Introducing HELP EVERLASTING
Short sessions on Finding Your Voice.
HELP EVERLASTING is a different kind of service for writers. While there may be editing—yes, there probably will be some editing—they aren’t teaching sessions. It’s all about you finding your voice and getting comfortable with it. These private sessions will encompass the very things we talk about here at Writer Everlasting but personalized just for you. In just a short time we’ll get to the essence of your essay and figure out how to make it sing.
Here are the guidelines:
The pieces I’ll help you work on need to be CREATIVE NONFICTION pieces: memoir, story, thought pieces, humor. I want to see work that comes straight from your experiences and from your heart. (See my piece on Creative Nonfiction to give you an idea of what I mean.)
I’ll be looking at style as much as substance, since this is about creative writing, but I’ll also look at whether or not you’re giving your readers what they came for. Did you repeat the same thoughts in more than one place? Is your story tight enough and clear enough? Does it say what you wanted it to say? If you started off on one track, did you bring it full circle to the end? How can you leave your readers satisfied?
Your submission must be in essay form, single-spaced, 2000 words maximum, sent to my email address below in any form that allows me to edit on the page. Google Docs or Word, for example.
See rate sheet below. You’ll be paying for advice on a single submitted piece. I’ll send it back to you in a few days with my notes. Then you can send it back with questions or revisions and I’ll answer back as fully as I need to. I’ll be generous with my time, but that will be the extent of our session.
I’ll tell you what I think you’ll need to hear. If you’ve followed me long enough you should know what to expect. I’ll be as kind as possible, but you’ll have no doubt about what I mean if I tell you something you dearly love and have worked on forever needs some fixing—major or otherwise.
Don’t send me something for which you only want praise. That’s not the point and it’s not what you’ll be paying me to do.
I reserve the right to turn a project down if I don’t feel I can help. I don’t want to waste your time or mine. But don’t look on it as a rejection of your work. Please! No! I expect it will be rare, but if it happens I’ll give you a reason.
Paid members get bigger discounts but everybody can take advantage. I’m testing this out, so give it a try. I have the background and the knowledge, and it’ll be friendly and fun. I promise!
About the Fees:
To make it as simple as possible, the fees are flat, based on length.
Up to 1000 words - $100 for paid members, $150 for non-paid.
Extra words 1001 to 2000 (Max) - $75 for paid members, $100 for non-paid.
Founding Members: Free
(Payments through PayPal. Sorry, only US accounts for now.)
Read this now:
This will tell you how I see myself—and us. The trick is in finding your voice. That’s what we’ll be working on, even in such a short time.
Chutzpah Gets You in the Door But Skill Finds You a Seat.
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Mar 4
“Chutzpah gets you in the door but skill finds you a seat.” I came up with that quote so many years ago I don’t remember what prompted it, but I remember it now because for years I stuck a printed version to the bulletin board above my desk. I didn’t have chutzpah, though I wished I did, but ‘skill finds you a seat’ became …
So that’s it then.
What you’ll get is a private one-on-one concentrating on you as much as your words. Fear is almost always the culprit. It keeps you in a box where safety wants to lock you in. Exploration feels dangerous. Cliches are easy, passive phrases feel like tiptoeing, stiff archaic words are all that come to mind. What you need is a nudge. I’ll only take on work where I think I can help, so if I say yes to your manuscript it’s because I know we can fix this together.
Send your manuscripts, along with any requests, ideas, and questions to: ramonagriggwriter@gmail.com. Please use ‘Editing services’ in your email title so I can find them. Include the accurate word count at the top of your manuscript.
Let’s get started!
CLIENT RECOMMENDATION:
“I can’t thank Ramona enough for reviewing a chapter of my memoir through Help Everlasting. Not only was she responsive and fast with her feedback, the feedback itself was constructive, encouraging and delivered kindly. It’s helped me make decisions regarding my memoir and given me a path forward for the next draft. She also provided additional advice regarding publishing and pointed me to specific resources to help refine my writing and its structure – both of which went above and beyond what I would have expected from a manuscript review.
I would highly recommend engaging Ramona to review your creative non-fiction pieces. I have no doubt you will find her advice and writing expertise highly valuable!” M. Hutchinson
A wonderful benefit all creative writers should welcome.