Matthew J
Brighton, United Kingdom
“It's just a phrase I'm going through.”
Specialist subjects:
Education:
BA 2:1 in Geography and Politics
University of London
1994–1997
Favorite referencing style
APA is my favorite.
Why I became an editor
I've always been fascinated by words and language. I love reading and writing, and although my academic specialism was in politics and geography, I have a deep curiosity about a wide variety of subjects. I am also qualified to teach English as a foreign language. For most of my life, I have made my living as a musician. Times are changing though, and proofreading and editing seemed like the ideal profession.
Background and experience
For most of my life, I have made a living as a professional musician.
Why I love proofreading and editing
I have good attention to detail, and I get a great deal of satisfaction from tidying up a piece of writing; correcting errors and improving concision, consistency, and readability. I am also fascinated by most academic subjects, and I really enjoy learning more about the world through reading other people's work.
Favorite book:
My favorites include Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres, The Crow Road by Iain Banks, and so many more!
Hobbies:
I used to go backpacking regularly in various parts of the world, but now my three-year-old daughter takes up a lot of my time! I love to read and keep up with politics. Music is also a big passion.
Editing tips:
I find that doing several sweeps of a text is helpful, coming from a different perspective each time (e.g., general sense, punctuation and spelling, grammar, dates, referencing).
