education/training/career advice for 20 year old student

[scripted20]

hello to all,

I am a 20 year old college student, and although I'm not majoring in English or journalism, I have concentrated on media and communications, supplemented by applied sciences and geography. I've gotten rave notices since I began- about my writing skills... on the order of " A writer like you only comes along once in a great while" and so forth.

So, print journalism is in its death throes, and the online environment is like the Wild West. I don't plan to major in English, although I spend most of my time writing fiction and composing music. I already have enough "proofreading" skills based on my writing ability, to breeze through college. It dawned on me that one way to earn more money for college bills would be to try freelance copywriting/proofreading jobs, home based of telecommuting.

In your opinion, what further preparation would I need to do this? Working in an office before attempting freelancing is not an option for me, as we're in a recession ( read, Republican Induced Recession, RIR), and I already spend a lot of time sitting in a chair, that is, a wheeled one, motorized.

How competitive is this option? Is everybody grabbing at crumbs, so they can afford fast food? Or is at a viable source of income for the workalics among us ( like me).

Any sage advice, or even advice from the famous school of hard knocks, is very welcome.

[dfisher]

Why not start on campus, offering to edit/proof students' papers? I've had several of my students, after taking my editing class, turn a pretty penny doing that. Once it spread around that they were doing that, some professors started having them look at grant applications, research papers, etc.

It will build the portfolio and references, key for wider freelancing down the road.

[scripted20]

Thank you. the idea of small scale and local, to build a resume, makes sense. The one hitch right now, is that I actually never set foot (or wheel) on a campus, as I take classes and degree totally online (from a brick and mortar regionally accredited school. Travelling is an obstacle.

I'm also concerned about thr ethics of "correcting" or proofreading other students' papers. What is the boundary between proofing and rewriting. Many of the papers I've seen copies of, as classes use peer critiquing, are terrible, in terms of standard English, grammar, punctuation, and organization.

[Frank Steele]

You could network with friends and ask if they need help proofreading their resumes, or if they know of anyone who might need proofreading help. Try getting involved in your community, too. Maybe there's a local newsletter that makes you cringe, and you could offer to help the staff. Perhaps the community center needs its website edited. The local library may appreciate help with their brochures and press releases. Ditto for local police and fire associations, or other professional groups--some of whom might recommend you to others. You could also check with churches, museums, recreational centers, sports groups, theaters, and local restaurants where you notice typos on the menu. Who knows; maybe you'll get a free meal, if not some work, and folks who run restaurants often have other friends and associates who could use proofreading and copyediting help from time to time.

[scripted20]

These are great suggestions! Thank you.

[editer]

The ethics of working on student papers is to maintain academic standards, but what that means will vary. I have a small side business editing research papers and journal articles for non-native speakers where my charge is to straighten out the English; in those cases the student is not being judged on grammar or punctuation so much as the quality of the research.

In most cases you'd probably want to check with the professor. Some will want the assignments to be entirely the student's own work; others may not mind some polishing help, especially with ESL students.