My idea of heaven . . .

Today has been one of those days I remember why I chose to be a freelance writer and editor. As it was a beautiful day in Kent, my partner had the day off and I had no pressing deadlines, we decided to jump in our geriatric car and pooter off to the seaside for the day - bliss.

After an al fresco lunch and a meander down by the sea, we decided to mooch about the shops, and discovered my favourite of all places - a real, authentic, characterful, crampt bookshop - my idea of heaven. I spent a good half hour immersed in shelves of books scattered through windy corridors and up wonky stairs, finding titles you just wouldn't come across in your local chain book store.

I could have spent the afternoon there, but I eventually realised my partner was bored beyond belief (sadly, he's not a bookshop aficionado). I did, however, come away with some great additions to my already stuffed-too-full bookcases.

I also played my favourite bookshop game - hunt the books I've edited/proofread. Today the total was four - which isn't bad going for a small, independent shop.

But the best part of the trip was discovering a wonderful new children's picture book series which had me laughing out loud in the shop (to my partner's embarrassment). Yes, there's nothing more inspiring and fun for me as a writer than spending time in bookshops.

So thank you, Whitstable, for reminding me how much I love books, writing, reading and my job.

Spellcheckers are not a way around proofreading

A pet peeve of mine is people relying on spellcheckers to ensure their written material is accurate and error free. Although useful for picking up on the odd typo, spellcheckers will miss many, many mistakes.

This poet hits the nail on the head:

Eye halve a spelling chequer by Sauce Unknown
I have a spelling checker.
It came with my pea sea.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.
Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished in it's weigh.
My checker tolled me sew.
A checker is a bless sing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when I rime.
Each frays come posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.
Bee fore a veiling checker's
Hourspelling mite decline,
And if we're lacks oar have a laps,
We wood bee maid too wine.
Butt now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flair,
Their are no fault's with in my cite,
Of nun eye am a ware.
Now spelling does knot phase me,
It does knot bring a tier.
My pay purrs awl due glad den
With wrapped word's fare as hear.
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should be proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaw's are knot aloud.
Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays,
Such soft wear four pea seas,
And why eye brake in two averse
Buy righting too pleas.

My article Spellchecker: Friend or Foe has more detail on the dangerous assumption that these tools get it ‘perfectly write’.

Nothing replaces careful, thorough proofreading, so for more tips on how to do this, check out my article Ten Top Tips for Proofreading.

Proofreading is not synonymous with speed-reading

The Society for Editors and Proofreaders believe a professional proofreader can read an average of ten pages an hour, with 300 words per page.

That’s ten pages, not sixty odd. It never ceases to amaze me that people think anyone, let alone a proofreader, can do a top-notch proofreading job if reading at speed.

Yet, that seems to be the case. I’ve certainly encountered it, and a fellow proofreader recently recounted to me the bawling out her boss gave her for missing a mistake (just one mind) in a long document she had been forced to speed-read with constant interruptions of, ‘Are you done yet?’

Proofreading by its very nature is slooooooooow and methodical. Speed-reading may seem an efficient way to get the job done faster, but it comes back to bite you in the end if you want a good, accurate result.

As a professional proofreader, I can’t really see the point at all of hiring a proofreader and then asking for speed-reading: You may as well not bother having the document proofread in the first place as it won’t finish up error-free.

That’s one of the things I love most about working for myself, and in my home office. I can take as long as I need over thoroughly reading material, and there’s no one hovering over my shoulder distracting and pressurising me.

To coin a phrase, more haste less speed, and if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly.

It's bigger, better and . . . er . . . bluer

Fanfare please . . . today is the grand launch of the shiny, new Perfectly Write website with:

• more about my copywriting, copy-editing, copywriting and critiquing services
• more writing tips and resources for authors
• more about me, including what makes me stand out in the crowd
• more detail on clients I work for and projects I’ve done
• more links to useful sites
• more pictures, including a wee one of myself (which will thankfully be replaced shortly with a professional head shot that doesn’t make me look like Casper the ghost).

