Lynelle I
Sydney, Australia
“Effortless, enjoyable reading flows from error-free, excellent writing.”
Specialist subjects:
Editing formats:
Education:
BA Applied Science (Physiotherapy) (Hons)
University of Sydney
1991–1994
Favorite referencing style
APA because it is straightforward, it lets you know instantly who is being referenced, and it doesn't clutter the page with footnotes.
Why I became an editor
I have always had a love of reading, and had a natural understanding of language from a young age. I am also quite meticulous by nature, and love getting things just right! I'm that person that notices all the errors in writing (even in café menus!), and will often find myself checking back through novels if something doesn't seem quite consistent.
When my husband did his master's, he asked me to check over his essays. During those four years, I found that I was really enjoying the process of proofreading and editing and also the satisfaction of knowing that I had helped him produce such high standard work. I decided to pursue proofreading seriously as it seemed to combine my strengths and my personality with things that I love doing.
Background and experience
My main background actually has little to do with proofreading and editing – I trained as a physiotherapist, and for the last 25 years, on and off, I have worked in many different areas of the profession. More recently, my work has involved teaching pregnancy and postnatal education and exercise classes; I have also worked in a gym for pregnant and new mothers, and I even delivered newspapers for a while!
While my work with Proofed is my first bit of proofreading and editing experience, some elements of my previous career will definitely assist me in this new one. Most of my work was in large teaching hospitals, which involved following a lot of policies, procedures, and programs. These regularly needed changing or updating and, in some of my various roles, I was often involved in helping to rewrite or edit them. Another important requirement was ongoing professional development. As part of this, I have had considerable experience with reading and understanding research papers in the health and medical fields. Having completed a thesis myself as well, I am therefore quite familiar with how such papers are written and referenced, which should also help me with proofreading going forward.
Why I love proofreading and editing
I love being able to read something effortlessly, so that I can just absorb what is being said without having to think too hard about it. When proofreading and editing, I enjoy being able to take something that initially requires a bit of re-reading and deciphering to understand it, and to turn it into a piece that just flows smoothly across the page so that its message is easily comprehended. When I can see how hard someone has worked on a piece, I love the satisfaction of helping to polish it up so that others can benefit from that hard work.
Favorite book:
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Hobbies:
When I'm not sitting at a computer in front of a document, I love walking, cycling, or spending time with my husband and two teenagers. I relax by reading, coloring in, or binge-watching TV shows (who doesn't love Netflix?!). And while coffee is my favorite drink and I love having one while catching up with girlfriends, I do love combining fine-dining with good wine.
Editing tips:
I might make some obvious corrections on the first light read-through of a document while I'm getting an overall sense of what the author is saying and how they're saying it, but then I'll go back and read it more thoroughly. I like to break it down, checking that each sentence works first, and then each paragraph, etc., checking references as they come up, gradually putting the whole document together, until it reads through clearly and still conveys the same message that I got on that initial read.
