Where I've Been

In the interest of cutting to the chase, I'll have out with it: I got a job as a copy editor for a group of small magazines based in southeastern Connecticut.

I started on Tuesday.

The office is 40 miles from my house, but my route takes me mostly along the Merritt Parkway, which is a thoroughfare that is notoriously susceptible to delays, jams, and accidents. Depending on when I leave my house and whether traffic is flowing smoothly, the commute can range from 45 minutes to an hour-and-a-half.

It's a small office--there are five other people that work in this particular location (an editor, an editorial assistant, two production people, and a sales guy). There's no dress code in the office, and, like most publications I've worked for, salty language flows freely (not that I've allowed myself to curse a blue streak just yet).

The magazines are essentially internet and electronic media trade publications. I (obviously) won't name them here, but a typical article in one of the magazines might describe an emerging internet technology and provide instruction on how to incorporate this technology into one's internet-based business.

Two of the magazines I'm working for are produced in the office I work out of. Two others are produced in Madison, Wisconsin. My responsibilities are essentially to edit every article that will be published in each of the magazines for grammar, syntax and overall clarity. The work has thus far involved referring often to the AP Style Guide and The Elements of Style, doing a little layout work in Quark (the younger cousin of the PageMaker software we used at the Herald), and asking lots of style- and substance-related questions of my editor (the learning curve has been fairly steep in regards to the technical ins and outs of the software/technology/online media world).

My sense at this point is that this is an excellent opportunity. I don't necessarily see myself working in electronic media trade publications for the rest of my life, but I can certainly see myself working in some corner of the publishing industry. The real-world editorial experience I'll gain after just a few months at this job could (and should) bolster my resume enough to allow me to move up in the world. I'm essentially learning a trade, and the skills that I'll gain from this job could open a lot of doors.

But better not to count any of those chickens before they're hatched, of course.

Anyway, that's where I'm at.

In terms of the future, I'm planning to make a plan soon. It's still early fall, so I'm thinking I've still got time to apply for graduate programs for next year. (I almost certainly won't apply to law school; I'm thinking more along the lines of a short-term graduate degree in English or writing.) Also, I'm thinking very seriously about teaching for a while. Probably not Teach for America (I don't know that I can handle the two-year commitment). But perhaps a Dead Poets Society-type gig at some idyllic New England prep school. I'm sure I'd feel a few pangs of guilt (about the whole privilege perpetuating privilege thing--not that my upbringing was all the precious), but I'd just look at that kind of gig as a springboard into a more civic-minded career.

Surprisingly (or not), my state of mind is almost as turbulent now as it was back in the dark days of real unemployment. So I imagine this chronicle will be as angsty as ever. If not, hopefully it'll be just angsty enough to sustain your interest.

Until next time, friends. I've missed you.