editing Archives - Jeff Deck - Novel Writing Coach

Jeff Deck’s skills for hire. Sellscribe, Hedge Editor, &c.

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Hey friends, I’m going to be looking to add some more freelancing clients to my stable– not just editing, but writing as well. I’ll update my experience on this site and perhaps provide a few samples, because everybody loves a free sample. I know this because, historically, I have made a meal more than a few times out of assorted grocery store samples. To avoid returning to those days, I desire my income to reach a livable level. So in the meantime, if you would care to spread the word that the incomparable Jeff Deck, author and editor, is offering his services to the World, then I may just have a cookie with your name on it. In icing.

6/13-6/14

I’m about to go into high gear for the rest of this month, for writing and editing (the former and latter for my book in progress, and just the latter for Benjamin’s book). It’s a welcome feeling. A belonging feeling. Alcohol, fine fried foods, fresh air, sunshine, video games, these are all fine things, but I am always bound to feel irritable when I’ve gone without the real business of writing for too long. There’s an absence that only it can fill. Friends, lover, family are all necessary parts of the whole as well, but purpose is what keeps the walking husk feeling away.

6/13 Deeds
Read 50 pages — 15 GP
Worked at paper — 30 GP
Ran an errand — +1 Dut, 20 GP
Met with colleague — +1 Gen, 20 GP
GP subtraction — -112 GP

6/14 Deeds
Did Benjamin chapter — +1 Fin, 40 GP
Cleaned and did errand — +1 Dut, 20 GP
Went for a run with Jane — +1 Sta, 20 GP
Recorded a brief video — +1 Pre, 15 GP
Wrote 1000 words — +1 Inv, 50 GP
Read 50 pages — 15 GP
GP subtraction — -160 GP

6/11

Making some real progress, finally– maybe it took a couple of days in the woods of Vermont to reset my brain. We’re seeing movement ahead on the editing of both my chapters and Benjamin’s chapters. I’m also writing scripts for what promises to be an entertaining detective/horror/humorous series set in Portsmouth. Get ready, for the doom of the land is coming…

Today’s Deeds
Edited Benjamin chapter — +1 Fin, 50 GP
Read 50 pages — 15 GP
Did freelance editing — 30 GP
Did cleaning and organizing — +1 Dut, 20 GP
Ran an errand — +1 Dut, 20 GP
GP subtraction — -142 GP

Leveling up

So, congratulations to me! After a long slog of cleaning, moving, traveling, and working, I have decided to level myself up to a Level 4 Freelancer. Somewhere in all the lunacy, I lost track of tracking my activities, though I know I certainly was doing a lot of worthy things. I’ve started myself even with an extra point in each stat for Level 4, because I’m worth it, baby. And I’ve set the GP balance to 1000, which sounds about right. Now we can return to our regularly scheduled activity tracking.

So now I’m looking back on the last week or so. My deeds for the last several days include, as I recall (leaving out the GP balances, because I’ve really got to get back on track here):
Went for a run with Jane — +1 Sta
A few thousand words’ worth of writing — +3 Inv
Enough freelance editing to merit +2 Fin
Editing a Benjamin chapter — +1 Fin
Read a few hundred pages — no stat points, sadly
Filming a couple of Tiki Huts — +2 Pre
Ran a few errands — +3 Dut
Meeting with colleagues to discuss project — +1 Gen
Attending a peer event — +1 Pre, +1 Gen
Spending quality time with friends and family — +1 Gen

Now time to start keeping track of things in detail, starting today. New post…. go!

New Frontiers, Once More

Here once again at the precipice of something new, or rather, having already flung myself or been flung into the void. I am now Jeff Deck the full-time freelancer, available for editing and writing jobs as you please, and continuing to speak on various word-related topics. Perhaps even having the opportunity, from time to time, to actually work on the next book. This maverick lifestyle will come with its share of knocks and bruises as I figure out the best methods of doing things– indeed there’s already a skinned knee or two– but that’s all part of the adventure, no? I’ll try to detail what I’ve learned about the freelancing life, right here on the blog as I go along.

The event currently looming on my personal horizon for now, though, and on the horizon of Benjamin D. Herson, is the imminent release of The Great Typo Hunt in paperback. For that I should post some buttons around these parts to encourage the purchasing of said product– for I am, as always, merely a greasemonkey for the engine of commerce– but for now you can find them on the main Great Typo Hunt page. We’re also conducting a 50 Typos, 50 States contest in which several fabulous prizes can be won if you share your typo pictures. Exciting stuff.

Meantime, if you find yourself in need of editing or writing services, turn to someone who’s been in the word-crafting game for a while now through various outlets, and… hey, where are you going? I’m talking about me. E-mail jeffdeck [at] jeffdeck.com with inquiries. My rates are reasonable and my turnaround is swift, swift as a rushing brook. Yes, this is one thing that I have learned already…

Freelancer Lesson #1: Be ready to promote yourself, especially with nature-themed metaphors and similes.

People love nature. Thus people will love you if you compare your skills and business practices somehow with the aroma of fresh pine.