Projects!

In an effort to get my name out there as a thoughtful and capable editor of words, I put up a post on a message board for writers asking if anyone had manuscripts they'd like edited for free in exchange for use of their piece as an example in my editing portfolio.

Holy avalanche, Batman! I was not ready for the kind of response I got. Short stories! Non-fiction books! Novels! There are tons of people writing, and every one of them needs someone else to put eyes on their work.

Though it's tougher than I expected to find the time/energy to dive into editing after my regular full-time job, I'm really enjoying the experiment. I decided to do this trial run of free editing for a few reasons:

1. To get an idea of how long it takes me to edit a piece (pages per hour). This will aid me in setting up a pricing structure later on.
2. To get feedback from real, live authors about my editing style and what I could do to improve (Bonus: with the author's permission, I can use their feedback on my website!).
3. To gain experience and create a word-of-mouth reputation about the quality of my work.

So far, I've edited a few short stories and about 1/10th of a full-length non-fiction book, and I have loved every second of it. It doesn't even feel like work for me, at times. I love moving words around and watching them fall into place. It's like a puzzle, and the correct solution means finding a direct path to the idea using the fewest possible words. And, the feedback I've gotten so far has been great.

I will keep pressing onward and upward!

Top 5 Reasons Good Communication Matters

5. Without it, you're selling yourself short.

You are a unique individual with unique things to offer. You bring something to the table that no one else can ever duplicate or replace: your authentic voice. By cultivating your voice (or hiring someone to help you bring out what makes you wonderful), you not only help other people get to know you, you can get up close and personal with what makes your strengths and talents so very valuable to the world. And since no one can tell your story better than you can, bringing your personal and professional communication up to scratch is your best bet for making sure your audience gets the complete picture of what an unmitigated badass you are.

4. Getting it wrong can be disastrous.

Most conflicts are, at the core, matters of miscommunication. Saying the wrong thing, at the wrong time, can have results more far-reaching than you could ever imagine. It's the difference between making an enemy and making a new friend. It's the difference between sending someone back to Google to find a new source for what they need, or a new customer who knows they've come to the right place. An on-point message is your strongest weapon in the cacophony that is the Internet: it's a voice that comes through loud and clear when the rest is just noise.

3. Who doesn't like to save time?

Wrong directions are a bummer. Getting it right saves time on both ends: your audience understands exactly what you mean, and you don't have to re-explain or correct mistaken impressions.

2. Good communication is inviting.

I'm going to describe to you two shop windows, and you tell me which shop you'd like to visit. One display has dirty, fogged glass that makes it difficult to see, dusty and broken merchandise, and an overall feeling of neglect and negligence. The second has crystal clear glass with brightly-lit, perfectly arranged products set against a colorful backdrop.

It's obvious to you, the observer, that the first business doesn't care much for its image, and that gives you a pretty clear idea of the care and attention (or lack thereof) they'll give their customers. At best, you might think they're well-intentioned business owners who let the busy nature of daily life get ahead of them. At worst, you'll assume the shop is closed for good, and you won't even try to open the door.

Glass doesn't stay clear unless someone cleans it. And those products didn't find themselves laid out just-so by accident. The effort the second shop has put into their display, the first "messaging" their customer receives before they even step in the door, is quite plain. These business owners have worked hard to send you a message: we're open for business, we're ready for you to come on inside, and we know exactly how to serve you.

The first shop is the image you create when your grammar is off, your word choices aren't quite right, your information is out of date, or chunks of it are missing altogether. It turns people off or makes them assume nobody's home. After all, if you can't even take the time to make sure your sentences are properly constructed, how much of an expert can you actually be?

The second image, clearly the more successful business of the two, projects professionalism. These are business owners who put time and passion into the work they do, because they've taken care to show you they know how to attend to every last detail. Proper spelling, grammar and accurate, current communications project (loudly!) the message that you've got it together.

1. Ain't nobody a mind reader.

People won't know what you mean unless you tell them. They won't know what you're selling unless you show them. They won't know what you're trying to say unless you say it clearly. Clear communications are a huge sign of respect for your audience: you're showing them that you know their time is too important to waste any of it on a piece of writing or messaging that makes no sense. And respect begets repeat customers.


And there you have it.
If you want people to get the message loud and clear, you have to craft it carefully, or delegate that task to a wordsmith with a vision. Never underestimate the power of good communication -- it will make you or break you, and if you're like me, you'd rather have it made.

Wow! I tripped and fell into a time machine.

I have no idea what happened to December, or how it's possible that it's 2011, but I do know that it's going to be hard for me to take down my 2010 YEAR IN KITTENS calendar. I mean, I'm going to pull through, but it won't be easy.

What's that? You want to know what I've been up to? Let me explain! (I feel so good about myself that I was finally able to work my blog title into an entry.)

First, I made some mineral makeup. I ordered a kit from Brambleberry, and it was a bit confusing, to be honest with you. The instruction manual was just a generic one that they send out with all their products, not specific to the actual kit itself, so I had some screwups before I got it right. This is what it ended up looking like:

It works pretty well, and it came with a nice kabuki brush, so that was pretty cool. It's a little bit dark for my skin tone, but it's not too noticeable and maybe it'll be a better match in the summer months.

Something else that happened is that it got cold outside. So I've been spending a lot of time in the basement tending/staying warm by the woodstove.

And by staying warm, I mean sweating like I have never sweated before because it gets ridiculously hot in that room. It was the middle of December and I was sprawled out in a tank top and gym shorts, spritzing myself with water while watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The nice thing about it is that it gives me a chance to catch up on shows that are available on Netflix streaming, and to work on crafts!

I have no idea what I'm doing.

While all this was going on, some electricians came and changed out the light fixtures in my bathroom. It would've been a DIY project except for apparently the people who built our house were heavy drinkers, and the wiring was a hot mess. But the lights look much better now!

Before. You can kind of see the old lights and where one of them was ripped out.

After. Ignore all the crappy holes and marks on the walls.

We also ripped out the wall in the middle of the bathroom, and my dad and I installed a new floor, which was a project beset with many, many challenges. It should've taken two days, max, but it took us a week. Here is an awful cameraphone picture of what the new floor looks like.

The bathroom project is in no way complete, but we're getting closer. This is probably the single biggest reason I haven't been posting very much (a.k.a. have not been posting at all).

In fun project news, I decided I wanted to build something, so my dad and I (so much father-daughter togetherness this past month) built some storage cubes from a plan I found on Ana-white.com. Of course, since my dad is an amateur woodworker and I am a total newbie, they probably aren't very good. There are lots of splinters and nails sticking out and unevenly-cut boards. But who cares? It was fun, and they'll be useful (if I ever get off my butt to prime and paint them).

Without doors.

With doors.

I also made lotion! I found the instructions here. I already had a bunch of stuff so the only thing I had to order was the emulsifying wax. Here's what it looked like when I was done:

One day I drew a bunch of stuff with giant teeth.

That's basically it I guess. Hopefully I'll be back with more regularly scheduled content for the 0 people who read this. Bye!