Mad Mule Media

The first step I take with any student is to understand their objective with their writing. Is it to complete a class assignment or to polish a personal essay so that it's publishable. Next is to talk through the student's basic outline, and, in the process, flush out the concept and capture that on paper. Lastly, I provide some general writing tips and then edited the student's first draft in real time with the student so he can see how their writing can be improved.

I have a degree from Arizona State University in Journalism, and have worked as a professional writer/editor for more than 20 years. I was editor of Arizona Business Magazine and Business Edge magazine, and my freelance work has appeared in: The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Rocky Mountain News and The Arizona Republic. 

Teaching started by chance. I began editing pieces for a few friends, which led to me doing that for other people. In time, I edited and ghostwrote about a dozen books and countless articles and personal essays. I learned that I'd rather help a nascent writer earlier in the process rather than working very hard to edited it after it's been completed.

I have worked with students as young as freshmen in high school to older writers who wanted to improve their writing. I have worked with writers for whom every word was a struggle and with solid writers wanting to raise the level of their work.

Look for a teacher who improves your writing without you losing your unique voice.