All week I worked on the same document from week one, well sort of. It was a second version of the document from week one.
I did a even more in-depth look at the piece. I'm starting to notice things that two weeks ago I wouldn't even have noticed. It startling how much I've actually learned already. Starting off I knew practically nothing about book publishing. Now, I know a decent amount.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Catching Up: Week Two
Having finished looking over the document from week one, things slowed down a bit. I was given a nearly finished book to search for orphan and widows (which was an interesting conversation as two of my supervisor and GTA both forgot which was which). I found a total of about 50 or 60 of them. I was then given the task of seeing if I could fix them using minimal changes to character width and character spacing. Out of that number there were a total of three that I could actually fix.
This revelation shocked me for pretty much the rest of the day. I felt like I had accomplished absolutely nothing, but looking back I realized that I was productive. I found the problems and tried to fix them. It wasn't failure on my part, just the problems couldn't be fixed without making bigger problems.
The next day I was given the task of making a site map for the redesign of the WVU Press website. I pretty much had to re-teach myself how to use Adobe Illustrator which I hadn't used for nearly three years (which was also two versions ago). But that's not the most interesting part of the day. My supervisor was sick so I was litterally by myself for four hours. I mean there were other people there, but I was in a room by myself.
It felt weird. I'd only worked for about ten hours at the Press and I was on my own. So I worked for four hours on the site map (which is a lot harder than it sounds mind you). It was a bit frustrating given that when I had questions, therewas no one to ask.
My next work day I found out that a lot of the work I did was wrong. I had made it too complex and while I understood how it worked, for others at first glance it was very confusing. So I completly redid it. Luckily this time I was able to ask questions and get feedback before I went overboard with things. I probably should have remembered my mom's old adage: KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).
I spent the rest of the day working on the sitemap and came up with a much better (and much easier to read) version.
This revelation shocked me for pretty much the rest of the day. I felt like I had accomplished absolutely nothing, but looking back I realized that I was productive. I found the problems and tried to fix them. It wasn't failure on my part, just the problems couldn't be fixed without making bigger problems.
The next day I was given the task of making a site map for the redesign of the WVU Press website. I pretty much had to re-teach myself how to use Adobe Illustrator which I hadn't used for nearly three years (which was also two versions ago). But that's not the most interesting part of the day. My supervisor was sick so I was litterally by myself for four hours. I mean there were other people there, but I was in a room by myself.
It felt weird. I'd only worked for about ten hours at the Press and I was on my own. So I worked for four hours on the site map (which is a lot harder than it sounds mind you). It was a bit frustrating given that when I had questions, therewas no one to ask.
My next work day I found out that a lot of the work I did was wrong. I had made it too complex and while I understood how it worked, for others at first glance it was very confusing. So I completly redid it. Luckily this time I was able to ask questions and get feedback before I went overboard with things. I probably should have remembered my mom's old adage: KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).
I spent the rest of the day working on the sitemap and came up with a much better (and much easier to read) version.
Catching Up: Week One
My first day at the WVU Press started with a bang. I walked into the room had a 20 minute conversations with my supervisor, then spent the next three or so hours looking over a document we're working on for visual mistakes.
It wasn't a test or practice document. It was the real thing. It was at that moment I realized that what I as doing was real. I mean, I knew I was going to work on real things but it never really hit me until then.
Needless to say I was nervous. Mistakes didn't mean a slightly lower grade. If I make a mistake it means more work for others or possibly the mistakes will remain.
I guess up until that point I've always looked at documents from the writer's point of view. To me the process ends when you finish writing. Not anymore though.
I pretty much spent the rest of the week looking over the document, occasionally taking breaks to scan things in. I hardly even noticed when four hours have passed. It's so weird. Looking through the document kinda reminds me of when I write stories. Everything just sorta disappears and eons could pass before I'd realize it.
It wasn't a test or practice document. It was the real thing. It was at that moment I realized that what I as doing was real. I mean, I knew I was going to work on real things but it never really hit me until then.
Needless to say I was nervous. Mistakes didn't mean a slightly lower grade. If I make a mistake it means more work for others or possibly the mistakes will remain.
I guess up until that point I've always looked at documents from the writer's point of view. To me the process ends when you finish writing. Not anymore though.
I pretty much spent the rest of the week looking over the document, occasionally taking breaks to scan things in. I hardly even noticed when four hours have passed. It's so weird. Looking through the document kinda reminds me of when I write stories. Everything just sorta disappears and eons could pass before I'd realize it.
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