Producing a thesis or dissertation is one thing. But then after the writing’s done comes the crucial final phase of combining, editing, and proofreading front matter, chapters, tables, references, indexes, and such so that the whole document meets the Graduate School’s formatting requirements—no small chore. As you head toward (or envision) that final lap, perhaps you’ve considered getting help from an editor. Here in the Thesis Office we maintain a list of freelance editors who are familiar with NIU’s document formatting rules and offer various editing, formatting, and transcribing services for a fee. These experts see a lot of research-based writing and can thus share plenty of useful insights on the process of getting your big document in proper shape.
In this post, we offer some words of reflection, wisdom, and advice from one of the veterans among this group. She recently visited our office and sat down to share her experiences working with thesis and dissertation writers at NIU. Our interview covered a range of topics, including her early years of editing (back when clients came to her with printouts and/or files on 3 1/2-inch floppy disks), changes in her work methods over the past decade as documents became almost completely electronic, and the various fields in which her clients have written their papers. Below is a summary of a few other matters we discussed.
Red Marks, Red Shoes
It was near the end of the last century when friends and colleagues in DeKalb encouraged Susan Richter, an English literature major, to offer her editing services to thesis and dissertation writers at NIU. Carolyn Law, our Thesis Office director, told her the work would be “fun.” Has that prediction turned out to be true? Overall, Susan’s answers add up to a firm yes.
“I’m really a bean counter at heart,” she offered at the start of our interview, in reference to the intricacies of arranging and formatting a document in order to avoid a final editor’s red marks. “Putting everything in the proper order, checking references to make sure they have the volume, issue, and page numbers, making sure everything is following the rules: I enjoy that.” Though she sometimes finds the content of a thesis or dissertation to be intriguing, Susan insists that what the paper is about is less important to her than the editing of it. “When people ask me what I do, I tell them, ‘I read but I don’t pay attention.’” She mentioned that she remembers a few topics from documents she’s edited over the years—teaching methods, management approaches, and engineering solutions come to mind—but doesn’t recall much detail. She said: “I don’t try to retain any of it because unless it’s something that really interests me, it doesn’t get to stay in my short-term memory.” In emphasizing her enthusiasm for editing, she also offered a few words worth passing on to writers who may be reaching that final submission stage: “I enjoy making things look the way they’re supposed to look and follow the rules. If that’s not something you enjoy, you’re going to have problems. You’re going to have lots of red from Carolyn.”
Memories about a document’s content may not linger, but anecdotes from her experiences working with grad students readily come to mind. For example, years ago she would often meet new clients in person. “It was interesting with the international students,” Susan recalls. “I would usually meet them over at the student center. And the first couple of times I said, ‘I’m a white female,’ you know, ‘I’m…’—whatever my age was at the time. They thought I looked young. I didn’t look as old as they thought I should. So I started wearing red shoes. I would say, ‘I’m 5’3” and have dark hair and will have on red shoes.’” Thus, students looking for their editor in a crowd would scan below people’s knees, searching for foot coverings matching the color of an editor’s pen. And does she still have those shoes? “I do, just in case!”
Words of Experience
Susan also shared insider views on what writers who seek a freelance editor’s assistance can get right or get wrong. Highlights worth noting:
Sympathy and Advice
Over the years, Susan has also developed a great deal of sympathy for soon-to-be-finished students at this stressful stage in their careers. “When people would come over to the house to pick up their three copies and their original, or just their original if they needed it, I kept Kleenex by the door.” Why Kleenex? “Because they would just burst into tears—men and women—when I would give their finished document to them. It was done, and it was delivered, and they would be talking and normal and then just start crying. And so I know it’s a stressful time. What I hope is that I can relieve some of that stress.”
Near the end of our talk, we asked if she has any words of advice on how to accomplish the thesis or dissertation wisely. Her answer provides food for thought for writers of all stripes, not just those who may be thinking of sending their document to an editor for hire: “Focus on the project and the writing. Nobody can do everything equally well. The actual formatting, the mechanical part that I work on, has pretty limited value. Don’t let that end part be a bad memory or a problem. Make your research worthwhile for somebody to look up and quote. That’s the whole purpose—to contribute to the body of knowledge. Do that. And if editing and formatting has you overly stressed, consider hiring somebody else to make your document look pretty.”