Perfectly Write has come a long way from its first website (comprised largely of clipart and liable to crash the average computer so overly complex was the code) – I look forward to seeing how it evolves from hereon.

Not waving, but drowning

Phew, what a fortnight it's been. My poor blog has been sadly neglected thanks to the distraction of my house flooding (very long, soggy story).

Copywriting, copy-editing and proofreading amid floating possessions (okay, okay, that’s pushing it as my office is upstairs – but I’m a writer, poetic licence is a must) has been an exercise in focus and concentration. It can be a challenge to write, edit and spot mistakes to the dulcit tones of seven workmen trampling about beneath me, using an industrial pump to make my house a home once more, rather than a paddling pool.

But being a professional is about rising above these things – so thanks to earplugs and wellies, Perfectly Write sailed through the whole debacle.

This particularly rainy cloud has had a silver lining in helping to reinforce some things for me . . .

Firstly, it’s reminded me exactly why a quiet, calm environment is essential for a copywriter and editor. That’s exactly why many of my clients outsource their writing and editorial work – because offices are too distracting for efficient and accurate proofreading, editing and writing.

It’s also made me appreciate the comfort and tranquility of my home office all the more – now that life has returned to some normalcy and I’m copywriting snug and dry this afternoon accompanied by Ella Fitzgerald.

Finally, and probably most importantly, it’s taught me the location of our exterior stopcock and just how noisy industrial dehumidifiers can be . . .

A professional bookworm

For me, one of the best things about being a freelance copywriter, copy-editor and proofreader is the variety of material I work on, and how much I learn from that material.

I’ve always read widely, but my reading and knowledge has expanded dramatically since I went freelance. I work for such a diverse range of clients, I learn heaps from their material and from the work I carry out on it.

Most projects necessitate a degree of research – usually a click away via Google although occasionally I’ll convince myself it must be done in my homes-from-home, local bookshops and the library.

So, for example, when I’m copywriting a website or marketing material, I’ll read up on the company, its sector and competitors, and the target audience – which just this month has included finding out about property investment, pesticide testing and the classification of illegal drugs – all things I never would have known about otherwise.

Then there’s the books I proofread and copy-edit – a fantastic mix of genres and subject matter. I’ve read of Romans and secret societies; animators and grass-eating lions. I’ve delved into the worlds of design and football, professional gambling and royalty. I’ve edited true life stories of crime, passion and domestic violence, and escaped into fantasy with tales of humanised animals and the devil himself. I’ve journeyed to Vichy France, 1930s academia, Prohibition-era Illionos and 15th-century Wales. And I’ve brushed up my business skills with titles on marketing and bookkeeping, learnt how to live green and how to overcome anxiety (which came in very handy while completing my tax return this week).

Thanks to Perfectly Write, I’m fast becoming a mine of useful (and also fairly useless) information and am seriously running the risk of overdoing the phrase Did you know? with friends and family.

It’s something that keeps me challenged and enthusiastic about each new project.

My top ten* children's authors (in no particular order)

One of my current writing projects for myself is a series of illustrated children’s books for young readers. I find it a great way to wind down after a day of proofreading, editing or copywriting – doing something deliciously fun and fairly ridiculous with words. It usually involves vibrant felt-tips, an enormous sheet of paper and some stick men drawings my two-year-old nephew would scoff at.

So reading (and rediscovering) children’s books is something I’m particularly into at the moment. Earlier today I was chatting with a client about which children’s books his grandson may like, and I enjoyed myself so much suggesting authors, I thought I’d share some of my favourites here.

