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Outside the Studio With Suzanne DeRouen
This is the first installment of an ongoing series where we talk to creators in our community about their interesting passions outside of Demand Studios. First up, a copy editor whose passion took her to Northern Iraq.
You probably don’t know her name, but it’s very possible she has helped you more than once.
Sue DeRouen, a self-proclaimed hellion, has worked as an editor, copy editor and proofreader since 1985. Her career as a freelancer has taken her from her home state of Louisiana to Seattle; New York City; Washington, D.C.; and finally back to Louisiana, the state where you’re encouraged to come as you are and leave different.
Over the past 25 years, DeRouen has worked with many publications, including her current position as an adviser and editor for the Kurdish Globe in Northern Iraq. The Kurdistan Democratic Government’s English-language publications, which she has worked with for more than three years now, have asked her to help their writers improve. She’s teaching them basics, such as unbiased word choice, maintaining journalistic objectivity and not editorializing in their news stories. It’s easy to take the disciplines taught to us as writers for granted, so professionals like DeRouen ensure that the fundamental principles of modern journalism are instilled in her colleagues.
“My biggest job is to help them professionalize their operations, because they don’t have the experience we have,” DeRouen said in a recent interview with Eunice Today. “If I can make them adhere to the guidelines of professional, ethical journalism, I will have succeeded.”
DeRouen has also worked for Demand Studios as one of our copy editors since 2008. We were lucky enough to catch up with her and ask her a few questions about her career, and the places it has taken her.
Mary: How did you end up teaching journalism in Northern Iraq?
Suzanne: I have worked as an editor for the Kurdistan Democratic Government’s English-language publications for over three years now. They invited me to be their guest and to work with their writers. Some of these people are not students; others attend local Kurdish universities. All of them are respectable, well-educated people, some with M.A.’s in literature or doctorates in political science. English is obviously not their first language, and so naturally I’m the one to impart my knowledge of the language and how to perfect their writing.
Mary: What stokes your students’ interests? What are they most curious about?
Suzanne: They aren’t my students. They are colleagues, most of whom I’ve been working with for a few years. They want to be good at what they do in order to further their own lives. Writing in English can help them in their region of the world as they try to expand and become the gateway to all things European and American. They strive for that. English is widely spoken there already. Their interests lie in living in peace, since they are most often targets of neighboring countries. They seek a nation-state to call their own. Hundreds of thousands were massacred in the genocide perpetrated by the former Baath Regime. So, of course their interests lie in ensuring all Kurds obtain an education--and they see education as something that can peacefully ensure their ongoing security. Every single person I work with from the Kurdistan Region just wants to live in peace.
Mary: Has anything you’ve learned at Demand helped you with your current mission?
Suzanne: Richard Lally broke me of all my bad habits when I first started freelancing for Demand Studios. He literally broke me down (made me cry), then built me back up. I learned to strive for perfection and to have a thick skin. In Iraq, I utilized that thick skin while working with one particular young man who wasn’t too keen on learning anything new. I didn’t break him down, because that would not sit well in that society, but I was straightforward in my instructions to him and point-blank asked him why he wouldn’t want to do better. I think Richard gave me a specific type of confidence I didn’t have before, and that came in real handy. Northern Iraq is a male-dominated society, so to go in armed with the confidence Richard instilled in me made me feel completely at ease--especially because I was mostly working with men.
Mary: As a professional freelancer, what do you think is the most important skill to have?
Suzanne: Self-discipline! If you don’t have it, you’re going to starve.
You probably don’t know her name, but it’s very possible she has helped you more than once.
Sue DeRouen, a self-proclaimed hellion, has worked as an editor, copy editor and proofreader since 1985. Her career as a freelancer has taken her from her home state of Louisiana to Seattle; New York City; Washington, D.C.; and finally back to Louisiana, the state where you’re encouraged to come as you are and leave different.
Over the past 25 years, DeRouen has worked with many publications, including her current position as an adviser and editor for the Kurdish Globe in Northern Iraq. The Kurdistan Democratic Government’s English-language publications, which she has worked with for more than three years now, have asked her to help their writers improve. She’s teaching them basics, such as unbiased word choice, maintaining journalistic objectivity and not editorializing in their news stories. It’s easy to take the disciplines taught to us as writers for granted, so professionals like DeRouen ensure that the fundamental principles of modern journalism are instilled in her colleagues.
“My biggest job is to help them professionalize their operations, because they don’t have the experience we have,” DeRouen said in a recent interview with Eunice Today. “If I can make them adhere to the guidelines of professional, ethical journalism, I will have succeeded.”
DeRouen has also worked for Demand Studios as one of our copy editors since 2008. We were lucky enough to catch up with her and ask her a few questions about her career, and the places it has taken her.
Mary: How did you end up teaching journalism in Northern Iraq?
Suzanne: I have worked as an editor for the Kurdistan Democratic Government’s English-language publications for over three years now. They invited me to be their guest and to work with their writers. Some of these people are not students; others attend local Kurdish universities. All of them are respectable, well-educated people, some with M.A.’s in literature or doctorates in political science. English is obviously not their first language, and so naturally I’m the one to impart my knowledge of the language and how to perfect their writing.
Mary: What stokes your students’ interests? What are they most curious about?
Suzanne: They aren’t my students. They are colleagues, most of whom I’ve been working with for a few years. They want to be good at what they do in order to further their own lives. Writing in English can help them in their region of the world as they try to expand and become the gateway to all things European and American. They strive for that. English is widely spoken there already. Their interests lie in living in peace, since they are most often targets of neighboring countries. They seek a nation-state to call their own. Hundreds of thousands were massacred in the genocide perpetrated by the former Baath Regime. So, of course their interests lie in ensuring all Kurds obtain an education--and they see education as something that can peacefully ensure their ongoing security. Every single person I work with from the Kurdistan Region just wants to live in peace.
Mary: Has anything you’ve learned at Demand helped you with your current mission?
Suzanne: Richard Lally broke me of all my bad habits when I first started freelancing for Demand Studios. He literally broke me down (made me cry), then built me back up. I learned to strive for perfection and to have a thick skin. In Iraq, I utilized that thick skin while working with one particular young man who wasn’t too keen on learning anything new. I didn’t break him down, because that would not sit well in that society, but I was straightforward in my instructions to him and point-blank asked him why he wouldn’t want to do better. I think Richard gave me a specific type of confidence I didn’t have before, and that came in real handy. Northern Iraq is a male-dominated society, so to go in armed with the confidence Richard instilled in me made me feel completely at ease--especially because I was mostly working with men.
Mary: As a professional freelancer, what do you think is the most important skill to have?
Suzanne: Self-discipline! If you don’t have it, you’re going to starve.
