Elevating Writers’ Voices, One Word at a Time
Birchwood Editing
I work with both academic and creative writers at every stage of the writing process: idea development, line editing, copy editing, and proofreading. I also can guide authors through the process of getting their work published, whether it’s an academic journal article, a monograph, a short story, or a novel. I hold a Ph.D. in English and taught college literature, film, and writing courses for over ten years before moving into writing and editing. I am currently Managing Editor of Early American Studies and an Assistant Editor (Fiction) for Conjunctions Magazine, so I have unique insight into the publication process for both scholars and creatives. To learn more about my own experiences with publishing academic writing and fiction, click here.
-
Developmental editing addresses "big picture" issues. Do you need help organizing your academic monograph or dissertation? Developing your main argument? Or perhaps you're working on a novel and need help with characterization, world-building, and themes? A developmental edit is the best place to start.
-
Line editing involves making sure your manuscript is sound and readable at the sentence level. Whether you're an academic or creative writer, at some point you'll need to turn to such issues as repetition, phrasing, consistency, etc.
-
Copyediting generally occurs between line editing and proofreading. Here, we'll make sure that your manuscript is polished in terms of grammar, syntax, punctuation, and spelling.
-
Proofreading is the final stage of editing. This is where we will look for minor errors and make sure your manuscript is properly formatted.
-
You have a polished manuscript ready to go, but what do you do next? At this stage, I can help academics write book proposals or submit their articles to journals. I can guide creative writers through a different process: creating a query package for agents (novels and memoirs) or submitting to magazines (short fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction).
“Meg has a sharp and discerning editorial eye, from the global, structural level of argument and idea to the fine-grained level of individual sentences. She is at once rigorous and affirmative, and always upbeat; her feedback has been a boon to my writing!”
“Meg consistently delivers solid feedback on my novels in development. Her caring and direct notes on story and character help me make decisions in reshaping my books for clarity and impact. She has a real eye for finding the core of a project and encouraging me to bring it to the fore.”
Testimonials
-
Meg is a close and attentive reader. She’s also an intuitive editor: the suggestions she made for my work made it so much better. Plus she was a pleasure to work with — upbeat, encouraging, and genuinely interested in making my writing better.
Sarah Chinn, author of Disability, the Body, and Radical Intellectuals in the Literature of the Civil War and Reconstruction (Cambridge University Press)
-
In my journey as a PhD student, Meg has provided me with invaluable feedback on a variety of my work—including journal articles, conference proposals, and dissertation chapters. Meg is a constructive and compassionate editor with a savvy command of academic trends and the peer review process. I cannot imagine what my writing would be like without Meg’s guidance.
Teresa Ramoni, Ph.D. Candidate (English, Rutgers University)
-
Meg has commented on my writing for years, and I have always found her input to be astute, constructive, insightful, and supportive. She is a wonderful person to have as a reader and collaborator in the development of one's writing!
Hildegard Hoeller, author of From Gift to Commodity: Capitalism and Sacrifice in Nineteenth-Century American Fiction (University of New Hampshire Press)
-
Meg is an astute reader who can give very useful feedback on a wide variety of writing styles and genres. Her structural / thematic critiques have helped me greatly improve a number of my pieces.
Tyler Plofker, Short Fiction Writer
-
Meg helped give my words life that lifted them off the page. My writing is much better because of her gentle guidance.
Judith Sedaitis, Memoir Writer
-
I credit Meg’s guidance for allowing my writing to reach its full potential. Meg provides transformative feedback and suggestions—always with the goal of making your writing better. You will not find a better person to work with!
Angela Ramoni, M.A. Candidate (Library & Information Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville)
-
Meg has a great ear for shaping up weak areas of an argument and a zero tolerance policy for errors and obfuscation. She lets me know about all my weaknesses with a light touch that makes it easy to improve writing she reads, and she’s incredibly reliable. One of my most trusted readers!
Sophie Bell, author of Mapping Racial Literacies: College Students Write about Race and Segregation (Utah State University Press)
About Birchwood Editing
“Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust—
Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away
You’d think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.”
Most writers have had the experience of staring at a blank page and feeling stuck or finishing a piece and dreading revisions. The name of my service, “Birchwood Editing,” reflects my philosophy toward the processes of both drafting and revising. As with birch trees—which cyclically shed their bark in order to grow and become healthier—writing involves taking a piece through cycles of change. I’m here to help guide you through those cycles so that the process feels less lonely and more generative and rewarding.