What a difference a few weeks make. In my last post I was celebrating SfEP becoming CIEP … now the UK is in virtual lockdown, people are dying, and I don’t know what to say but feel I should say something. This (Covid-19) is too big to be ignored. My heart goes out to the […]
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SfEP becomes the CIEP!
Today the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) becomes the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP)! I’m excited about this change. The SfEP was already highly regarded, but as the CIEP it should wield even more clout as the national professional body for editors and proofreaders. Since I joined in October 2015, I’ve been […]
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End-of-year summary: this editing life
It’s time to take stock of the year and plan for 2020, and this is particularly important for me as I only moved into freelancing ten days ago. What went well for me this year and what are my plans for next year? It’s easy to scramble along from one day to the next thinking […]
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Happy Christmas!
I’d like to wish all my wonderful clients and editorial colleagues a very happy Christmas. If you celebrate it, have a great time; if not, do enjoy the public holiday if there is one where you live! I’ve been implementing some publisher feedback on a psychology book I’m working on. I also replied to an […]
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A new chapter …
… or a whole new book. Today is my last day working for Help For Writers Ltd. Tomorrow will be my first day as a ‘true freelancer’. In material terms, nothing much will change – certainly not overnight. I’ll carry on editing and proofreading just like I did before. But it does feel like closing […]
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The story via the style sheet
I’ve often looked at the style sheet I’ve created for a book I’m working on and thought that the words listed could be used as writing prompts. ‘Pick any three consecutive words and write 1,000 words based on them’, sort of thing. I even tweeted about making the executive decision that ‘asshat’ is one word […]
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Vampires, history, swords
Sometimes even when I think the pieces I’m working on have no connection, I realise that they actually do. These three topics are a case in point. Vampires, history, swords – what could go together better? I’m excited to be working on the next book by R. H. Hale. Her first title, Church Mouse: Memoir […]
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How to improve your writing by avoiding things that I don’t like
Maybe it’s just a coincidence. You don’t see a particular mistake for years and then several examples turn up at once and you find yourself asking, ‘Is this a thing now? Why are people doing this?’ So here we go. How to improve your writing by avoiding things that I don’t like. Will it actually […]
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Valentine’s Day shopping
On rare occasions someone pays me money for something that isn’t editing. No, not that, you dirty-minded people! If you’ve been reading my ‘About me’ section with the thoroughness that I’d expect, you’d have found that tiny one-word link to my art gallery. In my precious spare moments, I often put pen to paper. As […]
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The post I really wanted to make
It’s about time I came clean. I hate writing blog posts. There. I said it. I thought long and hard and I … oh, who am I kidding. I didn’t have to think hard at all to figure out that honesty is the best policy. And it doesn’t take a genius to work out that […]
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