Coaching & Editorial Consulting

Is there a particular part of a chapter or some newly drafted material that you’d like my eyes on? Or a thorny idea you are trying to work out in writing? In this consultation, I read and lightly edit 2500 words of text (about 5 single-spaced pages) before our call. We can discuss both micro-level details in that text and larger aspects of your argument related to that text that you are working on figuring out. Time permitting, we can also discuss other aspects of your writing project that you wish to talk through with me.

Have you been told that a key concept in your work is underdeveloped or confusing, or do you yourself feel like there is some important nuance that you are struggling to articulate? Are you having difficulty elucidating the precise relationship between two or three interrelated concepts? Is there a term you’ve coined or adopted for a core concept that doesn’t feel quite right? Are you having trouble figuring out what the role of a concept is in your larger argument, but also having trouble letting it go?

I’ll have you fill out a questionnaire to briefly describe your conceptual struggle(s) and list any key terms that regularly appear in your manuscript’s discussions about the concept (or concepts) in question. Before our call, I’ll do a search in your full draft for those terms to trace the ways that the concepts play out in your manuscript. During our session, I’ll ask probing questions to help you clarify for yourself what you are trying to say and how the ideas in question are important to your larger project.

Then we can do some collaborative brainstorming about ways to frame or communicate the concepts more effectively or clarify their role in your work.

Your full table of contents (section headings included) offers a window into your book’s architecture. I’ll review your full table of contents (and the word counts for your chapters and sections) before the call, also looking briefly at the manuscript itself.

During the call, you might walk me through the progression of ideas that your section headings and chapter titles reflect, so that we can discuss whether that progression is serving your book or whether adjustments might be helpful. I’ll also ask you questions about sections or chapters that are particularly short or long and about headings or titles that feel cryptic without additional context.

By examining your table of contents and section-level word counts, I can often diagnose potential structural issues and offer broad-strokes revision suggestions. And by drawing you out about your vision for your larger narrative arc, I can talk with you about whether there are components you might expand, condense, cut, move, or add to support this vision.

If you haven’t yet put intensive thought into your book’s narrative arc and the role of each chapter within the larger book, then you might start with my summer workshop or the Early-Stage Book Proposal Consultation.

The hour-long call will allow for a relatively broad, “birds-eye-view” discussion of your chapters and sub-arguments. If you’d like to discuss multiple chapters in some depth, we can talk for longer than an hour (with additional time charged at my hourly rate), or you could opt for multiple sessions of the chapter revision strategy session. And if you need feedback that I’d only be able to provide after reading your chapters, then you might opt for developmental editing.

The nature of this session will differ depending on where you are in the revision process. If your draft is fairly developed but you’re rethinking various aspects of your organization, this session might look like a chapter-or-article version of the “table of contents” audit. After you talk me through the role of each section in the article or chapter as a whole and the problems or limitations you see with the current structure, we can think together about various other possibilities.

If you need to bring together pieces of writing from multiple drafts, I can give you some broad suggestions for navigating common steps in this process. (These steps may include examining your existing drafts; clarifying your argument, sub-arguments, and nesting logic; strategically moving text from the existing drafts to your new draft; identifying any “holes” you need to fill in; and “stitching together” your text in its new sequence.) Because this is a complicated and high-context process, we would probably talk in general terms rather than delving into the details of your draft. And so we could hold this version of the call as a 30-minute mini-session.

If you’re just beginning to contemplate revisions for a dissertation chapter, we can have a conversation about the directions you’re considering and how each version would fit within your larger book. (If needed, I can share my go-to strategies for making sure that each chapter in a book is distinct while still contributing to a larger argument.) This version of the call could also be a mini-session!

Five writing coaching sessions or editorial consultations, to be scheduled within a 12-month period. You can mix and match writing coaching sessions and any of the consultations listed to the right. (If you opt for a version of this package with just editorial consultations, the package will probably include multiple micro-macro sessions.)

My sustainable productivity coaching sessions are rooted in the International Coaching Federation model of practicing deep listening, asking thoughtful questions, and providing a calm and compassionate presence as you engage in focused reflection. I can hold space for you to reflect on your patterns, core priorities, goals, and writing challenges, and I will ask questions to help you map out actionable and achievable next steps. (I completed the foundational course in the ICF-accredited MentorCoach coach training program several years ago.)

I generally try to help you find your own solutions to issues you are navigating. That said, upon request, I can also suggest some strategies or experiments that might be helpful in particular situations!

Each call is held on Zoom and is 45 minutes long.

A hybrid of sustainable productivity coaching and editorial consulting. We can talk about both the writing process and about your writing itself. I will review and lightly edit 2500 words of text (about 5 single-spaced pages) prior to each call. This is similar to the “macro-micro” session described on the right, except that we can also discuss process. (You could even decide on the spot whether you want to just focus on your manuscript and on any conceptual challenges you’re navigating, or whether you also want to talk about process and any emotional or logistical challenges.)

Each call is held on Zoom and is 60 minutes long.

Five writing coaching sessions or editorial consultations, to be scheduled within a 12-month period. You can mix and match writing coaching sessions and any of the consultations listed to the right. (If you opt for a version of this package with just editorial consultations, the package will probably include multiple micro-macro sessions.)