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Jill Dearman: Author. Teacher. Editor.

EDITING

A manuscript is like a fine piece of music. Pitch and tone are essential, as well as the overall impact of the composition. Individual notes are key and must be attended to. A sensitive ear, experience and skill, and a love of the craft are the key elements that YOU should be seeking in an editor.

In working on a manuscript I try to take care to read for tone and note what is most compelling in the parts and the whole of the work, as well as what leaves me cold. I try to be your ideal reader, the one who really “gets” you and expects and desires your best story, and your strongest storytelling skills.

Whether writing up an in-depth analysis of your work, doing a thorough line edit, or both, I treat your work like a child, whom I have been honored with the gift of Godmothering. Like you, my focus will be on removing the obstacles from your child’s life, and helping that child to grow and thrive in the real world, in keeping with his or her true nature. You are not a generic scribe, your project not just any old piece of work, and I am not a hack editor. Individuality is key, for without that spark of humanness, of uniqueness, how can we expect your work to strike a universal chord in the outer world?

Contact me to learn more about how we might work together.

INDIVIDUAL COACHING & WORKSHOPS

I began coaching writers in 2003 while banging the keys at The Writers Room in New York City, an Urban Writers Colony. At that time fellow writers, from famous screenwriters, to authors of fiction and nonfiction, to new and struggling scribes approached me with the same desires and fears. Pretty much all writers, I soon discovered, habitually swing on the emotional pendulum between massive grandiosity and paralyzing insecurity. And there was no deep, dark fear nor any megalomaniacal daydream I couldn’t relate to myself! I had previously worked for years as a counselor at the NYC AIDS Hotline as well as the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard. Soon I found myself filling a great need: as a literary mentor, bossy time-management coach, and compassionate friend to all sorts of writers.   Over the years I have coached individuals, led a variety of workshops, spoken at writing conferences, and offered trainings to businesses. I feel privileged to be the confidante and ally of so many fellow writers.

 

Watch the Bang the Keys book trailer below for a sense of what my book for writers offers, how I work as a coach, and how my writing workshops flow.

I work on fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and scripts, etc.. Here’s a selection of books I’ve worked on as an editor and/or writing coach.

Photo of Jill with trees copyright Anja Hitzenberger