Common proofreading quirk: Staring at and then having to double check that "casualty" is a word and that it's spelled correctly. Don't even talk to me about brand names, my number one enemy this year.

Today I learned: According to the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers & Editors, it's "wild flowers", two words, not "wildflowers".

Everyone writes at their own pace. Your pace is okay. #Writing #Affirmations #Motivation

Anything that can go wrong can also go right. Don't give up. #Writing #Affirmations

It's okay if you're struggling to write this scene. Try moving on to another part of the story. #Writing #WritingCommunity

About to give my first talk for the Fiction Special Interest Group for @the-ciep.bsky.social soon! Just ran through my slides and caught some silly errors.

I believe even small businesses like freelance editorial service providers can benefit from using software and websites that buck the trend of being based in America and do good in this world. Here's a list of recommendations, all based in Europe. That means they also have to be GDPR compliant.

Here's some winter romance writing prompts to get you warmed up this holiday! ☕ Whenever it’s cold, they always make their partner a hot chocolate. ❄️ It’s their first snow; now they need to experience everything winter has to offer. Find even more writing inspo in the link below ⬇️ #WritingPrompts

Here's a round up of all of the blog posts and writing prompts I've posted since the beginning of October. Just click the link of any you like the look of! ko-fi.com/post/Blog-Po...

Welcome back to The Writing Mirror! Today's journalling prompt is: "What have you accomplished as a writer that your past self would be proud of?" Comment below or journal away in private! #WritingCommunity #Journalling

Sending positive vibes and well wishes to all of the writers, readers, editorial professionals, book designers, cover artists, and publishing professionals with disabilities today.

To dismiss trans people as criminals is hate. To dismiss non-binary people as non-existent is erasure. To dismiss intersex people as still being either male or female is hate and erasure. Do better. We aren't trying to hurt you by existing. We want to live in peace with you, not instead of you.

I spent the week answering questions for Trans Awareness Week on LinkedIn, so here's highlights from 6 questions asked by cis people about my experience as a non-binary person. I tackle bathrooms, labels, trans rights, formative moments, gender identity, and book recommendations. #LGBTQIA

Drop your book recs featuring trans and non-binary protagonists below for Trans Awareness Week! 🔖 I'll start: Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos. #TransAwarenessWeek #BookRecs

You don’t have to compare yourself to other writers. Everyone is doing their best. #WritingMotivation #WritingCommunity

It's okay if you break the rules you were taught at school; write how you like. #WritingMotivation #Affirmations

Happy Trans Awareness Month to all of the trans and non-binary writers, readers, editorial professionals, and other bookish people! I hope your month is filled with the energy you want: pride, awareness, visibility, understanding, acceptance, optimism, peace, courage, creativity, and inspiration.

It's officially LOVEmber, my 30-day romance writing challenge. Lovember is a self-paced challenge, with 30 one-word prompts, 7 character prompts, and 5 storyline prompts. Give the prompts a try and share your favourite below! hnossproofreads.co.uk/lovember2025... #WritingPrompts #AmWritingRomance

It doesn’t matter how much you write. You’re still writing. #AmWriting #WritingMotivation

I thought I was just taking a brief creative break to work on some social media posts. It turned into 2 hours of marketing and video editing instead, oops.

Be kind to your writing. You'd be kind to someone else's writing, so why not yours? #WritingInspiration #WritingMotivation

Highlights of the Romance Writing Festival today: * getting to hold two (blunt) swords modelled on Viking swords * listening to some amazing advice about how to research effectively to bring authenticity to a story * hearing about a commissioning editor's actual approach to submissions

Current project is another spend-hours-investigating-word-divisions-in-the-New-Oxford-Spelling-Dictionary kind of project. I am so relieved that past-me went through with sticky index tabs to mark each letter of the alphabet, it saves so much time searching for the right page!

Out of Office Due to illness, I’m away from my computer for the next week! I’ll catch up with emails, LinkedIn messages, and everything else once I’ve recovered. Han

Hilarious spam in my enquiry form: "Hello and Good Day Docs! ... I noticed that your website www.docs.google.com is not ranking well on Google and other search engines, which could be affecting your visibility to potential customers."

Another proofread finished up! Having updated my spreadsheet of projects, here are my favourite stats about my year so far: * I've passed 1 million words proofread! I'm at 1,094,608 words since my first project of the year in February. * I've spent 200 hours proofreading in 2025 for 11 projects.

