Part of this content was originally posted on Instagram and Facebook.

About my experience of writing support

Hello! Thank you for following me on social media. If we haven’t met before, here’s a brief description of my experience with writing support.

I first worked as a proofreader during my BA studies. One of my tutors, who knew that I was strapped for cash (and could spell!), suggested that I help some of her international graduate students who were new to submitting assignments written in English. Since this was long before Zoom and WFH, I’d meet these students at the university library. We’d sit together at the same computer, identifying their most frequent errors and discussing the implications of particular phrases. It was my first real experience of reading academic assignments, and I really enjoyed the immediacy of helping someone to solve a specific problem with their work.

When I qualified as a teacher, I frequently checked colleagues’ writing in a range of styles: worksheets, PowerPoint slides, reports, emails to parents, concert programmes - the list goes on. I also began to think more carefully about my own writing style. I studied for an MA whilst working full time, and the quality of my writing developed considerably as I struggled to meet the very low word counts specified by the OU. To anyone battling with an 1800-word TMA, you have my respect! Eventually I realized that in order to include sufficient content within the word limit, I need to lose three words of filler from every sentence. I still apply this rule today.

After I left teaching to study full time for a PhD in Canada, more opportunities for writing work arrived. This included assisting book editors, compiling book indexes, supporting EAL students with presentations, designing research tools suitable for use by children and adults, and eventually writing my own thesis. I also worked on formatting and referencing tasks and checked many job applications.

I finished my PhD in 2019 and returned to the UK, where I established my own yoga business and began creating online content for the first time. Meanwhile, friends continued to ask me to look over their writing, which has prompted me to formally offer my services as a proofreader and editor. I’m happy to work on documents of all sizes and most formats, at a rate of £2 per 5 minutes’ work: there’s no minimum fee, so you won’t be overcharged if you just need me to check the spelling on a flyer!

If you need help with a writing project, let’s have a chat about how we can work together.