MARY GABLE

I’m a couple of weeks into my part-time internship with Dragonfly Editorial, a technical/medical writing and editing firm based out of Tipp City, Ohio. It’s a little different from other communications jobs I’ve had, since the firm’s staff hail from all over the country, but working from my new home office has been a huge perk.

I’m writing a series of profiles of fellow staff members for the company’s blog, which means I’m not only getting to meet accomplished writers and editors from all walks of life, I’m also learning another bonus of being a freelance writer: flexibility. Flexibility to dodge the 9-5 work routine, to opt out of the maddening commute. I interviewed one editor last week who’s training to become a semi-professional ice dancer; another rides dressage in her free time.

Another one of my assignments is to develop some expertise as a proofreader and copyeditor. To aid me in this quest, I have a couple of workbooks (Mark my Words and Substance &Style) to complete. It reminds me a little bit of my elementary school days, filling out Wordly Wise primers (remember those?) on proper vocabulary usage.

Being the word nerd that I am, I’m loving them. For me, working through these volumes is like reading a really good novel—I can’t wait to get to the next chapter to learn the next proofmark, complete the next exercise.

I could get used to this.