June 20th, 2024 – Why Did I Choose The Name ‘Next Step Scopist’?

I have been speaking to a lot of scopists and other professionals in this field as of late. I have met so many interesting people, traded tips, and discussed things that we’ve loved about working in this industry. A colleague said to me recently that she loved the name I chose for my business, and she was curious about what it means and where it comes from.  I realized that the name I chose for my business and for my blog has never been publicly addressed. I just showed up one day, out of the blue, and started using this name on everything!

Let me tell you the two main reasons why I decided to choose this name, and what it means to me.

My Essay Writing Process

I was one of those students who genuinely enjoyed writing essays. I have always loved writing and I was a fairly decent fiction writer as a teenager. However, the essays I wrote in different periods of my education were obviously different based on my audience, and my content. Over the years, especially in university, I perfected a system.

I’m a visual learner, and I have aphantasia. If you say, “Picture this!” I simply cannot do that. So, when I was writing research essays in university, I couldn’t hold onto an image in my head of where I wanted my essays to go or the points I wanted to make. So, I started a brainstorming chart that would help me gather all of my information in one place. Each section would be separated by main ideas, details, etc, and it would all have the relevant research I had found in order to support my argument.  These brainstorming charts were often much longer than my essay ever was, but it was immensely helpful to me.

I had a few steps to creating what I deemed was my perfect essay:

This last step was where I really got the idea for “Next Step Scopist.” In my head, I read it as, “Next Step: Scopist” because that final edit was the big break for me. I compared it against my brainstorming chart, my first draft, the rubric from the professor, the syllabus, and anything else I could find with guidelines for the essay itself. Anything that slipped through the cracks the first time, hit an iron barrier in the sixth stage. That’s how I see myself for my clients. I want to be that sixth step, the iron barrier.

I went through a few name ideas before I got to NSS, but they weren’t right for my intended audience or for conveying my intended idea.

How I Want People To View Scopistry

NSS specifically outlines how I view scopistry and how I view myself for my clients, but it also talks about how I want other people to view scopists as well.

I want people to think about scopists as the next and final step of their editing process. I would love for it to be an engrained thought in the minds of everyone that your final step to producing a stellar transcript is an excellent editor. Someone you can trust, whose work you believe in, and who you truly see as that iron barrier.

People who have used scopists already know the value that a good scopist can bring, and I’ve written about it as well. But, people who are still on the fence about the value of a scopist, or who may not know what advantages a scopist can bring, may still need that little extra encouragement. I want the name of my business to portray a positive message towards scopistry as a whole, while also showing what I believe a scopist to be so people can extract the positive message I intend to send.

And that’s it! That’s how I came up with the name Next Step Scopist. I cannot understate the amount of help my friends and family played in this as well. They heard the name first, and I asked for feedback from the people I love and trust the most in the world. They saw all of my other ideas as well, and this name is one they all liked, as well as understood the meaning I had intended. I am proud of what I have done here, I’m happy with the name I chose, and I’m happy to call myself your Next Step Scopist.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s blog! If you did, make sure to leave a comment down below and check back for a new post on the Next Step Scopist blog!

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