Why am I moving from a focus on writing to editing?

Story time: Writing for a living as well as for personal passions has proven to be increasingly incompatible for me. I crave creative expression, and my old childhood dream of writing books and stories is haunting me. Yet, my day job for 25 years has been journalism and marketing—and when you write all day for others, the last thing you feel like doing is writing your own scribbles in the breaks. (My scribbles are gothic and folk horror flavoured – a bit of a different world to SEO optimisation and calls to action!)

That’s largely why I’ve been moving my professional work more into the editing realm, and you know what? I’m really enjoying it. I’ve recently finished up an ongoing assignment helping a fellow writer to polish and shine her wordage for a tech client, I’ve been checking copy on technical medical documents to make sure no text was missed by designers, and just this afternoon I’ve been editing a super interesting document about internet culture trends. The best thing? I’m not only really interested in my work again (not always guaranteed after burnout), but I’m not spending all of my creative capital on others anymore. Instead, I’m helping others to maximise their own creative capital while keeping mine for my personal projects. It’s a win-win.

Editing and editorial leadership has been a through-line in my work since I was 22 (that’s more than 20 years for those playing at home). I was at the helm of the entertainment section of my old newspaper for several years, before I jumped over the pond to London and started working in agencies and in-house marketing teams, leading content projects. I thrive on getting stuck into editorial planning, content management, and helping someone else’s copy really be the best it can be. I’ve learned that when I’m excited about my work, I’m excited about life. It’s too much a part of my identity to be any other way.

____

Here’s the sales bit.

And in a world where generative AI is increasingly making freelance writers less enticing for corporates, the need for solid and excited editors and editorial leaders should grow. Because it needs to. You still need someone to make sure operations run smoothly, that your content is connecting, that the strategy is working. That people are reading your content, not just other machines.

So say you’re looking for a fresh pair of eyes on your content. Or you need someone to manage the output from the (AI) writers on your team. Or you need someone to bounce ideas off and brainstorm the way forward… Well, maybe give me a shout? A top quality editor might just be what differentiates your content in this crowded market of samey output.

_______