Your efforts matter. You can write in any way that works for you. #writing #motivation

How do you get a literary agent in the UK? Here's 3 quick tips: * create a longlist of literary agents you'd like to work with * look for and follow all submission guidelines * perfect your cover letter as much as possible Find more tips here: hnossproofreads.co.uk/how-to-get-a... #querying

Day one of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading conference, and we open with a talk with Susie Dent, the honorary vice-president of the CIEP. I'm attending online and will be networking online with other editorial professionals later today too!

It’s okay to not feel like writing today. Tomorrow is another day. #Writing #WritingCommunity #Writers

I'm looking for romance writers based in the UK who'd like to share tips with aspiring romance writers in a round-up style blog post! Do you write romantic fiction with the intention of publishing novels (unpublished, traditionally published, or self-published)? Comment below ⬇️ or tag an author!

5 underrated things you can do to support your mental health as a writer: 1. Find affirmations that work against your insecurities and imposter syndrome. 2. Have a solid or flexible writing routine. 3. Start a self-care journal or self-care kit.

My co-author is always talking about Hemingway and Steinbeck. But they never wrote comedy to my knowledge! We all have something to give.

Nobody else can write like you can. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #WritingMotivation

New experiment: Because I'm in danger of burning out with how busy I am this month, I've taken the goals used in my time management software to not just celebrate how much proofreading I do per day, but also to warn me when I've done too much. Strange? Maybe. But it's a great signal for self-care.

Back at my desk after a week off and I have 76 overdue tasks in my Todoist account... let's see how many I can get through by 7pm!

You don’t have to be as good as your favourite writer. Your writing still has worth. #WritingCommunity #AmWriting

Not to add to the discourse, but… It’s ‘toe the line,’ not ‘tow the line.’ It’s ‘free rein,’ and not ‘free reign.’ It’s ‘eke out,’ not ‘eek out.’ It’s ‘sleight of hand,’ not ‘slight of hand.’ It's ‘Anchors aweigh,’ and not ‘Anchor's away!’

I had the incredible honour of working on the 250th anniversary edition of Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen this year, and today is publishing day! www.penguin.co.uk/books/479905...

You might feel like your writing today isn’t your best, but you are putting your best into your writing.

Struggling doesn’t mean you’re failing. It doesn’t mean your writing is bad. It just means you might need some support. #WritingCommunity #AmWriting

I've just updated my list of literary agencies in the UK, so if you're not sure where to start or you're running out of UK literary agents to query, here you go! You'll find the list at the bottom of the page. There are currently 18 agencies there! hnossproofreads.co.uk/how-to-find-...

Last week, I officially passed the halfway mark for the hours I need to upgrade to Professional Member of @the-ciep.bsky.social! I'm at 256 hours of proofreading for publishers, since April 2023. 70 of those hours have been since January this year, so I'm on target for upgrading by December 2027!

There are few things more alarming to a proofreader than a "clean" manuscript with minimal changes to make. It's a constant battle of "am I missing something really obvious?" and overthinking the most ridiculous possibilities when it comes to consistency and spelling.

A query letter is a way of introducing yourself and your novel to a literary agent. It’s the first thing an agent reads when they receive your submission. It should answer the questions: What is your novel about? Why do you think this literary agent should be interested in your novel? Who are you?

Your writing space is wherever you feel you can comfortably and productively write. It could be a desk, a seat in your living room, a local library, your favourite cafe, or even a bench. #Writing #WritingCommunity

Freelancing is sometimes needing to work through weekends to guarantee that you can meet a deadline, especially if you know you have appointments and other responsibilities coming up.

My fellow enbies, I hope your week has been kind to you. I hope that you have felt seen, in that more people have remembered we exist. I hope you have felt loved. I hope you have felt supported. I hope you have felt valued. #NonBinary

Non-binary terms more people should be aware of: enby = short for "non-binary", also used as a noun, so you might say "I'm an enby" instead of "I'm a non-binary person". joyfriend = a gender-neutral alternative to "boyfriend/girlfriend". #NonBinaryAwarenessWeek #LGBTQIA

A quick and easy way to alienate your non-binary readers: unnecessarily reinforcing the westernised gender binary. "Everyone – men and women..." "Men and women alike..." "Female voice" "Male voice" "Men, women, boys, girls, all of them..." "Opposite sex/gender..." #Writing #Authors