Working with Writers
After teaching fiction for many years in the Bennington Writing Seminars and elsewhere, I now work one-on-one with writers who would like someone else's eyes on their novel, memoir, essay or story. I can't consider ideas that aren't yet written down at all, but I'm open to thinking about what a writer might do who has started a book but is now stuck.
If you're interested, I may ask to see a few pages of your work, just to make sure I can be useful to you. Then, once we agree on a plan, I'll read your manuscript and write you a letter about it, making suggestions about style, structure, whether the story has sustained forward momentum (and how to find some if not), plus anything else that comes to mind. I won't line edit all through, but I may mark up a couple of pages to point out a recurring issue, then let you find other examples, or copy a paragraph of your manuscript into my letter to give you an example of what I'm talking about. After you've had a chance to read my letter and think about it, we'll meet by phone or (geography permitting) in person. We can talk as long as you like.
For more information about what I do and how much I charge (on the low side, I'm told), send me a note about what you're writing, how far along you are, and what kind of help you think you need. Since nobody I work with seems to know just when they'll be ready to send me a manuscript, and since I'm also doing my own work, it's possible that I'll be too busy just when you're ready, but I'm sure we can figure out a schedule that suits us both.