Editor

Cena | Blog

STORYTELLING | CREATIVE NONFICTION | PERSONAL NARRATIVE | DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING | PROOFREADING

Introducing the Problem

Client reached out to request editing (and writing) services for a narrative essay blog.

Challenges

  • No clearly defined brief.

  • Ask was more than editing for typos.

Goals

  • Develop short piece of creative nonfiction that resonates with Grlsquash audience.

  • Strengthen narrative voice and point of view with client.

  • Get client’s story published on Grlsquash.com.

Blog Copy

Image credit: Delaney Brown

Final version submitted

How do you make a reader feel something more abstract, like nostalgia and yearning?

You provide as many sensory details as possible to create a concrete feeling that a reader can touch or hear.

One of my favorite things about writing is worldbuilding and setting the mood/tone.

When detailing a scene from memory, which can create distance if not done effectively, sensory details like a regional bird call can ground a scene.

My goal was to cast a golden hour light on a childhood memory that my client hopes to reclaim for herself.

Process as editor and writing mentor

Results

  • Cena was published as a blog on Grlsquash.com in May 2020.

  • Credited as an editor.

  • Client asked me to develop and edit her self-published cookbook.

Solution

  • Researched by reading short stories by Latinx writers, including Sandra Cisneros and Junot Diaz.

  • Developed voice, tone and style with client.

  • Repurposed client’s first draft notes as outline to map out themes.

  • Consulted with client. Interviewed to capture setting, mood and visceral moments. Gave client journal prompts, asking her to go back in time, jot down specific memories, and include any/all sensory details.

  • Advised client to include Spanish terms of endearment.

  • As initial editor, made intentional decision not to italicize Spanish words, so reader could exist in her shoes.

  • Conducted three revisions and proofed the final draft.

Learnings

  • Even as an editor, you’re almost never the final pair of eyes.

  • Differentiate between editing services and charge accordingly.

  • Archive website URLs.