How would you like to improve your grammar and writing skills?
Um, that sounds too much like a sales pitch.
But if you find yourself in need of a copyeditor more often than you like, I can help. I don't have to make the needed changes and send you on your way, still ignorant of why you needed me to begin with.
Instead, I can demonstrate through comments and examples why I make what changes I do, so you can learn it for your own use.
Most people can't learn grammar because they don't understand what they're doing with it.
When I teach you, you learn exactly what you're doing because I take what you've written and teach you how to apply grammar to your own writing. You understand what's happening because you know precisely what you intended to say; I adjust your grammar so it says that properly. I thoroughly explain what I've done and why.
Different people are at different places in their writing. Some people are weak in grammar. I'm not. Don't rely on editors willing to fix it for you! Let me take a sample of your writing and fix the grammar, with explanations of what I've done, for you to learn what you need to do.
Or is your fiction or dialogue weak? Flat? I don't pretend to be Lewis or Rowling, but I have helped a number of people to improve their writing. (I don't mean just friends, either.)
As I'm sure you've guessed, I charge for these services. How do I know they work so well, if I don't have any testimonials to share with you?
First, it can be a bit hard to get testimonials when you're a minor, as I was when I was developing this method.
Second, I have many friends who write, including one older one who came to me a few years ago for help on her senior project. (It was a screenplay; she needed dialogue help in particular.)
Third, the younger folks I've helped have shown noteable improvement with their English grades at school.
Not everyone's at the same level of writing or grammatical ability, though, so I'm not going to make someone who just needs a little help pay the same of someone who's going to need a lot of it. I charge based on how much help I can give you.
Some of these fees may sound like a lot. Think of me as a heavy copyeditor and English tutor rolled into one—I'm offering the services of both. I'm not out to fleece you; my prices are conscientiously on the low end for both jobs, since I want to be accessible.
I know, it sounds too good to be true, right? This kid'll rip you off by quoting the highest possible price…
Do you have any idea how mentally exhausting it is to do a line-by-line educational edit? Obviously not, or you wouldn't think me so eager to do them.
The less help you need, the more brain juice I have left for other work. And for studying web coding, Spanish and Portuguese—oh, and I didn't mention drawing or that purse I'm crocheting yet, did I?
Seriously, I'm not out to drain you of gas money. I hate those transparent glib lies people tell online just so people will buy your services. I also dislike all those "special offers" they use to try to convince you their whatever is worth forking over "just" $100 for.
And all those positive comments. Yeah, I'm sure that's all they've gotten. Just one negative would be nice, for comparison.
Actually, I'm sure that 95% of you who might want some writing help aren't going to need my highest packages.
Perhaps you're just curious about how I'd gauge your style. That's okay. According to the process below, contact me to start the route to a price quote. You can refuse all you like. That's your prerogative. (And I hate sales pitches that act like it isn't.)
Misti
My Feedback:
Positive Feedback
Your comments will go here. Last year, I had a friend ask me for help on a script for a few-minute film that was for her senior project. She was amazed at all I taught her in the short meeting we had—despite her classes in screenwriting that I lacked. But that's a friend. It ain't you.
Negative Feedback
And your comments will go here, as well. I have received a few comments like, "Your Spanish needs work! You shouldn't be so harsh on [a certain story]." (That story was in English; if anyone can figure out the correlation in her comment, please let me know what it is. I'm not kidding.)
I've also been accused of being a perfectionist (because of how I harp over proper grammar, I think). Don't believe me that I'll put negative feedback here? Try me.
How It Works:
- You save a 500-word sample of something you've written, preferably something that can stand alone, as an RTF file. (That's "Rich Text Format".)
- With "Query" in the subject line, e-mail misti_at_mistiwolanski_dot_com, making the obvious replacements.
- I e-mail you back with what your sample would need.
- You accept or decline my offer, or you request another service.
- If you decline, I file your request, and it ends there. (If you request file deletion, I will do so immediately.) If you accept a service, we continue.
- I perform the service you've agreed to and invoice you via PayPal. (Note that my charge will never be higher than the price I quoted to you! If it changes, it'll be downwards.)
- We trade the payment and educational edit.
- You read what I've done, use what you've learned in the next thing you write, and astound others with your improvement!
- If you want to, you send me positive or negative feedback (with "Comment" in the subject) for me to post here.
Fee Scale
per sample of 450-550 words.
Grammar Rookie - $80
Grammar skills are virtually nonexistent. You might know the rules, but you're absolutely clueless on how to apply them. Semi-colons? Dashes? What're they? This would qualify as a heavy copyediting and tutoring session.
Grammar Intermediary I - $60
Grammar skills are a bit better. You can write a sentence, and you know a semi-colon's supposed to go in a run-on sentence. How to find a run-on sentence might be a bit beyond you, or why specifically a certain wrong-seeming sentence isn't quite correct. It's a heavy copyedit, but a medium tutoring session.
Grammar Intermediary II - $40
Grammar skills are okay. You can recognize fragments and run-ons or dependent and independent clauses, even if you can't name them. Commonly-used grammar you mostly have down pat, but the lesser-used or lesser-explained rules confuse you. It's a medium copyediting and tutoring session.
Grammar Student - $20
Grammar skills are (mostly) flawless when you can be bothered to edit. You just need a few details straightened out or explained. This copyediting and tutoring session is light.
Grammarian - Nothing
Grammar skills aren't just flawless, but they're creative. You know and tweak the rules. Simon & Schuster's Handbook for Writers describes modern grammar, and it's a reference for several of the different academic formats. In case you want something to read over vacation.
Writing Rookie - $70
Writing skills are… That you're a rookie is obvious. Extremely obvious. So obvious that you could probably head over to FF.net and learn a thing or two from many writers there—no, on second thought, you probably do write on FF.net*. You have absolutely no idea of how to improve your writing and ideas behind the writing. (Becoming somewhat skilled at chess would help you, though.)
*No offense intended to fanfiction.net—I even write there, sometimes—but most people there are either unwilling to hear or unable to find good critique, so their writing skills are poor.
Writing Intermediary I - $50
Writing skills are neither good nor bad, but they're beginner. Your ideas may be excellent, but your expression is… lacking. You can tell this. You could write if you only knew how to arrange your material.
Writing Intermediary II - $30
Writing skills are okay. You're on the way to producing publishable material. You can come up with ideas and write them down. You can maybe even arrange scenes well, or specific types, but you still have rather large problems in certain areas. Maybe you've realized that your friends confuse all your characters, or you can't stop making your different characters sound like you.
Writer - $15
Writing skills are probably at publishable level, but there are still some notable things I can critique. It's mainly details, though. If an editor liked your story enough, he might take care of it. I suggest you note the "if" and "might."
(Wannabe) Author - Nothing
Writing skills are all at the same (or better) level as mine, as far as I can tell. I have nothing to say that would be of help to you that isn't just a difference in writing style. Scat and finish your novel.