Does the hat fit? My journey to setting up my own editing business.

Get ahead. Get a hat (that fits.) ๐ŸŽฉ I used to have one big hat. I put it on in 2005. It was comfortable and suited me. Iโ€™d wear it from 7am until bedtime. It sometimes looked a bit dishevelled, but time unworn in the holidays would spruce it up. About five years ago, theContinue reading “Does the hat fit? My journey to setting up my own editing business.”

Zoom has broadened my horizons and opportunities.

I’ve joined in more events this year than ever. Video conferencing has been the saviour of 2020. I’d done the odd Zoom before but I’ve at least quadrupled my video conferencing experience this year. And I think it’s marvellous. I mean, yeah, Zoom fatigue is a thing, but it’s just such an inclusive technology. IContinue reading “Zoom has broadened my horizons and opportunities.”

How can an accountability group help me achieve my goals?

I’m going to blow my own trumpet and reflect that, career-wise, 2020 has gone well. ๐ŸŽบ This is in no small part due to the motivating coaching call I had with Lisa Carlin back in May. As soon as I came off the Zoom, I sent out feelers to a few others in the sameContinue reading “How can an accountability group help me achieve my goals?”

My career path may have changed, but words are still at the heart of it.

Words. Words. Words. ๐Ÿฅฐ At 18, I wasn’t ready to move to a city university. I was a country girl. Keele Uni with its rural campus was the ideal solution and offered me the useful bonus of dual honours. I loved English lit and French and I didn’t know which one to pick, so IContinue reading “My career path may have changed, but words are still at the heart of it.”

Reflections on CIEP 2020. Day 2 at the conference.

Another busy but successful day. ๐Ÿ˜ I managed to fit in two sessions of #CIEP2020. Total fangirl moment with Denise *the Scottish one* Cowle’s interview with legend of dictionary corner, Susie Dent. I learnt about the etymology of ‘quarantine’, why some words from this year are likely to have short shelf-lives (like quarantini ๐Ÿธ) andContinue reading “Reflections on CIEP 2020. Day 2 at the conference.”

Reflections on Day 1 of CIEP 2020.

Day 1 of #CIEP2020. What a mood boost ๐Ÿ˜ Loved meeting other fiction editors in the networking session this morning. Top folk! This afternoon’s session on style sheets was illuminating. I use them for all my edits yet it was really valuable to see how other people approach them. It’s made me think about aContinue reading “Reflections on Day 1 of CIEP 2020.”

Who’s excited for CIEP 2020?

๐ŸŽ‰The Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) conference begins tomorrow. ๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธ Online, of course. ๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐ŸŽ“ I’m excited to reflect on how far I’ve come since I attended my first conference with them in 2018. ๐Ÿ†• Back then, calling myself a newbie editor made sense. I set up my business in the January and startedContinue reading “Who’s excited for CIEP 2020?”

๐ŸŽ‰Milestone! I’ve edited 1,000,000 words.

*In the voice of Dr. Evil ๐Ÿ“ข ONE MILLION WORDS! โ“So, should I stop calling myself a newbie? ๐Ÿ˜† One million words. That’s how many words I have proofread or edited since I started counting. And I started counting in Feb 2018 when I established Cronshaw Editing. Not bad, eh. Alongside teaching, too. ๐Ÿ˜… ๐Ÿ”ขContinue reading “๐ŸŽ‰Milestone! I’ve edited 1,000,000 words.”

Proofreading stopped my panic attacks!

Between 2009 and 2017, on and off, I accessed support from primary health care for a generalised anxiety disorder.  There were a few factors at play causing this, but one big one for me was feeling trapped by my employment circumstances. My mother-in-law once told me I was ‘institutionalised’! My path had taken me fromContinue reading “Proofreading stopped my panic attacks!”

I didn’t even know proofreading was ‘a thing’ when I was at school.

Did you even know your job existed when you were at school? ๐Ÿค” When I was at school, there were so many jobs that I didn’t even know existed. And it’s not because of technology. Some of these jobs have been around a long time. There are areas of study that I didn’t even knowContinue reading “I didn’t even know proofreading was ‘a thing’ when I was at school.”