I studied languages at university. After a few other adventures I spent 20 years in the Australian parliament and public service managing public inquiries and researching, writing and editing in a variety of genres, from speeches and media releases to ministerial briefings and long-form policy-making reports.
I retrained to focus on editing in 2014. I’m an accredited professional member of the Institute of Professional Editors (Australia). Read more about IPEd accreditation here.
My special interests are:
- interpreting complex topics in a concise, accessible style for non-expert readers
- helping writers whose native language is not English. The time I’ve spent learning other languages helps me to understand the challenges they face.
I had many years on both sides of the policy-making table: writing things to inform or persuade other people, and reading the submissions of people who wanted to inform or persuade me.
That’s given me a lot of insights into how to fine-tune a piece of writing to be as effective as possible. You can read my tips on how to write a persuasive submission to government.