Search

my perspective as an editor

I am a storyteller and story caretaker.

I consider it an honour to help writers shepherd their stories into the world. The focus of my editing work is to help a writer elevate their story to exactly the place they want it to be.

I am an editor and writer working in the genres of creative non-fiction, including memoir, essays, and experimental non-fiction, and fiction, including literary fiction, short stories, mystery, suspense, and thriller.

My essays have been published by Psyche, The Ampersand Review, the Creative Nonfiction Collective, and are forthcoming in THIS Magazine. I am currently querying my memoir-in-essays. As a writer myself, I understand how it feels to have your work edited and I incorporate that perspective into my editing approach. I don’t prescribe or dictate when editing, but instead offer suggestions and ask lots of questions.

I have also done writing and story editing for short and feature-length documentary films. Using my literary skills in this form has given me a deeper understanding of how to effectively use the core components of storytelling that can be found across all genres.

Approach

My somatic writing practice informs my editing work. The body is always at the forefront when I am writing and editing. What embodied sensations and emotions does a piece of writing evoke in me as I am editing? What craft elements need attention to create a more powerful emotional experience? Where is the language getting in the way of a reader connecting to the piece on an embodied level?

Due to my focus on the body in all of my work, I aim to maintain the unique voice of an author through helping them express their embodied experience of the world. I like to ask lots of questions to understand an author’s intentions so that I am tailoring my feedback to what you what to achieve for your writing. My edits are always suggestions, questions, or comments.

My writing background forms the foundation of my editing approach. In 2021, I graduated with a BFA in Creative Writing from the University of Victoria. During my time there, I had the opportunity to dive into the study of story structure in a variety of forms, including novels, short stories, essays, memoirs, graphic novels, films, and television shows.

I have a special interest in memoir and experimental creative non-fiction. While at uVic, I did an independent study on queer and female memoirists writing the body with nonfiction writer Danielle Geller. This close study gave me the resources and inspiration that I needed to write my memoir manuscript over the following years. It also ignited my love for experimental and nonlinear memoir and introduced me to authors like Carmen Maria Machado and Lydia Yukanavitch.

My other love is literary fiction. During my BFA, I was an intern on the Fiction Board at The Malahat Review and became immersed in the short story form, studying what made a story stand out among hundreds of other submissions. Working with the editorial Board taught me the difference between a story that is ready for publication and one that needs more work. My favourite fiction authors include Lydia Davis, Joy Williams, Eden Robinson, and Ann-Marie MacDonald.

​I also love mystery, thriller, suspense, and crime fiction, and incorporate my experience with literary fiction into my editing of this genre. Cinema and television are a major influence on how I edit pacing, stakes, tension, characterization, and plot.

Experience

I have three years of experience editing for the online literary magazine The Ex-Puritan, publishing eight essays per year across four issues. Through this work, I have assisted many non-fiction writers in shaping their essay into its best possible form. Working with a variety of writers has sharpened my ability to help authors achieve their specific writing goals. It has also allowed me to study the essay form in-depth and analyze the craft elements that make an essay stand out.

Prior to this, I gained experience providing feedback to dozens of my classmates on their fiction and non-fiction writing during my BFA at the University of Victoria’s Creative Writing program. Since graduation, I have continued to provide feedback for classmates, which has kept my editing skills sharp in a variety of genres.

​My experience drafting a completed manuscript of my first book, a memoir-in-essays, has helped me to understand book editing from the perspective of a writer. As I have crafted my own intimate and very personal story, I have developed an appreciation for the nuance, sensitivity, and care an editor must embody when working with an author, especially within the genre of memoir.  I know that writing memoir can involve excavating painful truths from one’s story that can be triggering. With this fact in mind, I edit memoir with a lot of tenderness and consideration for the impact of my edits on the author.

You can get a sense of my work by reading the essays I have edited for The Ex-Puritan:

skills & tools

As a neurodivergent editor with a sensory disability, I have an extremely high attention to detail and an ability to hyper focus on a piece of writing. I notice things others often miss, which gives me an advantage as a copyeditor, line editor, and proofreader. I draw on my deep knowledge of writing craft and story structure to look at a story on a macro-level when doing developmental editing and manuscript consultations.

