WHY THE WORD ANGEL?
The Word Angel may seem like a strange name for a business that is not religiously affiliated, but for me, it's a perfect fit.
After spending my youth cursing my unfortunate moniker—which is really, truly Angel Butts—I later grew to embrace it as the ultimate icebreaker, a source of amusement that seemed to draw people to me more often than it drove them away. It's little wonder, then, that I would craft my professional persona around my unusual name.
After spending my youth cursing my unfortunate moniker—which is really, truly Angel Butts—I later grew to embrace it as the ultimate icebreaker, a source of amusement that seemed to draw people to me more often than it drove them away. It's little wonder, then, that I would craft my professional persona around my unusual name.
OK, WE GET THE ANGEL PART. NOW WHERE DO THE WORDS COME IN?
I fell in love with the intricacies and technical details of the English language when I read Strunk & White's The Elements of Style in high school. In fact, I found the book riotously funny—a sure sign of a born editor.
After landing a job in the editorial department at the Modern Language Association, my respect and admiration for the high standards of quality academic writing only deepened. There, surrounded by some of the greatest editorial minds our country has to offer, I came to understand that beautiful writing is both an art and a craft—and that understanding that craft took as much time, concentration, passion, and training as mastering any other technical trade.
Although I chose to pursue graduate study in sociology rather than in English, my fascination with the craft of writing never waned. Shortly after starting graduate school, happenstance brought me my first freelance editorial client, and the Word Angel was born.
Through word-of-mouth only, my client list quickly expanded. As I reveled in each new assignment, it became clear to me that I simply love making words come to life. It excites me. When I'm working on a text, I fret. I rejoice. I grit my teeth. I swoon. When I'm finally able to coax the words to flow gently across the page, I’m flooded with satisfaction and relief. I take great pride in taking the time to verify the details many other editors would miss. Things like:
Catching issues like these are the highlights of my workdays—not because I relish proving authors wrong but because I get a rush out of helping them get it right.
After landing a job in the editorial department at the Modern Language Association, my respect and admiration for the high standards of quality academic writing only deepened. There, surrounded by some of the greatest editorial minds our country has to offer, I came to understand that beautiful writing is both an art and a craft—and that understanding that craft took as much time, concentration, passion, and training as mastering any other technical trade.
Although I chose to pursue graduate study in sociology rather than in English, my fascination with the craft of writing never waned. Shortly after starting graduate school, happenstance brought me my first freelance editorial client, and the Word Angel was born.
Through word-of-mouth only, my client list quickly expanded. As I reveled in each new assignment, it became clear to me that I simply love making words come to life. It excites me. When I'm working on a text, I fret. I rejoice. I grit my teeth. I swoon. When I'm finally able to coax the words to flow gently across the page, I’m flooded with satisfaction and relief. I take great pride in taking the time to verify the details many other editors would miss. Things like:
- If a character "climbs in the back door" of a particular vehicle, and readers have been told the make, model, and model year of the car, was a four-door model of that car actually manufactured in that year?
- Do the numbers the author cites in the text correspond with the ones she presents in her accompanying table? Do those numbers actually indicate the conclusion the author presents in her analysis?
- If this page refers to “the brunette's pink lipstick,” but the same character is described as having "dark ruby lips" a few pages back, was the shift intentional?
Catching issues like these are the highlights of my workdays—not because I relish proving authors wrong but because I get a rush out of helping them get it right.
