Here's the Problem
Many people have had it drilled into their heads that they must get things right -- either be English teachers or grammar police on the internet -- or worse, have their grammatical errors pointed out in fights with others as a way of discrediting what they have to say.
But English is a hard, intimidating mongrel of a language that’s hard to “get right.” One way of measuring how hard a language is by how old native speakers are before they stop making routine mistakes. For Spanish, that age is elementary school. For Russian, it’s mid to late teens. For English? There is no age at which native speakers stop making routine mistakes.
Let's Talk Solutions
While it’s not all about getting things right, grammar, punctuation and usage errors can get in the way of your message. Whether you want done-for-you grammatical/punctuation/word-usage revision, or you’d like to learn along the way in a safe environment, I thrive on polishing pieces of writing without tarnishing the writer.
Available Services:
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Line/copy editing. I provide sentence-level edits to grammar, punctuation and word usage of whatever piece of writing you want to throw at me.
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Instruction. Learn the reasons behind my suggested changes. This is optional - some clients prefer I simply make the changes; others want to learn.
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Developmental/story-arc edits. I provide feedback at the idea/concept-level. This can apply to an email nurture series or a novel manuscript in progress.
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Out-loud readings of your words. Either recorded or live, I provide the option of me reading your work out loud to you so you can hear how someone who isn’t in your head might read your words. While reading your work out loud to yourself will help you catch a lot of mistakes, it’s a whole other level of feedback when someone else reads your work to you: as my AP English teacher my senior year of high school said. “Believe the stumble.”
Why Hire Me?
When I write, I feel God’s pleasure. I was born loving writing, otherwise I might have graduated from high school with a hatred for not only writing but reading. Speaking as a novelist, I can tell you there is nothing about the process of creating a full-length story that resembles what you may have been taught about how to read and write about what you read in school. There is so much more freedom, play and, yes, rule-breaking.
Speaking of rules, as a neurodiverse human, one of my special interests is language and how it does or does not follow its own rules. While I do love me a rigorous rule sheet, I also love me a good rebellion from the rules.
I have training in trauma-informed, therapy as a social worker, so I approach all the work I do with other humans from that lens.
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