A true word nerd, I love the rules of grammar and style and have extensive experience with the Chicago Manual of Style, The Canadian Press Stylebook, and other style guides. I am experienced with using Microsoft Word and Track Changes to offer clear and concise feedback to authors via specific comments and edits on a line level. I am skilled with using Adobe Acrobat efficiently when proofreading.

Services and rates

Please Note
My rates vary depending on the project’s length and genre, turnaround time, how many rounds of feedback are needed, and any necessary research, correspondence and administrative work. Please contact me for a quote for a specific project.  All quote are in Canadian dollars and do not include GST (which will added based upon your provincial rate), though I am happy to work with clients located anywhere in the world.

For all of my editing services, I offer a free sample edit of 1 page/250 words to give you an idea of my editing style. 

If you are unsure about what type of editing you need, Editors Canada provides a great resource that defines the different types of editing.  

I am also happy to help you determine which stage of editing would benefit your manuscript the most. If you require more than one stage of editing, I am happy to combine services into a package that is customized to your needs. Please contact me for more details.

​Essay Manuscript Evaluation
  • For this service, I will read your essay of up to 10 000 words and offer my feedback via a written letter on strengths and areas for improvement.
  • Then, we will discuss it over a 30-60 minute Zoom call where you can ask any follow-up questions.​

Short Story Manuscript Evaluation
  • For this service, I will read your short story of up to 10 000 words and offer my feedback via a written letter on strengths and areas for improvement.
  • Then, we will discuss it over a 30-60 minute Zoom call where you can ask any follow-up questions.

Manuscript Evaluation/Developmental Editing for Novel, Memoir, Short Story Collection, Essay Collection (or other book-length work)
  • For this service, I will meet with you for a 30-60 minute Zoom call to discuss your manuscript, your goals for the evaluation, and your literary style and influences.
  • I will then read your fiction or nonfiction manuscript and offer my feedback via a written letter of between 7-15 pages on strengths and areas for improvement, as well as commenting directly on the manuscript. I will focus on elements such as structure, pacing, language, characterization, themes, stakes, voice, plot, and others.
  • Then, we will discuss it over a 1-hour Zoom call, where you can ask any remaining questions.

Line/Stylistic Edit
  • For this service, I will do an extensive line-edit of your manuscript.
  • You send me your manuscript and I will line edit it comprehensively.
  • I will edit on a line-by-line level to ensure clarity, coherence, and flow throughout the manuscript. This includes eliminating jargon, clichés, and euphemisms, altering sentence structure and length, and maintaining the authorial voice throughout.
  • This is not a developmental edit/manuscript consultation. This is solely for manuscripts that are completed and only require line edits to improve readability, sentence structure, clarity, and flow.

Copyedit
  • For this service, I will do an extensive copyedit of your manuscript that is ready for a final polish.
  • This is solely for manuscripts that are fully completed and do not require major developmental editing or line edits. This is not a developmental edit or a line edit.
  • You send me your manuscript and I will return it copyedited in accordance to the necessary style guides for where you are publishing.
  • I will provide a Style Sheet for your use or for you to pass on to a proofreader.
  • I will edit grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage, maintain consistency and continuity throughout the manuscript, perform fact checking, and ensure the manuscript is correct, accurate, consistent, and complete

Proofreading
  • For this service, I will proofread the final format of your manuscript.
  • I will correct mechanical errors, check for adherence to design, and ensure consistency and accuracy of elements on proofs (such as cross-references, running heads, captions, web page heading tags, hyperlinks, and metadata).

Authenticity Read
  • For this service, I will read your manuscript, provide comments on it directly, and provide a feedback letter.
  • I am available to read for the following topics:
    • trans masculine and nonbinary lived experiences
    • queer/pansexual/bisexual lived experiences
    • disabled and neurodivergent lived experiences, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and sensory processing disorder (SPD)
  • Please contact me directly to see if my scope of authenticity reading would be a fit with your manuscript.