My editing background consists of providing ideas on academic and creative projects. I serve on peer review teams to edit research papers, lesson plans, and other academic writing assignments. Ventures outside academia afford me opportunities to establish open communication with authors at every editing juncture prior to publication of their creative endeavors. I consult recently published style manuals and attend webinars to stay current with writing trends.
At present, I’m a contributing editor in publication of fiction, creative non-fiction, text-based video games, lesson plans, and storytelling podcasts. My ongoing non-fiction editing project is a collaboration with the Director of Marketing and Communications at Christian City, a non-profit organization, to publish Stories of Impact for their website. Narratives are recounted by people affiliated with Christian City’s mission with my involvement at the developmental editing, line editing, and copyediting phases of each one. Twenty stories (https://christiancity.org/stories-of-impact/) have been published since October 2018. My short-term goals are to (1) continue my collaboration with Christian City’s Marketing and Communications Director on Stories of Impact and (2) partner with authors of fiction to edit their pieces. My long-term goal is to secure an assignment as editor for a magazine or other literary publication.
I’ve contributed editing advice to writers of four works (displayed below) at different stages of completion and diverse genres from August thru October 2020.
**********
The client: Author Sherrie Morgan partnered with me to edit a text-based video game and provided a transcript of the main narrative.
How I helped: I furnished copyediting assistance for Sherrie’s game. I gave advice on word choices to circumvent repetition. I offered guidance to reduce ambiguous pronoun use so that narrator’s voice is distinguished from player’s voice. I suggested minor changes to sentence structure for better flow and made notations for consistent use of present and past tenses. My editing support will help Sherrie enhance her game to heighten player engagement.
The experience: Editing A Ring of Truth afforded an occasion for me to review the appealing visuals and engage in game play. I’m no gamer but enjoyed trying to complete the path without “GAME OVER” being displayed.
**********
The client: Haley Hamilton collaborated with me on editing her interactive lesson plan for elementary school language arts to help students explore elements of a narrative in a new fun way. Students are prompted to choose different key plot points to convert the traditional story of The Three Little Pigs into their own version.
THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS
Lesson Plan for Elementary School, Language Arts
How I helped: I provided line editing advice for Haley’s lesson plan that consisted of capitalizing “The” in title of The Untold Story of The Three Little Pigs and a change in sentence structure for one line in the lesson plan. My help will prompt Haley to check for uniformity in story titles within her plan.
The experience: Editing Haley’s work permitted me to think outside the box as I reviewed character trait and plot diagrams. I was entertained while editing as I proceeded to convert the original story to my own version.
**********
The client: Rebecca Graham and I collaborated on her interactive gardening piece at the developmental stage. It features behind-the-scenes descriptions of processes and effects of nature on plants. Interactive content involves viewers having the ability to click on various plants and learn about different parts of a garden. Rebecca’s goal is to inform audience on sustainability and incorporating nature’s processes into their own gardening.
How I helped: My developmental editing consisted of in-depth phone discussion on compiling her piece. I recommended she alter the slide following her title slide to reference main content of behind-the-scenes processes of nature on plant development and make the interactive content reference secondary. The change would enhance what appears in the slideshow by adding content that fully reflects her purpose.
The experience: Discussions with Rebecca proved informative on the effects of nature’s processes on gardening.
**********
The client: Felecia Glover partnered with me to edit her concept for a storytelling podcast. It is a network writing piece where she reads stories and uses voice-memos. Stories will be submitted to her virtually, and she will read some of her own. Felecia will create a public Google survey to link the anonymously submitted stories. This permits writers to release their stories to the world without attaching their identity. It is her vision to feature stories that relate simple happy unforgettable moments or ones where the person needs acceptance and healing. She is inspired to provide a space for people to see their stories from another perspective. Felecia will upload content weekly or as she receives submittals and will read the pieces herself. She may feature guest readers in some of her future podcasts.
How I helped: I contributed conceptual editing and discussed content for Felecia’s first podcast. I advised her to tell one of her own stories for the initial one to get the project up and running. She agreed and noted it would also display her transparency. When Felecia brainstormed host publishing platforms, I shared my knowledge and experience with one that is easy to navigate for the beginner. When she indicated she is accustomed to using Facebook but wants to broaden her social media presence, I pointed out that some content creators go live on Facebook and YouTube simultaneously.
The experience: My involvement at the inception of Felecia’s storytelling podcast renewed my interest in telling stories to share unforgettable moments.
**********
