Author: Helen Stevens

What’s the most useful thing you learned at school? For me, touch typing would be fairly high on the list. As a youngster, I’d always had a fascination for typing. We had a portable typewriter at home and I loved to play around with it. So when I had the opportunity to learn to type…

After almost three years of staying relatively close to home (as a result of the pandemic, plus a generally cautious attitude), I decided that 2022 was the year to spread my wings and embark on some foreign travel once more. My previous trip abroad had been in September 2019, when I attended the annual gathering…

Some editors and proofreaders complain that their everyday lives outside work are ruined by their professional eye for detail. They can no longer peruse a restaurant menu without noticing a spelling error. Relaxing with a novel is fraught with problems. And as for browsing social media… ​I’ve been editing and proofreading professionally for over 26…

Editors know a thing or two about style. I’m not talking about the chunky cardigans, furry slippers and fingerless gloves that some of us put on when the weather turns cool. This is about an editor’s work. Here, style is about making sure the text is appropriate for its intended audience, consistently applying a client’s…

I’ve been a big fan of Bradford Literature Festival for a number of years. It’s a bright spot in Bradford’s cultural calendar and I’ve written in the past about why I love it.In previous years I’ve usually attended a fair few sessions during the annual festival. I’ve loved the variety of subjects on offer, the…

When you’re building a career as a freelance editor or proofreader, it’s good to seek advice, right? The trouble is that, as with many situations in life, there’s no single ‘right’ way of doing things.​A while ago I read a tongue-in-cheek blog post summarising conflicting advice on how to be a successful academic. It inspired…

Freelance editors and proofreaders: have you ever felt as though you’re ‘muddling through’ in your professional life? You’re not alone. The current situation has forced many of us to adjust our plans on a daily (hourly?) basis. But even without a pandemic, freelancers have to adapt to changing circumstances and come up with new plans…

Many of us have been terribly disappointed over recent months when the inevitable has happened – an in-person event (whether that’s a summer fête, rock concert, conference or networking session) has been cancelled because of the pandemic. The upside is that many events have gone virtual, enabling people to attend events that they wouldn’t otherwise…

As an editor, I spend my time making sure material is correct, consistent and clear for the intended audience. When I work with academic authors, it’s assumed that most readers will be those with an interest in – and background knowledge of – their specific academic field. Similarly, the reports I edit for an EU…

Three years ago I was inspired to write my very first blog post after a trip to Tarragona in Spain. I’d attended the annual gathering of the Mediterranean Editors and Translators (MET) – the so-called MET Meeting (METM, pronounced ‘met-um’) – and this made me think about how international my work had become since I…