person at an organizational conference. I did this two years ago at EFACON in Alexandria, Virginia.

Another tidbit of advice that I would give a freelancing extrovert is to take a break when it’s appropriate. Do something during that break where you interact with others. Write an email to a friend. Call an elderly relative. Just don’t take a break for too long, or you will not stay motivated in your work. Staying motivated will be my next post.

If you feel isolated while working from home alone, what do you do to combat that feeling?