Well-Tempered Proof

This year’s been an important one for Well-Tempered Proof. I decided to make editing and proofreading my main professional focus, and I launched a new editorial service.

Developmental Editing

I finished taking Sophie Playle’s second developmental editing course (Developmental Editing: In Practice) in February, and then read a lot of books on writing craft theory. I launched the service in September, and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve worked on so far! It’s daunting to start something new, but my training prepared me, and I’ve had some lovely comments about the feedback I’ve provided.

My way of working has been very different from when I’m proofreading. I don’t need the same quiet isolation to concentrate, so I did some of my editing in a café. I enjoyed the ambiance and the change of scene.

Proofreading

I kept the proofreading side of my business going, although I was a bit quieter while I got other things sorted. Even so, I worked on my longest project to date (around 145,000 words), which kept me happily busy for a few weeks. I also proofread some other things, including a fantasy novella.

Training

After finishing Sophie’s courses, I took a bit of a break from paid training. However, I learned plenty through reading books and doing some research. I’ve become a bit obsessed with macros for Word, and I’ve been teaching myself more about writing them. The wonderful Paul Beverley has very kindly shared some of his knowledge with me, which has been of huge help. I’ve managed to pass on this kindness by writing a few fairly simple macros for other editors, which has been lots of fun (for me at least!).

I’m back to training now, and I’m studying Louise Harnby’s course Blogging for Business Growth. Next up I’ll be taking another of her courses, Switching to Fiction. This is to get some insight into line editing, which is a service I want to provide in the future.

CIEP Annual Conference

I attended online in 2021, but this year I went in person, and it was brilliant. The conference took place in Milton Keynes from the 10^th to 12^th of September. The sessions were fantastic, and I learned plenty. I met loads of other editors and proofreaders, and made friendships which I hope will last for many years to come.

I also got a chance to sing! The Linnets, made up of musically able editors, perform at every in-person conference. It was a lot of fun to join in, and our performances at the gala dinner and closing session went down really well.

Website

One of the conference sessions was about website creation. I knew I needed a better online home, so I took a lot of notes and spent September and October redesigning this site. I’m really happy with the way it turned out! (See the difference between old and new in the video in this post.)

Health

I’ve had some health challenges this year, not least because I finally caught Covid in May. I was over the main symptoms within a week, but I felt exhausted from any physical exertion for at least a month. This also happened in the middle of the big proofreading project I mentioned. Was that ideal? No. No it was not. I still managed to meet the deadline though, which was a relief!

Also, my type 1 diabetes control isn’t where I want it to be. I follow a low carbohydrate diet, but there’s still more I need to do to stop complications from taking hold. I had a scare with my eyes shortly after the conference. Thankfully, it proved to be nothing that will cause immediate issues, and my vision remains unaffected by my condition. However, sight loss remains one of my biggest fears, and getting things sorted before any issues present themselves is just slightly sensible. Good diabetes control can prevent any issues further down the line, so that’s my focus.

Music

In July, I stood down as the accompanist for two of the three choirs I played the piano for. It was sad to stop, but it was the right decision. I was struggling to find the time for everything, and something had to give. I can now focus on my editing business while also spending time with my wife and two-year-old son. I’m excited to take on more projects next year and work with even more amazing authors.

I think that’s 2022 pretty much summed up! I hope you saw some success despite any challenges, and I wish you well for 2023. Email me or comment below to let me know how you’re doing, or visit my services page to see how I can help you with your writing.