Proofreading | Editing | Content Writing
Proofreading | Editing | Content Writing
words that work
Your website | Your words | Your way
Your website | Your words | Your way
write-your-own-website workshops
order my book

PROOFREADING

Your words represent you. I'll proofread the heck out of your grammar, spelling and punctuation, so they can get out there and do what you want them to do.
more about proofreading

EDITING

Editing goes deep, deep down into clarity and consistency, organisation and flow. Stand by for ready-to-use content with your strong, credible voice.
more about editing

WRITING

Strut your stuff with well-researched, engaging content. We'll work together to find the best voice for you and your audience, then leave the rest to me.
more about content writing

TONE OF VOICE DOCUMENT

Give your business a character they'll never forget. Are you fresh or reassuring? Are you bowler-hat formal to flip-flop breezy? Let's put you into words.
more about tone of voice

WRITING STYLE GUIDE

Your very own, personalised guide of how to keep your voice true. Yes, it's grammar, but it's super-easy to use. Promise.
more about style guides

WEBSITE-WRITING WORKSHOPS

Smile-inducing workshops for SMEs, freelancers and sole traders. At the end of the course, you take home professional web content ready to upload to your website, written by you.
more about website-writing courses

Free Website Copy Audit

Is your website copy working for your business? Send me the URL and I'll tell you three simple writing fixes to make your website work harder
Yes, I'd like to know how to improve my website copy

PORTFOLIO

While my name only pops up here and there, my words are very much present

Business Showcase South West

Official printed-material proofreader and copy editor for Business Showcase South West.

Students Abroad Foundation (IES)

Writing articles to help Asian students planning to study in the UK

HenQueens

Ridiculously good fun copywriting for hen dos in Bristol

Colston’s School

Copy creation for prospective Colston's parents and students

Professional Writing Academy

Editorial support, curriculum development and course moderation of online writing courses.

Etihad

Copy creation for Etihad customer-facing campaign

Lufthansa

Under NDA, I've worked for Lufthansa. All I can say is it's visible.

Ignitec

Website copy and ongoing content support for Ignitec in Bristol

Clarks

Retail copywriting for Clarks shoes' packaging, window displays and trade magazines.

Engadget: The Morning After

Edit and proofread Engadget's (owned by AOL) daily newsletter -- the Morning After.

International Press Institute

Author of a coffee-table book celebrating global press-freedom heroes and editor for several handbooks for journalists.

Wings for life world run

Wings for Life World Run

Writing, editing and proofreading all comms for Red Bull's international audience

Red Bull Media House

Red Bull Media House

Ghost editor, proofreader and writer in the RBMH world

Wings for Life

Editing and proofreading for international charity

Expedia

Expedia

High-volume editing and proofreading

Trainline

Trainline

High-volume editing and proofreading

Melt Content

Freelance senior editor for content agency

National Association of Jewellers

National Association of Jewellers

Rewrite curricular in a more-accessible voice

Mail Travel

Mail Travel

Overview Commissioned by Melt Content, I wrote a number of travel articles for Mail Travel. It’s fun to inject more […]

Non-Disclosure Agreements

 

 

There comes a time when you get good enough that the big boys comes calling. But with them comes page after page of legal stuff that says you can't tell anyone you're writing for them.

It's catch-22. The better you get, the less you can shout about it.

So for your intrigue, here are the industries I write for in signed-and-sealed secret.

You can try guessing, but I'll never tell. Ever.

NDA Hotels
NDA Hotels
Hotel brands I write about but can't talk about
NDA Airlines
NDA Airlines
Soaring copy you'll never know I wrote
NDA Car Brands
NDA Car Brands
Words that scream round corners -- but you'll never know it's me behind the wheel

What People Say About Me

**cue heavy blushing**
Lucy is a great writer and a joy to work with. She consistently meets deadlines and often thinks outside of the box, bringing more to the project than one had originally hoped for. Not only would I hire her again for a freelance job, but I wish I could have her on staff full time.

Alison Bethel McKenzie

International Press Institute

Lucy is a genius when it comes to writing any text just the way it needs to be. And when it comes to proofreading - she has lots of patience and will do it in the most painless way possible. 😉

Karin Bock-Leitert

Executive Producer at Red Bull

It has been a great pleasure working with you and I’d like to thank you for your tireless efforts, your encompassing support and the great work you’ve done for us.

