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Common Issues with Quote Marks and Apostrophes
Have you ever noticed that some commas can float? If so, you’ve dealt with quote marks and apostrophes. This post will clue you in about how they like to misbehave, and give you some tips about keeping them in line. Need more advice about what to look out for in your novel draft? As a…
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Five Simple Errors to Look For in Your Writing
Discover how to use Microsoft Word to find and fix these common issues. Wish you could get things done more quickly in Word? Shortcuts can help. Getting your text into the best possible shape before you send it to an editor or proofreader can save you money, because it saves them time. If you’re using…
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Copyediting Training Update
There’s always something new to learn in the world of editing. I might not be able to study every course under the sun, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try! Copyediting is a valuable skill, but so’s proofreading. See what I thought about the training I took for that. Back in July, I announced that…
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The CIEP’s Annual Conference 2023
Are editorial professionals boring and pedantic? Absolutely not! Each year’s conference proves this from the moment it starts. Wondering what it’s like to attend virtually? Check out this post about when I did just that. In September 2023, I attended my third Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) annual conference. I’m sad it’s over,…
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Making Sure Your Meaning’s Clear
Earlier this year, my wife and I took our two-year-old son to see Hey Duggee Live at the theatre. While we were taking our seats, I nodded towards the stage and said, ‘Duggee’s going to be up there in a minute!’ When the show started and the cast appeared, my son pointed towards the ceiling…
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My Recap of 2022
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.…
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New Art on My Site
I’ve always been impressed by anyone who’s good at art, partly because my own abilities peaked when I learned how to draw stick figures. Of course, some people are particularly good. One such person is Vikki Yeates. I’ve been a fan of her work for years, so I’m thrilled to announce that I’m featuring some…
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Turning Off Track Changes (Without Meaning To)
MS Word’s Track Changes feature is brilliant, except when you manage to turn it off without meaning to. I managed to do that this week while I was proofreading. Fortunately, I realised pretty quickly and didn’t lose much progress. It could’ve been a lot worse though! I’ve made a video to show how it happened,…
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My Owen Writting Mitsakes
Writing a book is hard, not least because you’re going to make mistakes. They’re unavoidable, especially in early drafts. However, some writers blame themselves for creating something that isn’t perfect as soon as it’s on the page. Sometimes they’ll even apologise when they send their work to be edited or proofread. This post is for…
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A Note on Commas
There’s a common issue with writing, commas are often used incorrectly. Before I trained as a proofreader, and brushed up on my grammar, I didn’t know there was a problem with sentences like the last one. I see this a lot in manuscripts I proofread, so I thought I’d write a post to explain. The…