Education & Expertise

Expertise

I can fine tune executive writing; and, provide professional looking documents, to meet industry standards. I can make difficult language to be easily understood: with fewer words, shorter sentences; and, clear, concise language - which the lay person - can comprehend! I check authors' writing for: sense, flow, voice, consistency,logical structure,appropriate headings and emphasis in key areas. I make sure that there are no - contractions, author bias or wordy content.

I have been trained to Copy Edit with standard Copy Editing marks which are recognized and accredited world- wide. My Editing Teachers at Holmesglen were either President of Editors Victoria, or Professional Journalists, or English Teachers; and, had worked in England; and, had gained international experience while working for Lonely Planet - as Professional Editors.

Accreditations

I hold a B.Litt. (English Literature) Monash and a Diploma (Professional Writing and Editing) Holmesglen.

Monash is a first tier Australian University and, is in the nation's Top Group of Eight. Holmesglen is the premier educator of vocational training in Australia; and, was the official trainer for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

 

Education

After studying a Diploma with: Corporate Writing, Copy Editing, Journalism; and, Scriptwriting, Playwriting and Screenwriting; combined with - completing Writing and Editing Skills twice - at Holmesglen; I graduated as a Professional Writer and Editor, in 2011. I was awarded the Scriptwriting Prize for Best Student in 2007, at the Holmesglen Acker Awards.

I meet industry standards as a Technical Writer, Copywriter and Copyeditor.

I am a member of Golden Key International Honour Society; which is exclusive to the world’s best and brightest University Graduates; and I am an Old Boy from Melbourne High School; which is academic, prestigious and selective.

I hold a Bachelor of Letters (English Literature) from Monash University; which was completed, with a Credit average, in 2000. I studied Literature form 1800 – present.

My Genres were: Short Fiction: Classic and Contemporary, Victorian and Contemporary Literature, Travel Literature and Christian Literature.

I analysed Hamlet, The Tempest, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Gulliver’s Travels, Middlemarch, On the Road, John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Great Expectations, Hard Times, Poetry by Thomas Hardy, Plays by Harold Pinter and Pam Gems and books by Mark Twain and Herman Melville.

I have a Bachelor of Arts from La Trobe University where I majored in Legal Studies and History (Australia and USA); and, graduated in 1989.

I studied Administrative and Family Law, Legal History, Criminal Law and Criminal Behaviour. My final result for Legal History was 80%. At La Trobe I mastered USA History, such as: The War of Independence, The Civil War, the Two World Wars and The Great Depression. I am well read in Australia’s History; especially, The Convicts, Immigration, The Gold Rush and The Pastoral Settlers.

 

Computer Literacy

Upskilling and Training

From Feb 2014 – March 2015, I updated my Computer Skills by; mastering advanced Word and Excel at Rowville Learning Centre. At the same training centre; I learnt  Introductory: Word, Excel and PowerPoint. In both the above courses I was taught IT with Windows 8.1 and Microsoft Office 2010.

Word 2010 Skills

Entering and Editing Information

Word Wrap, Hidden Characters, Inserting New Lines and  Paragraphs, Inserting New Pages and Page Breaks

Editing Text

Insert and Overtype Mode, Deleting Text and Whole Words, Joining a Paragraph, Undo Feature and Redo

Formatting

Text and Character Formats, Font and Point Style, Bold, Italic and Underline, Text Highlights, Font Colour

Paragraph Formats

Alignment, Indents, Use the Ruler to Set Indents, First Line Indent, Hanging Indent, Indents and Spacing Tab, Line and Page Break Tab (Pagination), Keyboard Shortcuts for Paragraph Formatting, Format Painter, Remove Formatting with the Keyboard

Borders

Changing the Paragraph Border with More Borders; via, the Dialog Box, Page Borders; and, Shading

Bulleted and Numbered Lists

Add Bullets, Remove Bullets, Define a New Bullet, Numbering, Remove Numbers, Create or Change a Numbered List, Start a New List

Tabs

Basic Tabs with Alignment, Default Tab Stop, Set Manual Tab Stop with Ruler, Set Manual Tab Stops with Dialog, Create Leader Tabs

Tables

Create Tables, Table Navigation, Enter Data In a Table, Select Items in a Table, Format Table Data, Change Column and Row Size, Add Rows and Columns, Text Alignment, Table Borders and Shading, Border Style, Table Shading, Table Styles, Merging and Splitting, Repeating Table Headings

Page Layout

Page Setup Group and Dialog, Margins Tab, Paper Tab, Layout Tab, Headers and Footers, Insert Header and Footer Basic Field Codes, Suppress Page Numbers, Different Odd and Even Page Numbering

PowerPoint 2010 Skills

•          Can create a Presentation with Text, Headings, Sub Headings, Bullet Points

•          Transition, Time, Setting, Add Animation, Format Title, Text and Subtitle

•          Add Multiple Slides, Add Picture, Add Action to Text, and Insert URL from You Tube

•          Add Audio, Set Song to Play, Add and Record Narration, Add Transition, Set to 15-20 seconds

•          Set Timing Longer than Video Length

 

Excel 2010 Skills

•          Learnt to move around and enter Data, in Workbook, and Worksheets

•          Formulae and Functions: Typing, Entering and Filling Formulae

•          Formatting: Insert Delete and Add Cells

•          Sorting and Subtotalling: Data Lists, Data Quick and Multilevel Sort, Organising the List for Subtotals

•          Learnt the BODMAS  (Brackets Over Division Multiplication Addition Subtraction) Formula and the “IF” Function

•          Can calculate the number of days between two dates

•          Can use the Name Manager

•          Can Insert a Comment

 

Swinburne University

I completed a Computer Business Applications Certificate from Swinburne, in 2002. I mastered Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint. My results averaged High Distinction.

In return, Swinburne accepted me into, Golden Key International Honour Society; which is the premium organization for: the world’s best and brightest University Graduates.