Anita Gerhardter

Wings for Life CEO

Lucy is an excellent partner for projects that require precise English translation and a composition or editing of short and long copies. She is a lot of fun working with, since she pursues the highest quality standard and a strong professional attitude. She accomplishes all tasks quickly, with strong attention to detail and always on time. I can unquestionably recommend Lucy’s services and thank her for a great collaboration within the last years. I'm looking forward to more exciting projects!

Anna Berkl

PR Manager

Best ever! It was such a pleasure working with you; you have always been happy and in a good mood, positive and 100% committed even in the difficult times.

Robert Seeger

Social Guy & Public Speaker

Lucy’s feel for words is magic. Ever since she agreed to work with me, I’ve been in a position to convincingly offer the best translations to my customers.

Elisabeth Lyons

German to English translator

Lucy is an exceptional, reliable copy editor. She takes pride in her work and always delivers to a very high standard. She works well under pressure and delivers to tight deadlines, often managing multiple writers and sub-editors. On top of that, she's a really great, fun-loving individual.

Dan Hart

Founder of Melt Content Agency

Her attention to detail is second-to-none and her ability to critically appraise written content is excellent. We’ve also used her to originate content for one of our clients and found her willingness and enthusiasm beyond compare.

Esther Feltham

Creative Director at eyespeak

Lucy is amazing at reviewing and proofreading my academic work while teaching me to improve my grammar in a way that I enjoy practising. I would unreservedly recommend Lucy to anybody wanting to improve their grammar at any level, especially for higher education, and I only wish I had found this incredible and kind teacher sooner.

Deborah Martin

Dentist at University of Nottingham

We very much value Lucy’s creativity, writing and her ability to move fast. She is wonderful, approachable, professional and extremely talented.

Hannah Dean

Founder of HenQueens

Hello, I'm Lucy

Put a face to a name
Lucy Cripps

Lucy Cripps

I edit, proofread and write online and offline. Whether my clients use my words daily or weekly, once a month or once a year, they keep coming back.

Copy editor, proofreader and writer

I live in Bristol’s Harbourside, looking out across the water. From here, I edit, proofread, create and write for my family of clients. I’m very much in my happy place.

Under my belt, I have tucked an MA in professional writing from Falmouth University, a BA in English lit and lang (yes, fine, and American studies — it was the 90s) and a PGCE (teacher training) from the University of Nottingham.

I’ve loaded my toolbox of tricks during five years teaching grammar, writing and editing at Salzburg University (2010 to 2015), a decade of teaching English as a foreign language (2003 to 2013) and 14 years of real-world commercial wordsmithing (since 2005) that has taken me into all kinds of industries.

I’ve done time in everything from construction to shoes, jewellery to travel, extreme sports to airlines, Lithuanian rock lyrics to curry-sauce packaging. And that’s on a quiet day. One of my subedits, Use With Care: A Reporter’s Glossary of Loaded Language in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, a handbook created by the International Press Institute made it on to Stephen Colbert’s ‘The Colbert Report’ on CBS in 2014.

CURRENT PROJECTS

  • Excited that my book about American punctuation ‘Actually, the comma goes here’ launches on March 31
  • Getting my teeth into content writing for one of my NDAers
  • Pushing through the busy run up the Wings for Life World Run 2020
  • Creating website copy for the amazing HenQueens
  • Looking forward to my four-week online write-your-website workshops starting on 4 May
  • Getting my daily fix of editing for Engadget’s The Morning After
  • Guiding a dentist in her article writing (yep, she made it into the British Dental Journal) UPDATE — twice!

… there’s more, but no one likes a showoff.

Latest Language Musings

A snapshot of what goes on inside my head

What is a writing voice?

December 16, 2019 lucycripps

A written voice is made of the words you use, the way you use them and the character they come together to create. Try this exercise to practice your written voice.

Plan Your Writing

November 25, 2019 lucycripps

On my write your own website course, we use this template as a starting point for longer-form writing, say blogs, case studies and even newsletters,

GCSE English doesn’t help

November 18, 2019 lucycripps

You've got a GCSE in English, you use English every day, so why are you struggling so much with writing your website content?

A poem

April 18, 2019 lucycripps

So if you want words to really work hard Online or offline I’m in your back yard

The before and after of edited writing

April 11, 2019 lucycripps

Encouraging children to recraft and be brave enough to make big change

Content production … and it’s only Wednesday

March 27, 2019 lucycripps

I don't often audit the content production I get through in a week, so this was quite an eye opener.