Horizontal rolling background wallpaper consisting of hand-drawn, doodle-style speech and thought bubbles in charcoal and teal on a white background.

Leeds-based proofreader Lesley Bruce Sharp holding a giant magnifying glass in front of her eye. She has short bleach-blonde hair and a chunky grey polo neck sweater on. There's a blush pink speech bubble pointing at her which says "Get a Sharp eye on your text".

Proofreader Lesley Bruce Sharp holding a very big magnifying glass up in front of her eye. There is a pale pink speech bubble above her head which says: 'Get a SHARP eye on your text.'

Proofreading and sub-editing for page and screen

Looking for a flexible proofreader and sub-editor you can rely on to eagle-eye your artwork? Call me! I'm from an ad-agency background, which means I'm used to scrutinising everything from web page mock-ups to good old-fashioned print work.

And don't worry, I'm not some Jenny-come-lately. I've been proofreading for a long time. When I started back in the day, the tools of my trade were a red marker pen and the obligatory magnifying glass for digging deep into the small print. Oh yes. Old school. Using the British Standards Institution (BSI) proofreading symbols.

Today, I'll happily mark up your copy electronically, whether you send it to me in PDF or Word format, and I'll return it to you with amends annotated or changes tracked.

Leeds-based proofreader and sub-editor Lesley Bruce Sharp putting on a pair of large round Iris Apfel-style spectacles. She is wearing a grey chunky sweater and a denim skirt

I'm sooo much more than a spellchecker, daahling!

Yes, I'm an intrepid typo hunter. But spelling slip-ups and sausage-finger key mishits aren't the only thing on my watch list. Here's what else I'll be doing when I put my specs on for you...

GRAMMARING

Making good your grammar and perfecting your punctuation.

TIGHTENING

Sorting out syntax: changing the word order to make your copy crisp.

COMPARING

Observing your design format, checking for consistency throughout.

VERIFYING

Checking the accuracy of names: brands, products, people, places, that sort of thing.

DECLUNKING

Looking at the overall readability and flow. Are there any bits that make me stumble?

LISTENING

Is your tone of voice consistent throughout? And will your readers get the message?

How much does my wordsmithing cost?

It depends. Ideally, I'd need to see your document to work out how long it would take to knock your copy into shape.

What I can tell you here and now is that my hourly rate keeps pace with the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading's suggested minimum.

The best thing to do is drop me a line and I'll work out a quote for you.

An illustration of a blacksmith's hammer, with a hover animation which makes it look like it's hammering the anvil next to it.

A line illustration of an anvil and tongs. The tongs are holding the word 'WORDS', which has been designed to look like the hammer is knocking it into shape.

What people say about my work

In real life. And in my imagination.

"Lesley is a lifesaver. On a few occasions I've dumped some poorly composed copy on her, with a plea to magic it into something workable. By the time she's finished, it still sounds like something I would have written, only much, much better.

"There's also her eye for design detail. I've been given lists of seemingly tiny tweaks which, when implemented, give the page a professional clarity. Nothing escapes her attention."

Elizabeth Tillotson

Founder, The Magnificent Singer

Ooh baby baby, baby baby
Ooh baby baby, bay-baby baby
Pick up on this!
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Sharp Words is here
Sha-sha-sha-sharp Words is here!

To, aah, proof it. Proof it good!
Aaah, proof it. Puh-proof it real good!

Salt-n-Pepa

Legendary '80s hip hop frontwomen

WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?

Some people have a problem with me. And they have a similar issue with I. These innocuous personal pronouns have been usurped by an evil interloper: myself, the once-benign reflexive pronoun gone bad.

What the hell happened? It’s as if it mutated in a language lab, breaking its double-strand reflexive DNA before leaking out and spreading its anti-grammar virus throughout the English-speaking world. Now every other person is suffering from chronic myselforrhea.

I first heard it on a train. The welcome-aboard announcement ended with: “If you need any assistance, myself or one of my colleagues will be happy to help”. Huh? Was he trying to sound posh or summink?

I only realised we had a serious linguistic infection on our hands when I heard Radio 4 presenters myselfing in interviews. Even more alarming, their radio dramas are peppered with myselfisms too. All the while Auntie Beeb, erstwhile doyenne of ‘The Queen’s English’, doesn’t appear to be batting an eyelid.

So it looks like it’s down to me. Okay, let’s do this...

Myself and Alex went to IKEA on Sunday.

First of all, are you mad? IKEA on a Sunday?!
Secondly, always put the other person first. It’s a politeness thing.

Alex and myself went to IKEA on... Thursday?

Hmm. Let’s say your friend flakes on you. Take 'Alex and' out of the equation.

Myself went to IKEA on Thursday.

Okaaaaay. You sound weird. Maybe you ought to reword that?

I went to IKEA on Thursday?

Ding dong, now we’re getting somewhere! Let's say Alex changed her mind...

Alex and I went to IKEA on Thursday.

Double ding dong with glitter on top. Good trip?

Yeah, and I was so glad Alex came with me after all; I couldn’t have wrestled that wardrobe into the car all by myself.

Honey, you’re cured!

Still doubting your grammar?

You could try getting ChatGPT to write your copy for you. Or you could...

Get copywriting help from a lovely human

ROCKIN' BOTTOM!

What now? Email me via my button to brief me about the words you need fettling.
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Of course, you're welcome to stay here a while longer. Just don't click that button of mystery...

Consult the wordwoman Button of mystery