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"Writing is like jumping into a freezing lake and slowly coming to the surface."
~a student writer |
Who I Am, What I Do |
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As a longtime teacher of literature and writing, I have coached thousands of writers through every stage of their work, from development of ideas through final editing for grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling. My goal has always been to nurture writers as they work through successive drafts, helping them bring their vision to light in its most satisfying final form. I bring to my work enthusiasm, tact, deep knowledge of writing and literature, and a great respect for the writer's act of creation. I care about each writer's individual needs and goals.
I offer specific, focused analysis and recommendations at every stage of a project, from manuscript development and organization through line editing and meticulous copyediting, to help the writer bring each piece to its perfectly polished final form. I believe that writers must allow themselves the freedom to inhabit the separate roles Betty Sue Flowers identified as "madman, architect, carpenter, judge," taking time to linger on the creative and big-picture levels of their work--generating and playing with ideas, experimenting with organization and arrangement of material--before turning to a more fine-grained focus on elements such as crafting clean transitions and smoothing awkward syntax, and finally moving on to the copyediting stage, where my "perfectionista" eye will notice and correct the details that writers themselves may be too familiar with their own texts to see.
I hold an Ed.D. from the University of Vermont in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (2015). My dissertation, "Boys, Writing, and the Literacy Gender Gap: What We Know, What We Think We Know," has been downloaded over 8000 times and is available via Google Scholar. I hold an M.A.T. in English from Cornell University and a B.A. in history from Mount Holyoke College. I am a Rootstock Publishing Creative Partner.
I offer specific, focused analysis and recommendations at every stage of a project, from manuscript development and organization through line editing and meticulous copyediting, to help the writer bring each piece to its perfectly polished final form. I believe that writers must allow themselves the freedom to inhabit the separate roles Betty Sue Flowers identified as "madman, architect, carpenter, judge," taking time to linger on the creative and big-picture levels of their work--generating and playing with ideas, experimenting with organization and arrangement of material--before turning to a more fine-grained focus on elements such as crafting clean transitions and smoothing awkward syntax, and finally moving on to the copyediting stage, where my "perfectionista" eye will notice and correct the details that writers themselves may be too familiar with their own texts to see.
I hold an Ed.D. from the University of Vermont in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (2015). My dissertation, "Boys, Writing, and the Literacy Gender Gap: What We Know, What We Think We Know," has been downloaded over 8000 times and is available via Google Scholar. I hold an M.A.T. in English from Cornell University and a B.A. in history from Mount Holyoke College. I am a Rootstock Publishing Creative Partner.