How my own writing has changed since doing the proofreading and editing course
I’ve always considered myself to have a fairly good standard of written English. Spelling has never been much of an issue for me, and I have always had a fair idea of where commas and full stops are supposed to go.
A fair idea isn’t close to perfection, though. And whilst I would guess it’s unlikely that even the most experienced editor has a perfect grasp of written English, it has been a bit of an eye-opener to realise the simple mistakes that I have been making.
I was well aware that some of the ways I word things on my social media is not how I would word them if I was writing a book. But now, I am a lot more picky about my social media output. I often notice that I have missed a comma somewhere. For example, I might say “Can someone confirm the address of (XXX) please?” Previously, I would have left this sentence as it was. But now, I would put a comma before “please”.
I’m also more mindful in my usage of words. There are many words which we all use, that aren’t quite the right words for what the message is intended to convey. I have noticed that the word “because” is rarely used these days, and people tend to use the word “as” instead. “As” is only meant to be used in the context of a result or outcome being achieved. For example: “He was finally able to take a week’s holiday as the project had been completed.” The word “because” would not sound right in this context.
Dashes is another thing that I have learnt about. In the past, I used hyphens for practically everything that required a dash. In actuality, one is meant to use hyphens for linked words, eg middle-class, old-fashioned. There are three dashes: the hyphen, which is the shortest (-), the en dash, which is a bit larger (–), and the em dash, which is larger (—).
It’s actually the em dash which should be used to indicate a change of meaning or separation clause in a sentence. For example: “I did not say that—you are spreading lies and gossip.”
For the en dash, I will leave The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation to explain it, below.
The en dash is shorter than an em dash but longer than a hyphen. It has two main functions. One is to connect continuing, inclusive numbers.
Examples
pages 11–23
1969–1981
fiscal year 2020–21
The other function is to punctuate compound modifiers that include an open compound or two or more hyphenated compounds.
Examples
ice cream–flavored chewing gum (not ice-cream-flavored)
Canada–New Zealand flight (not Canada-New-Zealand)
pseudo-scientific–pseudo-psychiatric self-help theory (not pseudo-scientific-pseudo-psychiatric)
I am forever learning, and have noticed some edits I have made in books (and also noticed similar things in published material) that I will do differently next time. Delving into the world of written English is something that fascinates me. My standard of English has definitely improved.
The story of how I got into proofreading and editing
I have always been good with spelling and grammar, despite being neurodivergent and having elements of autism and ADHD in my personality make-up. Plus, I thrive on attention to detail. Little details interest me, such as finding the nicest places to visit during a holiday, or even arranging travel and working out train or bus times.
For many years, I worked in accounts-based roles. I have always been quite good with numbers; in fact, I can work out sums that many people cannot. But it never felt like an ideal career or a calling. I have often wondered what my purpose and calling is. I assumed that, because I was into spirituality, self-help and the like, that my career should fit somewhere within that bracket.
Like every other person (it seems these days), I wanted to be a coach. But, unbeknown to me (at least consciously), I still had way too much unhealed trauma, and a friend of mine said to me that he would never have used my services if I had become a coach. I was slightly deluded, to be honest. I spent a lot of money on a course which turned out to be the wrong choice for me.
In 2024, I had the most brutal mental health episode of my life, which culminated in me having to move back with my parents for a while. I won’t delve any more into that event on this post, but it made me think a lot, about various things, and changed the course of my life in so many ways.
I think I had thought a little bit about proofreading, and had always enjoyed checking documentation for errors. The real turning points were: 1) A friend of mine, who I would never have mentioned proofreading to, giving me a channelled message about proofreading. This was pretty much confirmation that I was meant to go down this route. 2) The College of Media and Publishing offering a discount for their Proofreading and Editing course, and not only that, I was able to pay in three instalments (even after seeing on their website that this was not an option for the discounted course fee). This made things a lot easier, as my financial situation was not great.
I now wish that I had gotten into proofreading as a profession, 10 or 20 years ago. I had the skills set then. But sometimes, we are so blinded by our conditioning and what we think we should be doing, that we make decisions that are not for our benefit.
So I hope you can be part of this new chapter of my life.