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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 coached thousands of writers through every stage of their work, from development of ideas through final editing for grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling. As an editor, I continue to find satisfaction in working with writers of all levels of experience and with a range of individual needs and goals. My own goal has always been to nurture writers as they work through successive drafts, helping them bring their vision to light in a satisfying and powerful 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 work with writers in a range of genres, from academic and scholarly projects to YA and adult fiction and creative nonfiction, including memoir. I offer developmental editing, writing coaching, manuscript evaluation, line editing, and copyediting services.
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 10,000 times and is available via Google Scholar or at https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1329&context=graddis. In addition to my doctoral degree, 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 and a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association.
"We were so pleased to have Nancy join our Creative Partners team of freelance editors at Rootstock Publishing. The first task we assigned to her, an assessment of part of a book manuscript submitted to us, resulted in an articulate, insightful, well-organized, and in-depth response that was very useful for both Rootstock and for the author. We definitely plan on using Nancy on further projects, small and large alike." Stephen McArthur, Co-Publisher, Rootstock Publishing, Montpelier, Vermont
I work with writers in a range of genres, from academic and scholarly projects to YA and adult fiction and creative nonfiction, including memoir. I offer developmental editing, writing coaching, manuscript evaluation, line editing, and copyediting services.
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 10,000 times and is available via Google Scholar or at https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1329&context=graddis. In addition to my doctoral degree, 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 and a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association.
"We were so pleased to have Nancy join our Creative Partners team of freelance editors at Rootstock Publishing. The first task we assigned to her, an assessment of part of a book manuscript submitted to us, resulted in an articulate, insightful, well-organized, and in-depth response that was very useful for both Rootstock and for the author. We definitely plan on using Nancy on further projects, small and large alike." Stephen McArthur, Co-Publisher, Rootstock Publishing, Montpelier, Vermont