Roald Dahl – the man was a genius
Terry Pratchet – especially the recent Wee Free Men books
J.K Rowling – obviously
C. S Lewis – for the Narnia series
Philip Pullman – I especially like the Sally Lockhart quartet
Dr Seuss – try reading Fox in Socks aloud quickly!
Hans Christian Andersen – beautiful
L. Frank Baum – his Oz books are much better than the film
Enid Blyton – her books have a certain charm
Judy Blume – because she was one of the first authors to stop talking down to kids

Thinking about it, I rather disagree with labeling children’s books as that at all. I think the world would be a far happier place if adults read this stuff more as well (and no, I don’t mean at your wee one’s bedtime when, in order to tuck them in quickly, you skip whole paragraphs, speak so fast your tongue cramps and turn over the pages ten at a time!).

* For today at least. There’s so many to choose from!

Thanks Nelson

Believing in your talent as a writer (or indeed as anything) is not always easy – especially when we live in a world peppered with negativity and criticism. Every writer has days when they think I’m not good enough, who am I kidding? or I’ll never make it, I may as well give up.

My number one aim with the writers I work with is to encourage them to write, write, write. If you want to write, then write – it doesn’t matter how good you think you are, all creativity is important, valid and inspiring. So what if you read it back and it’s nonsense? – that was a good exercise for the next piece. So what if you can’t spell or punctuate? – that’s what copy-editors and proofreafers like me are there for! And so what if your doormat is carpeted with rejection letters? – that doesn’t mean you should stop writing if it’s what you love to do.

When I’m having a my-writing-is-only-fit-for-the-compost-heap kind of day (yes, even professional copywriters get those days), I read the following quote from Nelson Mandela, and somehow it always inspires me.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? . . . Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do . . . It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

My favourite kind of phone call

There’s nothing that brightens my day more than a call from an author I’ve worked with telling me a publisher is interested in their book. Today one of my authors has been contacted by three reputable publishers asking for more, more, more material and meetings.

I know from my own writing that books are often your babies, and it’s very hard to let someone else in to offer advice or improvements. This particular client is a real gem who welcomes my comments, changes and creative ideas, and trusts my expertise.

She had already sent these stories to the publishers in question before working with me, and been rejected. Which just goes to show the benefits of letting a copy-editor and proofreader help – publishers are interested in books that are accurate, consistent and properly laid out, as well as being well-written, of course.

I share her excitement and pride and wish her much luck in her journey ahead.

What's your style based on?

One of the most important jobs for a proofreader and copy-editor is to ensure text is consistent. So if on page one of my website I’m a proofreader, copy-editor and copywriter, on page two I can’t be a proof-reader, copyeditor and copy writer (note the spacing and hyphenation).

That’s why it’s essential to stick to one style of writing.

When I started proofreading and editing, I bought myself some lovely huge reference books – now well thumbed and somewhat tatty. I chose Oxford because I particularly like their style, and they publish a wealth of guides answering just about every language question under the sun. They’ve been about a very long time, they know their stuff and their style is popular in printed material.

So when I’m writing or editing, I base my style on Oxford. I have a style sheet I’ve built up over the years with notes on grammar, punctuation and spelling, and I add to this pretty much daily.

There’s only one element of Oxford style I don’t apply – the use of z rather than s as in realise and realize. My feeling is that British English isn’t quite ready for this development – I’ve tried it out once or twice and invariably the response from my client is, ‘But it’s American!’

Although my personal taste is for Oxford style, I also edit within other styles for clients when they ask. One of my clients prefers using Chambers, which is fine – as long as your style is consistent, it’s not important which dictionary you work from.

Invest in a big dictionary – when you’re not using it to help with your writing, it will come in very useful as a step for changing lightbulbs (so that’s why mine are so tatty!).

Showing off

According to Oxford, the longest word in the English language is (deep breath) pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis – a type of lung disease. At 45 letters, it's not a word you're likely to drop into conversation.

You may not to surprised to learn that generally when I copywrite I avoid words of this length. Or indeed shorter words like pneumoencephalographically and pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism.

I prefer the simpler, less intimidating approach to copywriting. I advise my clients that if they've gone blue or lost the will to live reading their copy aloud, they may want to think about a shorter, simpler alternative.