Now it's time for so long...

But we'll sing just one more song! Thanks for doin your part, ya sure are smart! Thanks to me and you, and my dog Blue, we can do anything that we wanna do!

Yeah, I'm pretty excited that this semester is coming to a close. This has been one of the longest semesters of my four years at WVU and I'm thrilled that it is finally over. However, through all of the work I had to do for both capstone classes and both internships I participated in, I would have to say I learned the most from my professional writing capstone. I have been familiar with newsroom work for three years, and while I know I can still learn about it I feel I needed to learn more about my minor before I went job hunting. The things I learned during my internship at the WVU Press made me a more marketable individual as I enter the workforce and I hope that makes it easier for me to get a job soon. I don't know if anyone from the Press is going to actually read this final post, or any for that matter, but I would just like to say thank you, first for all of the experience and patience they offered me throughout this semester. Secondly, I'd like to thank everyone there for the wonderful graduation card they sent me! I especially love the Henry David Thoreau quote on the front:
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined."

Yeah, H.D.T. knew what he was talking about. Either way, my reflection on this final semester in this final blog post for this final PWE class is that I know now that there is still plenty of room to grow. I know that I can immerse myself in the world of journalism as much as I want for now, but the simple truth is that there aren't a lot of jobs out there and I'm going to have tons of bills to pay shortly. The money-hungry turds of the world will soon be knocking on my door and my only option will be to answer and pay them what I owe simply for existing. The point is I need to keep an open mind to whatever job comes my way, be it journalism or professional writing and editing. Before it was either journalism or no job at all, meaning I'd have to live with my parents for an extended period of time, and that is not something I want to do after living on my own for four years.

This brings me to a final simple, human truth:
A job in professional writing and editing is better than facing an ambiguous future of living in a basement in Martinsburg, WV, which smells funny and has nothing to offer creatively.

I leave you with that and this link to my final portfolio.

Ciao,
amm

http://sites.google.com/site/ambers491aportfolio/

Spring is Sewing Summer's Dress

Not much to report at the ol' WVU Press lately. I've been working to finish up editing those maps of Africa. I would just like to say it is taking me so long to finish them because I can only work with them one day per week. The reason for this is because other interns work at the computer I need to use to edit the maps, which is the only one connected to a scanner. This makes it difficult to get my work done, it is even more difficult when I have to save the work I do in several different places on the computer because the web server is full or something similar. Either way, I only have a few more days left at the Press before it's poster presentation time.

I've been bouncing around a few ideas for my poster presentation in terms of layout. I know I'm going to include the map project and what I did to the website and my image searches for the content, that is a no-brainer. I'll also include a professional statement and an explanation of what goes on the Press because I don't think many people know what it is, exactly. Someone actually said to me the other day, "Oh, so you guys actually publish books there? I didn't know that." I'm not sure what people think the WVU Press does. Either way, I'm going to work on formulating a game plan for how I want my poster to look this week.

Oh, and the title of this post comes from my boss's daughter, who is apparently going to be the next great writer of Elizabethian poetry.

ciao, amm

Devil Program vs. Drupal

I've been working on the WVU Press Website quite a bit recently. We have switched from using Slate, which is what I will from this point on refer to as "devil program" to Drupal. These are both programs that are aimed at website content management, one is far easier than the other, however. I'm sure you can guess which on is easier. I've been converting the web content from devil program's website to the new Drupal website, and it is surprisingly easier than I expected. I'm still learning how to use it, but it is helping me understand the fundamentals of web development, especially in terms of how to use HTML and creating web content in pages, stories, menu items, and so on and so forth.

I must explain why I am to negative about devil program. You see, I have worked to understand how to move content around it for a few weeks now on and off. I've tried to upload pictures of books, as well as content, and something always goes wrong. Not only do things go wrong, but it is usually difficult to figure out what on earth I have done to mess up the entire layout of a page when all I was trying to do what upload a picture of some trees. I was able to figure out at least half of what I was doing with Drupal by watching Than use it for one day, so it is safe to say that this is a much easier program to use. I think this brings back the term "synthetic thinking" that I mentioned earlier this semester. I am able to apply this concept to learning how to use Drupal and figure out some things on my own. However, the other program, which is more evil than Satan himself, made me want to scratch my eyes out in one day when all I wanted to do was instert a panorama of some pretty trees.

Is that really so much to ask?

