Alan H

Llanelli, United Kingdom

“Making language work for you.”

Specialist subjects:

Education English Fiction Journalism Language & Literature Politics TESOL

Editing formats:

Education:

BA in Russian

University of Birmingham

1993–1997

Favorite referencing style

I am probably most familiar with APA, although MLA is more closely connected with my areas of interest. But I wouldn't really say I have a favourite style.

Why I became an editor

I studied language and literature at university. Later, while teaching English overseas, I taught a student with his own company who wanted me to proofread and edit all sorts of materials. I found I took to this very quickly. This led to my becoming a subeditor for a TV news website, where accuracy and speed were essential. Since then, I have combined proofreading and teaching. I find helping people to accurately express their ideas on the printed page to be a very rewarding line of work.

Background and experience

While I was teaching English in Moscow, a private student asked me to proofread press releases and other promotional material for his company website. I also did a considerable amount of proofreading for RIA-Novosti, the country’s largest news agency. Later, I became an output editor for an English-language TV news station in Moscow. I subsequently worked remotely from the UK as an editor for RT. More recently, I have combined teaching English online with proofreading and editing.

Why I love proofreading and editing

Although my main personal interests are tied up with literature, I like to read on a variety of topics. I have always been interested in finding out new information, both important and trivial. I like to read what other people have to say, and helping them to do so in an accurate and engaging manner can be very satisfying.

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Favorite book:

'The Driver's Seat' by Muriel Spark. It has a dreamlike, almost nightmarish quality, which is quite disorientating. It stayed in my head for some time. Oh, and her writing style is exquisite.

Hobbies:

I like reading, listening to music, watching films and going for long walks along beaches. Until recently, I liked travelling; I've lived overseas and visited six continents – all except Antarctica.

Editing tips:

To begin, I skim-read the document, then tackle it head on while keeping an eye on the style sheet and checklist. After a break, I return with fresh eyes and give the whole text a final read-through.

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