Like so many projects that we choose to begin, writing, too, is a process. Once the work is completed to your satisfaction, and you admit that it may still benefit from a second opinion, you have taken an important step in that process - trusting an outsider with your creation. Inviting someone to read your work to suggest a change of any kind can be unsettling. Accepting a change and agreeing that your work is improved by that change, is the second step in the writing process - the editing process.
Like the physician, the editor approaches the work adhering to the adage “first do no harm.” An editor reads the piece in its entirety before removing a single comma or word and understands precisely what the writer is communicating. The purpose of the writer’s work is the most important part. The editor ensures that the writer’s purpose is clearly presented to the reader - the language, vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and tone all adequately and correctly convey the writer’s purpose. If the true purpose is compromised by a word or by punctuation or could be misconstrued by a reader, the editor cites separately, that part of the writing that conflicts with the true purpose. The editor will then propose an alternate to what the writer has included in the piece.
The services offered here are supported by decades-long, practiced writing experience and by the fundamental Components of Writing - Structure, language, vocabulary, grammar, tone, spelling and punctuation. In this site’s Components of Writing section, each component is broadly defined to provide an understanding of how extremely important proper usage is to a written piece. If you’d like to learn how we would work together to review your work and if necessary, how to improve it, please contact me at johnsiclare@gmail.com.