Here at Accuracy Matters, having worked as established editorial services professionals for decades, we know the process always works best when a client knows how to ask for what they want.

It was definitely a writer braver than me who used as his novel’s title, For Whom the Bell Tolls. This phrase, lifted from a poem by John Donne, can cause writers to break into a cold sweat, seeing the word ‘whom’ hovering menacingly in print.

Subject–verb agreement falls into the category of things I wish I’d been taught at school. If you were at secondary school in the late 1960s and early 1970s, you probably weren’t taught grammar.

At school, comments on my conciseness were a regular feature of my school reports. I was never sure whether it was a good or a bad thing. Certainly, when further exploration and exposition were required, my natural tendency to bullet point, summarise and cut through to the basic principles didn’t help my grades.

The other day, my friend messaged me a photo of her newborn baby. Underneath the adorable image, the caption detailed his name (including two middle ones), his weight (in pounds and ounces) and the exact time of his arrival (a bright and early 3.37 am).