As an editor, it is my job to make your writing better, not to take away your style. Editing may mean highlighting places where the piece doesn’t flow or is redundant. It also means letting you know where things are working well. Editing for Content addresses the big picture and intention of your writing. Copy editing polishes the writing and catches the grammatical and spelling errors as well as the words that spell-check misses. Proof reading is the nitty-gritty, line-by-line searching for typos and attending to the details that make a document look professional.
When do you need an editor?
By the time you have written and rewritten a major piece of work, you are familiar with every line. But you may have lost the thread of your story because you assume the reader knows your intention. Your reader doesn’t have the background to fill in the blanks. Our brains try to make words and phrases look right, even when they are wrong on the page. You are likely to have read it so many times that you no longer see the small errors.
At the point where you think you are almost done with your project (manuscript, report, proposal, poem, etc.) you need a fresh set of eyes on your work. That’s where I come in. I can help your writing flow and reflect your unique voice. By working together — with respect for your effort and a gentle touch — I will help make your writing better.
Lorrie is the best at giving gentle critiques, not too harsh and always professional. She interspersed positive comments in her editing which were appreciated. Our set deadline was met and she kept me on track.
It’s in the small things and the polish that she added to each poem that elevated my material into a higher category. Her suggestions were gratefully accepted. I highly recommend her to anyone looking for an editor. Her varied background makes her qualified to tackle the most difficult project.
Belle Schmidt
Fort Collins, CO
I gratefully appreciate the efforts of Ms. Wolfe to improve the quality of my writing. Several of my stories were subsequently published online at The Preservation Foundation. She was able to help me express my thought succinctly without losing the meaning or message. In addition, Ms. Wolfe caught punctuation errors which might have distracted the reader had they not been corrected. Finally, she was very encouraging and urged me to continue writing memoirs as a way of recording my family’s history.
Eileen Fisher
Brooklyn, New York