Published on the Boston Globe!

BLARG! In a GOOD way!! I’ve been published!

Well, not my writing, but my editing. I just received an email from the people I've been working with for my volunteer editing at the Jamaica Plain Historical Society. The article I edited on the statues of D.C. French at Franklin Park Zoo on Boston's Emerald Necklace got published in the Boston Globe! Read the story HERE! Congratulations to the author, Richard Heath! 

 I got really positive feedback from the author and the JPHS contact person during this whole process. As if that wasn't encouragement enough, now it's published! How exciting! Richard called me, "Bonnie the unsung heroines of all scholarship are the editorial support" (you can see how much he needs an editor). Of course, my attribution got dropped in the Boston.com edition, but I still get name recognition in the Original JPHS Posting.


The article was about 2450 words when I got it, and I flushed it out just a small amount. A lot of the changes were easy things, like pronoun associations, capitalization, punctuations, and parallel form continuity. My two favorite changes to the piece were the following:

Before, a sentence describing a statue said, "Titled Peace and Vigilance, it was composed of two reclining figures, one alert holding a sword and the other resting and holding an olive branch, one on each side of a round arch dormer  the top of which is a wing - spread eagle ready to pounce."

After I edited, the (now emotionally stimulating and superbly crafted) sentence reads, "Titled Peace and Vigilance, it is composed of two reclining figures, one alert and holding a sword, and the other resting and holding an olive branch. The figures are placed on each side of a round arch dormer, on top of which a screaming eagle is perched with wings spread, ready to pounce." 

Photograph of Peace and Vigilance stolen from Saint Louis MO Daily Photo Blogspot.

 My second favorite change is the title of the piece. Ever-vigilant of SEO in this new day and age of writing, I urged the author to change the previously stale title from, "The Statuary Groups by Daniel Chester French at Franklin Park" (I know, what the heck is a statuary group and how is it different from a plain old statue or sculpture?) to "The Statues of D.C. French from the Old Boston Post Office at Franklin Park." Truth be told, I suggested a different title--"The Statuary Groups of Daniel Chester French at Franklin Park: Sculptures and Statues in Boston's Emerald Necklace"--and now that I type out the new title, I see that it is grammatically incorrect (are the statues in Franklin Park or was the old Boston Post Office? BLARG!). Regardless, I am thrilled that the author was excited and enticed when I raised the SEO question, and now has new motivations in his writing as a result of my expertise. He even went back to change the title of a previously submitted article on the JPHS website.

I can’t express enough gratitude towards the Jamaica Plain Historical Society for giving me the chance to gain experience and build my resume (which is now result-oriented thankyouverymuch). I will have to make a blog post about how I came around to hooking up with this and other organizations in JP that have helped me begin my career. More on that later! For now, go read the article!