Editing & Coaching
You’ve been writing your manuscript, or essay for a while now, staring at it so long, working and reworking it, you’re not sure what you’re looking at anymore. You know you want your story to have tension, powerful scenes, vivid characters, transitions that flow, a structure that pops, and sensory details that bring your writing to life, but you are pretty sure you need a fresh set of eyes.
I offer editing and developmental feedback on completed drafts as well as memoir coaching for memoirs in progress. I’m the author of the memoir When She Comes Back, the winner of Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award for my short story collection Home Is A Made-Up Place, and a creative nonfiction editor for The Citron Review. I’ve been teaching for more than a decade and have an MFA in nonfiction from Pacific University. My short fiction and creative nonfiction have won awards (see Press and Awards page) and I’m the host and producer of the podcast Let’s Talk Memoir.
I work with both short and long pieces and enjoy big-picture developmental editing as well as swooping in real close for line editing.
HOW TO KNOW IF I’M THE RIGHT EDITOR FOR YOU
I appreciate work that has emotional resonance and takes the reader on a journey; writing that invites the reader to more deeply understand the lived experience of a character/narrator/memoirist. I look for the heartbeat in the projects I edit because I believe the best work leaves the writer and the reader changed. Reading my writing is an excellent way to get a sense of my style and see if I’d be a good editor for you.
DEVELOPMENTAL EDIT
A developmental edit focuses on the big-picture to assess how your project is working overall. I’ll review your story structure, pacing, character development, the balance of scene and reflection, how your main themes are developing and the connective tissue holding it together, and
You will receive a detailed editorial letter assessing what is working well and what areas need strengthening. I’ll address structure, tension, dialogue, stakes and the narrative arc, and provide detailed suggestions for revising your work.
DEVELOPMENTAL & LINE EDIT
A developmental and line edit includes a big-picture assessment (see above) plus in-line comments, notes, questions, and suggestions for sections that would benefit from cutting or expanding.
MEMOIR COACHING
Maybe you started writing your memoir because you knew you had a story you wanted to tell, and you were sure you were ready to share it. But now, several months or years into the process, you feel stuck. You’ve learned that memoir is about meaning-making and pattern-noticing, but you’re not sure you’re on the right track or that you’ve gone far enough. You may even be questioning whether your story is worth telling after all.
That’s where I come in. I love helping memoirists recharge and center themselves again. I can help you dig a little deeper and tease out aspects of your story you might not have spent much time on or weren’t as aware of; the divided self and the hidden parts that add depth and tension to your manuscript and help the reader better understand what’s at stake for you, the memoirist.
Please get in touch with me to check availability or if you have questions. Click here for my rates.