Professional Editing

For the last year I have been working toward my professional certificate in copyediting from UC San Diego Extension, and I expect to complete it in just a few weeks. Yippee!

Prior to taking these classes, I learned copyediting for the news industry at City College of San Francisco (which has an incredible journalism department). When I graduated with my bachelors of arts in English from Mills College, I went to work as a copyeditor and page designer at the Santa Maria Times. I worked as a news editor in San Diego. Then, when I returned to Idyllwild to become production and operations manager, I took on copyediting the newspaper again.

Even though I had a good foundation in editing through my newspaper experience, I wanted to branch out and feel confident about editing manuscripts and anything else that came my way, which is why I enrolled in the UCSD Extension program. It has been a wonderful and challenging experience.

Editing my clients' work is incredibly gratifying. It feels like a collaboration and like I get to be part of creating something beautiful for the world. I've had the opportunity to edit several memoirs, which is my new favorite kind of editing. There's nothing more powerful than honest, real-life storytelling. In fact, I'm co-owner of a memoir writing and life story recording service called Life Writers. Please check it out of you're thinking about writing your story or helping a loved one preserve theirs.