Planned passion: negotiating a career change

A few days ago, I celebrated my 1000th paper with @Cactus Communications with a spur-of-the-moment post. Five years, 1800-odd papers, and a dozen books into my second career as an editor, I am still in uncharted waters and enjoying the ride in every sense. There is always something slightly wild about a second career, especially if it is a choix de passion. I don't know how many of you will believe it, but when I first started editing science around 15 years ago, I did not know that it was a viable career option. It was just something I loved doing, something my friends knew I was good at doing.

With a lot more of us equating a job with our passion, do all career changes work out equally well? Unfortunately, no. Because, as I learned the hard way, interest and talent do only so much. In my first foray into the world of ‘official’ editing, when I committed to a good friend that I will pitch in and edit his book for him, I confess I was fantasizing about the ideal job where I take his sensible prose and change it into a worthy work of literature. I fleet-footedly rushed right in and slammed face-first against a solid wall of professionalism.

From his publisher’s end, there was a team of editors who knew very well what they were supposed to be doing, and talking to them was…well, an enlightening experience, to put it mildly. When a senior member of the team asked me about the style sheet, all I could muster up was a blank stare and the realization that there is no such thing as a ‘born’ editor. And then began the slow transition from na?ve to nimble, and here are some things that I learned in the process.

1.     Give yourself time and space to grow

Give yourself time to mature as a professional. Hold space for difficulties and uncertainties. Rejection, dejection, and bad feedback are all part of the game. Don’t beat yourself up about them. Be kind to yourself at every step.

2.     Learn

Waylay every possible resource and learn about your craft. Read, listen to lectures, listen to people, practice, take tests. I used to prepare extensive notes regarding editing guidelines, grammar, conventions, and style. Every time I received feedback on my work, I would carefully note down the takeaways in well-indexed notebooks. I enjoy writing notes and working with good stationery, so I write. You go do whatever floats your boat but have a go-to resource for your work. Don't be afraid of being silly. It is okay.

3.     Have a tribe

Find and join a professional organization where you get to interact with others with the same passions as you. In my case, I found our precious Indian Copyeditors Forum and made sure that, despite being a freelancer, I hung out virtually with my peers at Cactus. Learn early on to ask questions and to share resources when you have either. We ICF people do a good job of always pinging each other for both practical and philosophical reasons. Your job has a tribe too. Find them and stay close.

4.     Be who you want to be

So, you want to be an editor/writer/artist/singer? Well, be it. Polish and update your professional brand. Set long-term and short-term goals. (Do factor in the unavoidable deviations and digressions but have a general direction.) This is particularly important because it is easy to lose sight of your unique strengths and end up dabbling in all the interesting things that pop up. Expand your network. Use social media wisely.

5.     Work for free, but never for less.

I know this goes against the conventional wisdom of freelancers never working for free, but I would suggest that you do just this, especially at the beginning of your new career. Having said that, working free is not the same as working on dead-end projects at low rates. If there is an interesting project that you are excited about, do not hesitate to work on it for free and broaden your horizons. The latter, however, de-values your effort and rains on everyone’s parade as you will, in effect, be bringing the rates down for your peers as well. Don’t be that person. 

Photograph: My desk one morning back in the day when I was moonlighting as an editor while teaching my grad students.