In this post, we offer some words of reflection, wisdom, and advice from one of the veterans among this group. She recently visited our office and sat down to share her experiences working with thesis and dissertation writers at NIU. Our interview covered a range of topics, including her early years of editing (back when clients came to her with printouts and/or files on 3 1/2-inch floppy disks), changes in her work methods over the past decade as documents became almost completely electronic, and the various fields in which her clients have written their papers. Below is a summary of a few other matters we discussed.
Red Marks, Red Shoes
“I’m really a bean counter at heart,” she offered at the start of our interview, in reference to the intricacies of arranging and formatting a document in order to avoid a final editor’s red marks. “Putting everything in the proper order, checking references to make sure they have the volume, issue, and page numbers, making sure everything is following the rules: I enjoy that.” Though she sometimes finds the content of a thesis or dissertation to be intriguing, Susan insists that what the paper is about is less important to her than the editing of it. “When people ask me what I do, I tell them, ‘I read but I don’t pay attention.’” She mentioned that she remembers a few topics from documents she’s edited over the years—teaching methods, management approaches, and engineering solutions come to mind—but doesn’t recall much detail. She said: “I don’t try to retain any of it because unless it’s something that really interests me, it doesn’t get to stay in my short-term memory.” In emphasizing her enthusiasm for editing, she also offered a few words worth passing on to writers who may be reaching that final submission stage: “I enjoy making things look the way they’re supposed to look and follow the rules. If that’s not something you enjoy, you’re going to have problems. You’re going to have lots of red from Carolyn.”
Memories about a document’s content may not linger, but anecdotes from her experiences working with grad students readily come to mind. For example, years ago she would often meet new clients in person. “It was interesting with the international students,” Susan recalls. “I would usually meet them over at the student center. And the first couple of times I said, ‘I’m a white female,’ you know, ‘I’m…’—whatever my age was at the time. They thought I looked young. I didn’t look as old as they thought I should. So I started wearing red shoes. I would say, ‘I’m 5’3” and have dark hair and will have on red shoes.’” Thus, students looking for their editor in a crowd would scan below people’s knees, searching for foot coverings matching the color of an editor’s pen. And does she still have those shoes? “I do, just in case!”
Words of Experience
Susan also shared insider views on what writers who seek a freelance editor’s assistance can get right or get wrong. Highlights worth noting:
- Determine the particular editing or formatting problems you need help with. Susan likes it when clients are “honest about what they have” up front.
- Give your editor ample lead time before deadlines. “Most clients contact me ahead of time and seem to be working through the process like responsible adults,” she said.
- Remember that your editor feels deadline pressure, too. As Susan puts it: “If clients say they’ll send something to me Monday morning and they don’t send it to me until Wednesday night, then a Friday deadline is going to be a little hard to meet.”
- Check your in-text citations and references extra carefully for accuracy and completeness. Susan reports that they’re never correct. She says, “People will say, ‘Oh, no, I used a program. It’ll be fine.’ They will not be fine. That has never happened. Twenty years—never.” Susan will often assist a client by adding missing information in citations and/or references, but she notes that the writer is ultimately responsible for these things.
Sympathy and Advice
Over the years, Susan has also developed a great deal of sympathy for soon-to-be-finished students at this stressful stage in their careers. “When people would come over to the house to pick up their three copies and their original, or just their original if they needed it, I kept Kleenex by the door.” Why Kleenex? “Because they would just burst into tears—men and women—when I would give their finished document to them. It was done, and it was delivered, and they would be talking and normal and then just start crying. And so I know it’s a stressful time. What I hope is that I can relieve some of that stress.”
Near the end of our talk, we asked if she has any words of advice on how to accomplish the thesis or dissertation wisely. Her answer provides food for thought for writers of all stripes, not just those who may be thinking of sending their document to an editor for hire: “Focus on the project and the writing. Nobody can do everything equally well. The actual formatting, the mechanical part that I work on, has pretty limited value. Don’t let that end part be a bad memory or a problem. Make your research worthwhile for somebody to look up and quote. That’s the whole purpose—to contribute to the body of knowledge. Do that. And if editing and formatting has you overly stressed, consider hiring somebody else to make your document look pretty.”
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