I first started this blog back in January this year after finding myself repeating the same comments about wording and structure in numerous manuscript assessments and reports. At the same time, I realised I was getting identical editing questions from nervous authors who were understandably worried about handing over their precious manuscripts for the first time.
Outside work I found I was having conversations with people trying to start editing careers who were having to dig to find all the information they needed about the industry – just as I had had to when I was starting out. Although there is a lot of information about writing and publishing available, it seems the editorial process can be a mystery for those who have not yet gone through it. Sometimes it seems it’s a mystery even for those who work regularly with editors!
I genuinely love working with authors and new editors – it’s no secret that writing and words are my passion* – but I found I was spending a lot of extra time putting together advice and information in separate emails instead of actually editing. Plus, I had pages and pages of spare notes that hadn’t made it into editorial reports for varying reasons – all that time and energy spent explaining different writing problems for nothing.
Originally, I had thought I’d just put a FAQ up on my static website, but those notes kept growing with every editing project – more than would make sense for a question and answer page on a business site. Once I’d decided on a blog, I realised I could also explore some other areas of writing and editing – there are lots of writer blogs, I thought it would be interesting to show what it’s like to work with writers and words from the other side.
I’m not usually one to enter competitions, but when I saw the Best Australian Blogs competition advertised, I thought I should probably enter Bothersome Words – not because I expected the blog to win, but because everyone knows it’s very hard to get a blog up and running and most of them fail within the first year. The competition, I thought, would be a good way to get the blog “out there” – and it was all about promoting good writing, which is something very close to my heart.
Writing is scary business. I have always respected any writer for having the courage to hand over their work to someone else to read**, never mind actually allowing it to be published and sent into the world at large. I get nervous enough just hitting “publish” on a simple blog post, knowing that it will slip out into the ether to be read and judged (or not read at all – is that worse?) by the denizens of the interwebs.
I was absolutely astounded when the 23 competition finalists were announced and I was notified that Bothersome Words had made it as one of the five in the Words category. I have been deeply touched by all the lovely messages of support from friends and family on- and offline. And delighted and amazed to announce that today Bothersome Words won the Words Category in the Best Australian Blogs 2011 competition.
Thank you so much to the judges, particularly the Words judge, Angela Myer, and to the Sydney Writers’ Centre. Congratulations to all the other winners:
Business and Best Blog: Styling You – Nikki Parkinson
Lifestyle/ Personal: Random Ramblings of a Stay at Home Mum – Lori Dwyer
Commentary: News with Nipples – Kim Powell
People’s Choice: Bike Exif – Chris Hunter and, of course, all the finalists and nominees.
Here’s to celebrating writing, in every category!
* No, seriously, allow me to bore you some time.
** Or edit. Really, we editors DO know how terrifying our pencils/red pens/post-it notes/track changes are.
Congratulations on your well-deserved win.
And for shedding some light on how much editors are willing to share their knowledge with writers.
I’m sure we’ll continue to raise the profile of the fabulous contribution that editors make to all facets of writing.
Hooray and congratulations.
It is so exciting to see an editor win in this category and I second what Desolie said. I’m not all for standing in the lime-light and stuff, but it can often feeling like a thankless and forgotten link in the publishing chain – editing!
Time to put your blog back at the top of my reading list… this year has just got out of hand and its time to get back to basics again.
@Desolie thank you very much. Yes – most editors I know are very willing to share information with writers, but there’s not always time and sometimes it’s not clear whether in-depth help would be welcome.
@Jodi thank you, too! I agree, I am very much a behind-the-scenes person and that’s the way I like it. But editing can be so mysterious and confusing (perhaps because it IS a behind-the-scenes role) – sometimes even for those of us working within the industry.
Abigail! This is so amazing, I am so happy for you it is definitely deserved!!
Congratulations xxx
Thank you so much, Mel!
Congratulations on your award. It did work because I saw the list of winners in the Australian and decided to pay your blog a visit. Glad I did.
Thanks so much for visiting, Lilly!