Talk on proofreading

I gave my first talk on proofreading yesterday. It was to a local women's networking group in Eastwood. It lasted 20 minutes and I involved all those there so that they felt part of the talk. They were still interested enough at the end to ask some questions; and I got some feedback that they had found it very interesting.

The one point I asked them to take home with them is: when writing anything, ensure you're consistent throughout. (It looks decidedly ragged to have a word/term hyphenated on one page and not on another, for instance, as found recently on a Council newsletter!)

Anyway, I enjoyed giving the talk. I'm hoping to give another one on organising a conference in the not too distant future.

I've been published! As you're probably aware, as a proofreader I would normally pick holes in other people's writing. But, on this occasion, I hope there are no holes for others to pick out! I was asked by Jon Barrett, Editor of 'Magazine', to write an article about the value of using a proofreader. The result has just come through my letter box: see http://mag.digitalpc.co.uk/fvx/imp/1005-06/ (pp.8-9) - great publicity for me!

I attended a journal meeting in London on Friday and took the opportunity to visit the V&A to see an exhibition on Grace Kelly - style icon. The journal committee meets every quarter, so it's an ideal chance for me to go and see something I otherwise wouldn't go to.

Business Link

I've just had a meeting with a Business Link adviser during which we discussed possible directions for my business. It was quite useful and he had some really good ideas. It's given me lots to think about, e.g. whether to make an initial investment before going forward; and doing lots of research. I think I'm going to be busy. Whether I'll be earning is another matter.

Holiday and illness

Just back from a holiday in Florida visiting friends. Whilst there, however, I was laid low with laryngitis and a hacking cough, from which I am only just recovering - hence the absence. I'm hoping to be back in the swing of things very shortly. Watch this space ...

Social Media

I attended the MediaCamp gathering on Saturday in Nottingham. I thought I'd better keep myself up to date by learning what was going on 'out there'. It was a good day, albeit quite draining. There were plenty of talks to interest most people and I've been encouraged to give Twitter another go - perhaps to use it in different ways. Watch this space is all I can say.

Singing

One of my hobbies in these last few years has been to take up singing. I first went for lessons a couple of years ago. Although I did learn quite a lot, I always felt a bit dejected when I left. You see, I went in thinking that I could sing anything but, by the time the teacher had made suggestions on how I could improve it, I felt that my abilities weren't as great as I had thought!

So, instead, I began attending a 'Singing for fun' class one morning a week and it's been a great inspiration. We all do indeed have fun and our 'leader' sets the tone. We attend for three 10-week terms in the year and the final morning of each term is given over to a concert provided free to supportive family and friends. We don't profess to be slick, nor do we profess to be a choir, but we do entertain!

A couple of weeks ago I went with a friend to an all-day event that was being held for charity. It was run by two people who lead a local choir and two people from Sing-Live! It cost us £10 each, but did we work. We began at 9.30am and we had hourly sessions, during which we learned something different from each one. The first was a warm-up. Then we had a talk on how to make sounds without singing. The gents went off to a different room to learn a song and the ladies sat in their relevant singing areas (first soprano, second soprano, first alto, second alto - if you didn't know what you were you shuffled around until you felt comfortable!), and we began to learn "Blue Skies" with variations. We took our own lunch, during which a short film was shown about the charity - sending a cow to Africa - one reason why the day was called "Mooo'd Music"! In the afternoon, the choir lady taught us a song that her husband had written, called "The Workshop Blues" - very apt. We had another session with the Sing Live chap, during which we created "The Journey", making sounds to illustrate leaving a house for a drive to the seaside, which was inspired by the Honda advert. We then learned "Love can build a bridge" and had a brush-up session on "Blue Skies" before we all came together and put on a concert for those who had come to collect us. Some of the day was quite hard work and for those who hadn't sung before, it was a bit bemusing. On the whole, though, we really enjoyed it and I would certainly consider going again. Our husbands thought the resulting concert sounded very professional. Not bad for one day's rehearsal.