Ten (among many more) things

September 11 is my final day as a FT, company-employed editor. I will not miss the following (in random order because I’m too lazy to sort in any meaningful order):

Supervised by a “manager” who personifies the Peter Principle

Told, “You decide [a style point], you’re the editor,” and then being overruled by illiterate proposal managers

Underappreciated, undervalued, and underpaid

Editing writing by people who don’t know the difference between, for example, its and it’s, their and there

Working with incompetent temp editors

Rarely, if ever, being thanked

Trying to educate people about the time required to do quality editing

Working with graphic designers and desktop publishers who never proof their own work

Working with managers and coordinators who won’t enforce version control, thereby giving writers access to files after my final edit

Writing and updating style guides no one adheres to, let alone reads