Interview with Jason Rehmus of @SweatingCommas

In a bit of a break from tradition, I thought it'd be fun to run an interview with a fellow tech writer here on Techinch. I've run numerous interviews with developers on AppStorm, but this is the first I've run on Techinch.

Jason Rehmus is a guy I've met — virtually — from my work with CoSupport a couple years back, and we've kept in touch via Twitter and App.net. He's recently launched a new online editing service, Sweating Commas, so I thought it'd be fun to interview him about his work, what his service offers, and his favorite apps and writing tips.

Enjoy!

Thanks for taking the time for this interview. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I'm a freelance writer and editor. I like shaping sentences and making paragraphs have greater impact, so partnering with other writers is a natural fit for me.

I'm also a road tripper. Most of the writing I do for myself revolves around the trips I take or hope to take. I've been on one long road trip so far this year, and I hope to add some more in the coming months.

Can you share any experiences or things you've learned from working with 37signals? I've been a fan of their apps for quite some time.

The best thing about going to work for 37signals, was the process of getting the job itself. It required I step well outside of my comfort zones, and it paid off big time for me. Sure, I landed the job, but the process of going after something I really wanted taught me so much about myself and what I'm capable of.

The other truly great thing about working there was getting the chance to meet Sarah Hatter. Sarah started her own company, CoSupport, providing top-notch customer support in the tech industry. I've been fortunate to be able to work with her over the last couple of years, and that's been a great experience for me, learning from someone as knowledgeable as Sarah. Seeing Sarah start CoSupport helped me see the possibilities in starting something of my own, which helped me in starting Sweating Commas.

From your experience in tech support, what's the best thing customers can do to get the support they need from companies?

The best thing customers can do is to be clear about what they need. They should ask their question as simply as possible, leaving out unnecessary information. Also, they really need to just ask one question at a time. More than one question at a time can cause confusion and slow down response times.

Tell us about your new venture, Sweating Commas. What was the inspiration for it, and how is it going so far?

Sweating Commas is an editing service designed for bloggers and content marketers. I provide that objective look that writers can't get on their own. They're too close to the work to see everything that could be improved. For bloggers that means they can publish with greater confidence. Content marketers save time by letting me handle the last step of their work while they move on to writing drafts of their new pieces.

It's great! My goal, aside from earning some money, was to get my name out there and to meet and work with new people. That's exactly what I've done. I've had some really cool opportunities come my way as a result of starting Sweating Commas. My clients work in a variety of industries I haven't worked in myself, so my work is much more interesting than it was before.

What's the most important writing tip you could give our readers, based on your editing experience at Sweating Commas?

Read your piece out loud as you're doing your final edit before publishing. If anything sounds like something you wouldn't say, change it immediately. Your voice is what sets you apart, so make sure the voice in your writing actually sounds like you.

What devices and apps do you use for your daily work?

My primary work machine is a MacBook Pro. I also write on my iPad Mini, and I'd like to do more editing on it, but I'm more efficient on the laptop. Touching the screen to place the cursor for making a correction requires more patience than I often have.

I tend to stick with stock apps like TextEdit, Mail, and Safari. I use Marked for reading through drafts while editing. I also rely heavily on Dropbox for my own documents and for receiving drafts from clients. Oh! And Hazel monitors my Dropbox folders and moves drafts around for me, doing the heavy lifting on some truly boring work. I like to keep things as simple as possible.

What's one app you'd love to see made that you don't have right now?

There isn't one. I adapt to the tools I have available to me. That's what makes me a horrible beta tester!

Thanks, Jason!

That's a wrap, but if you're a writer and need help getting your writing polished, be sure to check out Jason's Sweating Commas service. I'm still planning on giving it a shot for some upcoming top-secret writing projects I have going on :)

Thoughts? @reply me on Twitter.