Cambridge Writing Services

Specialist in Proofreading, Writing & Editing

Carefully constructed text, written and proofread by a diligent, knowledgeable human.

Introducing Becky, a writer & proofreader based in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, who specialises in 100% grammatically correct, concise and impactful text.

I provide a high-quality writing, proofreading and editing service covering all text types from academic and career / professional branding assets through to books, advertising copy, digital marketing, blogs, internal communications and more...

Phone or email me on 07928 525882 / becky@cambridgewritingservices.com to discuss your requirements and how I will help.

My experience & qualifications:

20 years’ experience in proofreading, writing and editing – manuscripts, theses / dissertations, PhD proposals, company bios, website copy, business to business (B2B), internal business communications, and more:

This includes proofreading daily internal/external communications for a large global law firm (Reed Smith), to a strict style guide. Proofreading in the legal field is challenging, as those in the know, know!

It also includes writing advertising copy for companies small and big - including that last minute holiday company and the UK's favourite comfortable shoe store.

Degree in English & TEFL (with CELTA qualification):

Included clear focus on grammar as opposed to literature studies, together with three years’ teaching ESL learners and developing knowledge of the difficulties language learners face with both speaking and writing.

Passion and drive for continuous improvement and best practice, continually honing a diverse set of skills that encompass the art of the written word:

Key knowledge/skills include the 'Power of 3'; alliteration, assonance & consonance; beginning statements with the most impactful or important messaging; and the elimination of unnecessary words whilst ensuring grammatical correctness.

10 focused years in CV, LinkedIn & cover letter writing for all types of client from aged 16 and undergraduate through to director, CEO & NED of large international companies.

Global CV (or Résumé) Writing Accreditation ‘CPRW’, demonstrating 'excellence'.

A Careers Counselling Diploma and love for helping people gain clarity and confidence.

Eight years’ providing both careers counselling & interview practice to my CV clients.

My CV service, Winning CVs, has 130+ all 5* Trustpilot and Google reviews. It includes an in-depth consultation in which I ensure to gather all the 'gold' for the CV. It is also the place that I counsel clients and help them practice for interview questions.

Grammar

Due to all of this experience, education and passion for 'getting it right', I have amassed extensive knowledge in the complexities of English grammar.

This includes being one of life's small percentile of people that:

Knows how to use a semi-colon (e.g., it's NOT an elongated pause!!!!!)

Understands when/when not to capitalise (e.g., not just because it's a posh job title!)

Applies hyphens correctly (e.g., when modifying a noun)...

AI

I want to help anyone that feels they need it - and often those that don't (feel they need it)!

'We don't know what we don't know', as the old saying goes, and AI's US grammar (e.g., the Oxford comma and double quote marks where single is correct for the UK) is definitely seeping into UK consciousness - so much so that people don't even realise it's US. It's not a crime - but there are also many other areas where AI just doesn't cut the mustard.

Well, where to start with what it can't do!

I recently wrote an article: Can AI Deliver a High-End CV? Some key pull-outs:

A CV is a potentially critical document that needs to achieve so much – including aptly demonstrating achievements and skills used, telling a coherent story, and essentially presenting the candidate as head and shoulders above the often hundreds of other applicants.

AI is clearly an excellent tool for writing, helping many people who are either short on time or lack innate writing skills to deliver grammatically correct, concise texts. But can it really replace a human for CV writing? As an interested AI novice, I compared a few paragraphs of mine to see what AI does with them:

1A) “In an age where AI appears to be taking over the world in so many areas, including promising to craft the perfect CV in seconds, many executives and senior professionals are wondering whether it really can deliver excellence.”

Became:

1B) “As AI advances, it raises questions among executives and professionals about its ability to create excellent CVs quickly.”

And another:

2A) “After all, a CV is a potentially critical document that needs to achieve so much – including aptly demonstrating achievements and skills used, telling a coherent story, and essentially presenting the candidate as head and shoulders above the often hundreds of other applicants.”

Became:

2B) “A CV is an important document that should effectively demonstrate achievements and skills, tell a coherent story, and present the candidate as a strong contender among many other applicants.”

My reactions/insights

I was taught never to end a sentence with an adverb.

Overarchingly, I was very surprised at how ineptly it wrote the first one. It’s concise (which is of course essential in CV writing) but that’s about all it has going for it.

'Where’s the flair?' I wondered.

I saw immediately in no.2 that it eliminated a potential ‘wow’ factor - the ‘hundreds' of other applicants.

It says a CV is an ‘important document’. Well so are many documents – but the key message here was ‘critical’ – critical in getting someone a job, not just ‘important’.

‘Head and shoulders above’ was replaced by ‘strong contender’…

Superlatives can be very useful – it’s my job as a writer to get the message across – why you want ‘this’ candidate and not Joe Bloggs down the road…

I don’t want to say that my client is a ‘strong contender’, I want to say without saying it, that if you (the recruiter) don’t choose him/her (the applicant) you would sorely regret it; this client is the very best in your pile of CVs.

So point being, AI will do this to other texts as well - make them flat and boring; not include the words that could really 'sell' the item, service, idea or person; and essentially just not drive the message home.

You dig?