Maps--The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

At the WVU Pres I currently have three projects I'm working on simultaneously. I'm still editing the content on the website and I'm still conducting image searches for the book cover of The Pale Light of Sunset. I am also using Photoshop to edit maps of Africa for a book that is obviously about Africa. Anyways, all I do is scan the maps and then drag them into Photoshop to edit the way they look. When I first them them you can see all the tape and inperfections within the lettering and symbols on the maps. My job is to use the tools in Photoshop to correct all of these errors so there are no more inperfections that can lead the eye away from what the map is really trying to convey.

I've had some issues with lining the maps up in the scanner. I actually had to redo an entire map because part of it didn't come through when I scanned it, which was irritating. The borders of the maps are sometimes difficult to fit, so I have to turn the maps a certain way before I can get them to fit. I also have to convert the maps to gray scale and bitmap and save them multiple times. This hasn't really given me any problems, it's just part of the process.

The Pale Light of Sunset

Today, I started doing something totally new at the Press. I was handed a manuscript of a new book titled The Pale Light of Sunset and was told to read part of it and think about what kind of "vibe" it put out. Then, I was told to go on Amazon.com to find book covers that put out a similar vibe to come up with ideas for a cover to the book. I read a little less than half of the manuscript and then started browsing Amazon, still glancing at the text every now and then.
At first, I thought about looking up books on Hitler, which is morbid, but the content of the book is sometimes rather violent, so it fit. Furthermore, there is a part of the book where the main character is outside of a pharmacy during World War II. There is a large poster of Adolf Hitler that people are supposed to put their ciggarettes out on, but the main character doesn't know who he is. I found this to be a profound image and thought it would be interesting, yet controversial to use for a cover.
As I continued to glance over the text, I came up with a few other ideas, most involving either the Hitler image or the American flag and drugs. I say drugs because the book is supposed to be based on hallucinations. The more I read of the text, the more I realized Lee Maynard, the author, writes very similarly to my favorite author, Brett Easton Ellis. This prompted me to look up the cover of the book called Less Than Zero. This book features a hazy picture of the city of LA fading up into white with the title in embossed lettering. I thought since the two author's writing styles were similar, perhaps we could incorporate a similar feel to Maynard's work.
There is a reoccurring theme in the book where the main character always falls down when he hears a gun shot, either hunting with his father or when he sees someone killed in a bar fight. He always falls down. This made me think of perhaps combining the faded, hazy effect on Less Than Zero to Sunset. I thought it would be cool and equally trippy and colorful, to feature a graphic of a shadow or sillouette of a person falling from one corner of the book cover due to a gun "blast" graphic. The person falling could slowly fade into white with some sort of trippy lettering for the title and author lines. I want to keep the trippy, colorful themes not only because they are fun, but because they are totally different from Maynard's other two book covers and I think that is what Than is shooting for. After I came up with all of these ideas, I communicated them to Than, who seemed open to them. He then instructed me to start looking for images on flikr.com of people falling or shadows of falling people. I gathered as many as possible before I left the office with the Grab tool and sent them, with a memo of all of my ideas to Than for him to go over.

Midterm Self-Assessment

It's about half way through my final semester here at WVU and I have a few things to note. Recently, my work at the WVU Press has been going smoothly. I've edited a lot of the web content and am making progress as days go by. I've noticed that getting used to editing and working at the Press has been a process. I first had to get used to my surroundings, which didn't take long because the office is a very open place. I then had to get comfortable with the work I was starting to do. This took a little longer because I had never done anything like this before. I think writing in this blog about the struggles I had initially helped me recognize where I need to focus at work. Most of the time after I would write one of these entries I would re-read it to make sure it made sense and I would retain the comments I made and apply them to work. I think writing down my struggles has helped me overcome them, so that part of my writing and progress is coming along swimingly.

I've been trying to address one issue lately that deals with my professional life and writing. My mother recently got ahold of my resume and decided to alter it a little. And by a little I mean a lot. It looks very professional now, but she added information that doesn't need to be there and some that isn't even true. This was a nice gesture and all, but I have to remedy this before I apply to any other jobs. The thing I've been having an issue with is which information to keep and which to toss. Her draft is about five pages long and I know not all of it needs to be there. My editorial eye is not used to working with so much content in one document all at once, so this will be a different challenge, seeing as I'm currently used to there not being enough to work with. I think this will not only be a good move in terms of my resume, but also in terms of the different ways to look at a document that needs to be edited.

WVU Press Culture

Many places of work in today's world require its employees to dress professionally, act professionally, and basically convey professionalism in every spec of their existence. At the WVU Press, this just isn't the case 100 percent of the time. First off, I learned to not overdress while working at the Press the first day I got there when I was wearing slacks, a blazer and a button down shirt and everyone else was in jeans and regular attire. This was not only uncomfortable, but also a little embarassing because I looked so different and stuffy compared to everyone else. I based my attire for the Press off of what I knew of other internships my friends have held, such as at The Dominion Post. The Post requires its reporters to dress very conservativly and professionally at all times. This even applies to when the assignment might not be exactly "professional." For example, a story that requires a reporter to cover a circus in town should not justify the same attire as a reporter covering a city council meeting. Regardless, it is nice to work in a place where the attire matches the overall feeling of the office.

