Career questions tagged novels

User Avatar
undefined's avatar
Catherine1744 views

Tips for surviving bad classes and/or horrible teachers?

I'm open to answers from both fellow students and former students for this question! I'm currently taking a literature class, and I absolutely love it, but that's in regards to all the novels on our reading syllabus being outstanding reads and my own innate passion for literature. When it comes to the actual class, I almost dread going to school every morning since it's my first period (I'm a high school student). I find that my own desires and expectations for the class are incompatible with the reality of it. My teacher provides shallow commentary on the content of our novels, but then expects high-quality analysis and understanding from us students when she can't even provide that level of analysis herself. In fact, students often ask questions for clarification and she either beats around the bush or manages to avoid the question entirely by redirecting their attention to some other topic she brings up. She also expects everyone to improve in their writing and reading analysis skills, but provides no coursework or feedback for improvement, instead repeatedly assuring us that "our skills will improve during our time in the class" - something unlikely to happen if she just expects us to become better "naturally." She never returns or allows students to see past quizzes and tests, and on essays, she only writes vague, criticizing remarks of what we did wrong rather than offering advice on how to improve our writing for higher scores. Confronting her directly/privately for advice and further feedback results in more vague comments. There seems to be no way to coax constructive criticism or explanations of the "high-level analysis" she expects out of her, so the result is a class full of disillusioned and tired students who don't want to try anymore and don't want to improve. Not to mention her behavior makes her lack any sort of credibility so I really can't take anything she says seriously anymore. I'm doing relatively well in the class, but this is thanks to the foundation of literature-based skills I've acquired prior to entering this class, not the result of anything she's taught us. With that being said, are there any tips to trudge through a pointless and unfulfilling class? There are a number of problems here, but my primary concern is preventing a terrible teacher from damaging my love of literature, because this has happened in the past where I had an English teacher so awful that I started to hate literature despite it always being one of my greatest passions. On a personal level, it's also difficult not to let her interpretation of the novels we read ruin my reading experience and my feelings toward said books - for example, she makes a lot of misogynistic comments reinforcing gender roles and completely missing the point that I think the author was actually trying to make when we discuss feminist novels. I need tips on how to survive teachers like her so I can get through the rest of this year and also put them to use if I end up having professors like her in college. (Sorry for writing a novel for my own here!) #student #advice #student-advice #class #high-school-classes #classes #survival #surviving-high-school #tips #bad-classes #bad-teachers #literature #english-literature #english #english-literature #academic-english #writing #reading #books #book #novels #novel #essay #essays #help

answer icon4 answers
Active
location icon
undefined's avatar
Catherine1985 views

Can you be both a copy editor and a content editor?

Rather than being one or the other, I'm wondering if you can be both. I'm aware that each type of editor has a different skill set; however, I love the idea of doing both types of editing and I wouldn't want to limit myself to one type. Plus, wouldn't the flexibility of being able to do either type of editing be an advantage career-wise? #writing #editing #writing-and-editing #copy-editing #content-editing #copy-editor #content-editor #editor #novel #book #novels #books #publishing

answer icon6 answers
Active
location icon
undefined's avatar
Catherine1002 views

What is a day in the life of an editor like?

My dream career is to be a fiction author, but I know it's not really a financially-stable career, so I've been thinking of being an editor because I really, really love editing writing. I think I have an eye for it since I've always been the one that my peers come to for proofreading and writing advice in school. I also think it'd be fun because I'd get to work with books and gain more experience about the publishing process while working on my own. So can anyone give me an idea of what a day in the life of a book editor is like? #editor #editing #writing #writing-and-editing #creative-writing #author #writer #writers #novels #books #publishing

answer icon3 answers
Active
location icon
undefined's avatar
Catherine1052 views

Can you get an internship at a publishing company?

I'm not in college yet, so it might be a little early for me to be asking, but I'd really like to be a copy editor for books and I was wondering if I could get an internship at a publishing company in the future, to scope out the environment and get more experience with the job. Will I have opportunities for this in college? If anyone has ever interned at a publishing company, what is it like? (p.s. I mean a publishing company specifically for books/novels, not really a magazine or newspaper or more journalistic organizations.) #writing #writing-and-editing #creative-writing #editing #editor #internships #internship #interns #publishing #publishing-company #copy-editing #books #novels #novel-writing

answer icon3 answers
Active
location icon
undefined's avatar
Bianca1517 views

What book genres are the most popular right now?

One of my ultimate goals is to write my own novel and have it published. Of course, I want my book to sell, so picking the right genre is important depending on what people tend to buy. What genres are typically easier to make sales off of? #author #publishing #novels #genre #write #novelist

answer icon3 answers
Active
location icon
undefined's avatar
Brier804 views

How does one get their book published?

I want to be a writer, so naturally I want a novel published some day. However, I have no idea how to even start looking into publishing. #writing #books #novels

answer icon3 answers
Active
location icon
undefined's avatar
Jan1903 views

I do not know what career to choose. Serious help needed!

Okay,so I am in grade 10, I read a hell lot of books, I love fiction, fantasy and romance, I draw and paint really well, I can write pretty well too. Also, I am a straight A student. I was thinking about architecture or software engineering, but people said that software engineering is going to go out of demand in the next few years, and architecture has no scope or job opportunities. I need a job which pays well because I need to support my family(im the eldest child). Thanks, Jan. #architecture #general #software-engineering #novels

answer icon9 answers
Active
location icon
undefined's avatar
Garrett 1250 views

Starting in high school, what is the first or the most important step in becoming a writer/author?

I am a junior at Boston Collegiate Charter School (BCCS) in Boston, MA. I have a passion for writing and have written short stories and poems effortlessly since the sixth grade. I have seen my writing skills grow tremendously over my years at BCCS. Since freshman year, in addition to writing short stories, I have been relentlessly crafting the outline for a full length dramatic novel with just a hint of dark humor, and have begun planning out a science-fiction tragedy where I hope to cross over into controversial territory. I know that I want a major in college and a career after that incorporating writing. I prefer creative writing that gives the reader and the writer access to other genres. I am wondering if writer's have to be restricted to one genre. Also, I am curious to know the level of difficulty in becoming a successful author. #journalism #author #writer #journalist #novels #genre

answer icon2 answers
Active
location icon
undefined's avatar
BenjaminC1260 views

Getting Started

What kind of experience should a person have who is serious about making it in the graphic novel industry? Would college help or are there better ways to go about gaining experience? #graphics #novels

answer icon1 answers
Active
location icon