EDITING & MENTORSHIP
“Editing is intelligent and sympathetic reaction to the text and to what the author is trying to accomplish. Basically, it’s expressing your reaction. And that works if the writer really understands that you’re in sympathy with what he or she is doing. When you try to change something into something that it isn’t, rather than make it better at what it is, tragedy lurks.”
I now offer professional developmental editing and writing mentorship.
If you are interested in learning more about either of these, please reach out to me via email at jen@jenniferrockwell.com.
Testimonials
DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING
Jennifer offers the perfect blend of praise and criticism, encouragement and challenge. She can look at my manuscript and unerringly pinpoint what’s working, what isn’t, and why. She made one simple observation about my current project that ripped the lid off a problem I had been pointedly ignoring for six drafts. As a result, my protagonist is deeper, more complex, and more heartbreaking.
Jennifer believes in helping people realize the book they want to write, rather than the book she thinks they should write. This is a rare gift in teachers and editors. Rather than telling me how to fix my writing, she offers observations that lead me to discover the answer for myself. This not only fosters ownership of my own work but builds confidence and offers insights I can take on to my next project.
Jennifer’s keen intelligence is matched only by her enthusiasm. She clearly loves what she does, and that enthusiasm is contagious, leaving me eager to dive into the next draft. She is also the biggest-hearted person I have ever met. I can’t imagine a writing life without Jennifer in it.
— Lisa Reardon, Author of The Mercy Killers, Blameless, & Billy Dead
MENTORSHIP
Jen is an editor extraordinaire. She brings the virtues of a meticulous reader, listener, writer, and friend, helping you shape and realize your distinct literary vision. She asks probing questions that spark more acute thinking about what it is you are truly after in a given passage. She is encouraging and inspiring when needed but cool and dispassionate when that serves you better. No language can fully express my gratitude for Jen’s role in my development as a writer. I can only hope others take note and seize the opportunity to work with an editor of such rare generosity, insight, and skill.
— Sarah R., Harvard University graduate