Another part of the culture of any place is the people that you're in close contact with everyday. I work closest to probably one of the nicest ladies I have ever met. She goes by the name of Floanne and is kind of an administrative assistant in the office, but also oversees all of the interns and student workers. She is always available for friendly conversation and is genuinely concerned with how we are holding up in the office. But, like any boss or supervisor, she can be tough. I was actually sitting about three feet away from her the other day when she lit into another intern about not making it into work. After hearing this five minute conversation about whoever this was having a bad attitude and not doing the work she was required to do, I have to say, I never want to get on Floanne's bad side. Ever.

"You're Looking At That Thing in the Corner, Aren't You?"

The title of this post just comes from something my boss said that I found funny the other day. We were going over the continuous edits I have been making to the WVU Press website. We were talking about how the entries were coming together well and now there were just some factual errors and issues of timeliness that needed addressed. For example, some of the entries included reviews of the books, some didn't. Some of them included brief bios of the writers, some of them didn't. In other random instances there are web addresses at the end of the entries that lead to full websites that offer total biographies and current activities of the writers. Most do not include this feature. The factual errors were mostly concerned with where to get more information on the authors, one of which sited a radio program that went off the air more than a year ago.

Since there is so much more to worry about with all of the entries for so many books, Than and I decided to write one perfect entry and then model the rest after that. This includes not only the style, but also the content and length of the entries. Basically, they all need to have a synopsis, review, and blurb from a random person who supports the book. They all need to be similar lengths as well. This will be the hardest part, seeing as all the content for the separate entries is always very different.

So, this is what we were talking about when Than made the random comment, "You're looking at that thing in the corner, aren't you?" I was paying attention to what he was saying, no kidding. There was just this big yellow and black thing in the corner that was pretty unrecognizable. I asked him what it was and he said he didn't know, but everyone who walked into the office looked at it in one point on another apparently. Our general consensus turned out to be a very unsafe, unstable chainsaw-holder-thing, used to cut branches off the tree.

Random, yes. Distracting from work, maybe. Identifiable, no.

Good for Press, Bad for Amber

So this week I am discovering the differences between my job at The Daily Athenaeum and The WVU Press. I've had some problems adjusting to looking for errors in Chicago style of writing, rather than Associated Press style. While I worked at the DA, I was totally emersed in AP style and used it on a daily basis. Now, I've got to get used to Chicago, which I knew slightly before I started at the Press, but am not nearly as strong in as AP style. This has been an issue in copy editing the website and I've really been having trouble catching all of the errors in Chicago style, so I've got to go over everything again. This is frustrating, but I'm learning all the same.
I had to quit my job at the DA in order to fulfill my duties at the Press, but I don't think any of my supervisors realized this. From this I have learned to communicate when I quit other jobs to my higher ups in the future. Anyways, this transition from newspaper to publishing company and the kind of writing they do is presenting some challenges to me in the way I write and edit. When I was told to look over the stuff I had already copy edited I was pretty disappointed in myself for not catching all of the mistakes I should have. However, it is times like these when I realize why I had to leave the DA. It wasn't just because I needed more time in my schedule in general, it was also because I had learned all I could from the DA and it was time to move on to where I could learn more skills involved with writing and editing. Even though it was discouraging to know I messed up, I also understand that this is helping me become as marketable as possible for the stuff that happens after I graduate in May.

Welcome Distractions

One of the things I like best about working at the WVU Press is the fact that I'm constantly exposed to the written word. I don't exactly get to fully read any of the books I work with, but it's still nice to be surrounded by literature. I got to help copy edit a book the other day called The Safety of Deeper Water. This is about a lady who enjoys fishing when she is not busy being a nurse. Her husband is in prison and keeps threatening her via letters that when he gets out he will come after her and harm or kill her in some way. She ends up divorcing him while he's still in prison, which just annoys him even more. She also falls in love with a very interesting character who tends to enjoy fishing naked, for whatever reason. Thats all of the plot I could figure out from just skimming the pages looking for orphans and widows. In case you don't know, an orphan is a word left by itself at the start of a line and a widow is part of a phrase left at the top of a page.
Anyway, this has made me realize that while copy editing can be tedious, especially when it involves just looking for simple words and phrases, I think I can really come to enjoy it if it involves working with interesting text. I've never exactly hated copy editing, but I haven't really enjoyed it either. I think this is a lesson in applying something I actually like to something I don't really enjoy doing all that much. As long as I've got at least something, be it as small as getting the gist of a good book, it makes life a little more bearable. I say this because working in an office wasn't exactly what I hoped for when I decided to get into writing and editing, but that is where the books come in. By being able to read or at least skim over a plot, I can take my mind off of being cooped up in an office and let it focus on not only the task at hand, but also the details that surround that task, such as a setting next to a river.

