Editorial Services
My Editorial Services Will Nourish Your Writerly NeedsBy writerly needs I’m referring to a person’s relationship with language, our ability to communicate ideas, and the wide variety of reasons we find ourselves writing. Needing to write. Wanting to write.
Editorial Services
Giving and receiving written feedback is how I’ve grown over the past decade as a writer, so my stance on providing editorial services is to utilize written feedback by approaching your work on its own terms—to bring out what your work is trying to become, rather than forcing my proclivities onto your work.
For five years at the University of Cincinnati, where I earned a PhD in Creative Writing and Comparative literature, I taught a variety of creative writing and academic writing courses, and for the last eight years have worked as an editor, mostly with literary forms and mostly with literary magazines, including The Nervous Breakdown, Cincinnati Review, and Tahoma Literary Review, where I currently serve as associate fiction editor. I am, of course, a writer myself, and rely on editors for everything I publish—that’s because every writer, no matter their level of experience, encounters problems in their work they can’t fix on their own. Every writer needs an editor.
My editorial notes will teach you not only how to revise your project, but will also teach you self-editing techniques you can apply to subsequent projects: writerly nourishment.
I will, in other words, teach you to fish.
The self-editing techniques I teach include:
- Developing effective structure, point of view, voice, or, in the case of academic work: a thesis statement and angle of vision.
- How to develop, implement, and maintain an appropriate narrative strategy.
- How to focus your writing by revising backward from the ending.
- Employing persuasive and influence techniques to sell a product, convince an employer to hire you, or to keep readers hooked on your creative prose.
- Ways to gain comfort with grammar and mechanics.
Whether you’re writing fiction, creative nonfiction, or are completing an academic project, the versatility of my skills permit me to work with many forms.
Here are the most common forms I edit for students and clients:
Fiction
Flash Fiction, Short Stories, Novels, Screenplays
Creative Nonfiction
Flash Nonfiction, Literary Essays, Memoir
Academic
Research Papers, Theses, Dissertations
“Bernard is an insightful and generous reader. They provide the kind of feedback that inspires better writing, and their edits have improved more than one of my stories.”
Purpose
My favorite aspect of teaching is providing written feedback on student writing assignments, a form of instruction that utilizes the same techniques I use as an editor. During classroom instruction, I can discuss and illustrate revision techniques—such as how to use an ending to revise backwards, how to write and sustain a thesis statement, and how to balance craft techniques of character, plot, and setting—but face-to-face classroom instruction, though critical to education, doesn’t allow me to connect to writers as well as giving written feedback, which I provide in the form of margin comments, line edits, and editorial letters, via Microsoft Word’s Track Changes feature.
Individual conferencing is another form of teaching that is beneficial to student writers. This is why, for each service, I offer a one-hour video or phone conference to the discuss your work and to address any questions or concerns you may have.
“Bernard edits with you in mind. In their feedback, they balance careful attention to form with a sure grasp of your vision for the project. After working with them, you’ll have a clearer sense of what to do to achieve that vision.”
How to work with me
Get in touch
To find out more about working with me please contact me here using the form provided and tell me more about what you are looking for.
I look forward to hearing from you, and I hope you’re safe and well.
Yours,
Bernard
Virtual Consultation
I offer an optional one hour virtual consultation with each service I provide to discuss your work. We can add more time if you need.
$50 for 30 minutes
Accommodations for Financial Hardships
Times are hard for everyone, even if you’re wealthy, but most people aren’t wealthy, so I’m always happy to make payment arrangements.
Feel free to contact me by email: bernardgrnt@gmail.com.
“Having worked with them in both capacities, I am impressed with Bernard as a writer and as an editor. Their prose has a unique sense of style, strong narrative, and insistent voice, and their editorial eye is keenly focused on helping others showcase craft and storytelling in their work. You’ll enjoy working with them!”