I have 35 years' experience in newspaper journalism working as a copy editor and source editor in local, national and international news; and in features about communities, women's issues and the arts, among other topics. My editing skills include:--Excellent command of grammar, word usage, spelling, punctuation and style.--Thorough fact checking to ensure accuracy.--Close attention to story structure.--Ability to spot and reduce redundancies, wordiness and ambiguous phrasing.--Sensitivity to what the writer is trying to convey, and the ability to work closely with the writer to get that across effectively if the original piece fails to do that.--Headline and caption writing on deadline.--Ability to cut a story, sometimes quite significantly, while retaining the story's main message and style.From time to time I also have written stories on topics including:--What it's like to grow up as an identical twin.--The life and career of Lynn Johnston, creator of "For Better and For Worse," a highly successful newspaper comic strip.--An essay on how the publication of "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl" changed the world.--Travel stories on several places, including "The other Tucson," unexpected things to do in Tucson, Ariz.; "Spring Green, then and now," a visit to Spring Green, Wis., comparing it to the first time my husband and I had visited it more than 25 years previously; and "A garden full of wonder," about the children's garden at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Listed skills include Copy Editing, Text Editing, Writing, Journalism, and 17 others.