Th Office, The Stockroom, The Hallway

My job at the WVU Press so far consists of running between the main office and the stockroom via a very smelly hallway that holds the oder of an old locker room and about 40 years of dust. I started by building a site map of the Press' website, just to get a feeling of what content I have to work with. I then started to copyedit some of the entries that were up that described the plot of the books the Press publishes. Most of them were alright in terms of the description, there were just some errors in the use of Chicago style and spelling on a few. I say that I spend a lot of time between the stockroom and the office because I have to go back into the stockrooms and find the hard copy of the book for which an entry is made and make sure the price, ISBN, spelling of the author's name, among other things are all correct. I'm vaguly sure I look like a mad woman running back and forth between rooms so much, but I'm learning quite a bit about what it means to get used to a new workplace, especially since I'll probably be working somewhere similar in the future.

I've also managed to quickly punch out my Internship Contract for this capstone and got some very interesting answers from my publishing-supervisor-guy, Than. For example, when I asked him to tell me what learning goals he has set for me during this internship he said simply, "Synthetic Thinking." This means that when I don't know what I'm doing I should try to accomplish the task by taking what I know from previous patterns and experiences to figure out what I need to do. He also said I would obviously be learning basic editorial skills, but synthetic thinking was the first thing he mentioned. I've heard many people say that asking questions is always the best way to figure out something when you don't know the answer. I think this is true, but I also think that it is important to learn how to improvise sometimes and come up with creative solutions, especially in writing and editing. This can not only help with the writing aspect of copy editing, but can also help the editor-writer relationship. I feel this way because the more creative you can be with coming up with solutions to a problem, even if it's something you're not sure about, can be helpful in gaining feedback to figure out a solution that pleases the writer and editor.

Post One-Introduction to the WVU Press

On Friday I went to my first day at my internship with the West Virginia University Press. This is a new path for me in regards to what I'm used to writing and working on. At the Press I'll be working primarily on their website, or reworking it, I should say. The site currently severely lacks flow and is has a very plain, unappealing design. It's very uninteresting and doesn't really draw the user in to further explore the page, much less accomplish the task of leading the user around the site. My job at the Press will be to enhance the usability, among other tasks I'm sure, but this is the main thing I'm going to be focusing on throughout the semester. As I said, this is a very new avenue for me. I've critiqued websites before in my comprehensive editing class and I've worked on websites in my technical writing class, so at least I've got a bit of experience I can apply to this new internship.

When I think about all of the classes I've had during my time as a Professional Writing and Editing minor one word comes to mind: Work. All of the classes I've taken have been challenging in their own way and have required me to do tons of work that at the time I found to be tedious. I also have to say I was a little peeved when I found out I had a capstone for this minor when many of my other friends' minors do not require any sort of final coursework. However, I am grateful for the time and effort I've had to put into this minor. This I feel has prepared me for the next level of my life, which is the stuff that happens after I graduate in May, I suppose. Either way, I'm looking forward to learning more about this field. I think that my previous classes have prepared me to do well on most of the assignments in this capstone, especially the writing assignments and this blog. I've got plenty of time to reflect on what I've learned each week and the writing exercises in general help me clear my head and put what is going on in the class or internship in perspective.

One thing I am worried about in this course is the amount of hours I have to be at my internship each week. I realize that 10 hours per week shouldn't really be a big deal, but it tends to stress me out just thinking about the task set in front of me. As I mentioned before, this internship is going to be a new adventure for me, so I'm pretty nervous about what Than (the guy in charge or us wee interns) is expecting of me. He seems nice enough, though, so that is at least a little comforting. Another reason I'm apprehensive about this internship is the fact that I already hold a very good job at The Daily Athenaeum as the administrative reporter. I'm currently covering the presidential search and the Board of Governors, which takes up a significant portion of my time already. I would hate to have to leave the DA, but if it comes down to it I will because, after all, I have to have this internship to graduate and I've done a large amount of work at the paper already. It might be time to move on, but I'm not ready yet, so I'm giving it a chance and seeing if I can handle both.