Stone Soup Words
Words are like LEGO bricks for stories.
And if you haven’t noticed, I really love story and the power of story.
There are two main ways that I work with words.
The first, is through personalized developmental editing support for your project.
The second, through my own writing. I’ve been featured in Guideposts, Business Insider, and have a forthcoming article in Wired. My patreon is focused on my creative writing, and Things I’m Loving, my Substack newsletter, is a curated, fun, “mixed bouquet of everyday curiosities and wonders”, as one reader put it.
Developmental Editing Support
Do you have a book you’ve been working on and something’s just not quite right? Maybe you keep cutting and pasting and still can’t decide on the order that’s smartest.
Well, I can help with that.
I’ve edited two Wall Street Journal Bestsellers, been printed in national publications, and worked as a ghostwriter, copy writer, and editor for the better half of my life.
My Writing
Curious about my writing?
I’ve written for people whose names you’d recognize, and my published work has appeared in Business Insider, and Guideposts, among others.
But, I’d like to direct you two places, from here.
First.
Patreon houses my creative writing– from short stories, to poems, to photo prompts, and everything in between.
Second.
Things I’m Loving is a newsletter I write roughly every fortnight. It’s a curated list of everyday wonders and delights that I encounter. Sometimes they’re themed (recently I’ve had several that were Italy-heavy in their content). It’s hosted on substack, and you can read it as a free subscriber, or choose to sign up and support making it available for the public commons.
Client Words.
Crys Woods
I thought I could self-edit my memoir – uhhh, nope! And that all-important project sat on a literal shelf for 4 years (FOUR!) because I didn't feel safe sharing it with someone whose job is to improve it.
Well, Monica is the safest space I know.
She aligns her editing style to my goals – If I'm aiming for a certain tone, length, and language, she keeps me on track. This is important to me because I write sales copy, social media posts, and memoir-style letters, and now my book. No matter what I'm working on, she helps me steer the words where I want them to go.
She builds my confidence – She doesn't stroke my ego, ain't nobody got time for that :-). She details what she likes or doesn't like about a line or a piece, so I can repeat or avoid that turn of phrase or style choice later. I know any piece we're working on is stronger for her having helped, and as I learn from her explanations, my writing gets better and better.
She's been edited by industry professionals – Because she's a writer, too, she knows what kind of feedback is helpful, hurtful, or useful, and she never does that middle one.
She's an all-purpose editor – I mean this in the best way. She can take the sky-high view of a developmental editor, and also the picky perspective of a line edit.
Simply said – She's wonderful. Kind, firm, fair, knowledgeable, and very thoughtful with her communications.
Sabrina Marie Chase, Ph.D.
I'd never encountered a developmental editor before we met, even though I'd written and published an academic book.
Would Monica really be able to help me out of the weeds? Could I afford her? What exactly did a developmental editor bring to the table..?
Monica sent me a sample review of my first chapter, clarifying its problems, making excellent recommendations, and telling me exactly what to do next. She asked clarifying questions that helped me realize where I needed to make changes and what I hadn't included that would transform my manuscript.
Additionally, she created a customizable menu of editing options that allowed me to pick exactly the services I wanted, from reviewing each chapter and making recommendations to creating a complete and detailed outline of the new book. She also added in options for writing accountability and ongoing review---and even included an option for a final editing before I submitted my manuscript.
I was floored. Not only was she insightful, clear, and affordable, she was flexible! Essentially, Monica turned my book project around, and I went from feeling stuck and guilty to experiencing the joy of writing again!
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Sara Mastros
Monica’s help was invaluable! My deadline was looming, and my head was spinning. I knew what I wanted to say; indeed, the book was mostly written, but I was having a lot of trouble deciding how to organize it...Monica’s clear vision and organizational genius were immensely helpful. Not only did she give incisive and keenly targeted advice on how to arrange ideas, she also provided the firm but sympathetic “moral support” I needed to get out of my head and just get on with the work.
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Jacquelyn Tierney
I came to Monica for help with editing my book, but she has offered so much more to my work. Monica brings the gift of strategy (and the ability to corral my many scattered thoughts).
I almost always make the process of creating a new offering or product hard, but Monica reminds me that work gets to be easy; I don’t have to reinvent the wheel, and I don’t have to build everything from scratch. The body of work I already possess is a treasure trove of new content, product and services.
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Rachel Cribby
I love working with Monica. In fact, her name always comes to mind whenever I have an editorial project that needs a talented writer. I have worked with Monica across at least three different mediums — educational articles, blog posts, and web copy — and the quality of her work has been consistent and impressive across them all. It is clear from her work that she puts thought into all of her writing — and she is a talented researcher, too. On the personal side, Monica is friendly, flexible, and communicative. I would recommend her to anyone.
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Annie Sisk
Monica has a superpower, and it is this: Taking a creative brief, breaking it down into logical bites, synthesizing it all back together into a thorough (but not overblown) research plan, executing that plan, and returning it all back to you on a digital silver platter, with all the relevant info you need to write a detailed, accurate, and authoritative piece. I don't know her origin story - radioactive dictionaries? a mysterious research librarian who passed on her gift in a moment of high drama and life-or-death stakes? NO CLUE - but I'd watch her movies, AND hire her again. And again. And again.
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Jo Van Every
I have been thinking about writing about a particular topic for a long time but avoiding it because it is a potentially touchy topic and I wasn’t confident enough about my background knowledge. I wasn’t even entirely sure where to start on the research and I had plenty of other things to do. When I heard that Monica did research and could create a briefing note or annotated bibliography, I knew that this would be a good step to get me unstuck. I had a conversation with Monica to clarify my brief to her. Then she went away and did some research providing me a summary of key issues and a few things I could read for more information. I now feel like I can approach this topic with more confidence.
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Karen C. L. Anderson
Monica took what was an unwieldy and disparate bunch of essays that I'd written (with unwieldy and disparate styles and punctuation) and edited each one, making sure themes remained intact and cohesive but were not repeated. The result is a book I am proud of! What I love most about working with her is that she has the rare ability to use both her right (creative and holistic) and left (logical and linear) brain functions in service to her clients and their projects. Plus? She's funny and intuitive and knows all the right questions to ask.
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Jane Cunningham
I asked Monica for her expertise in editing a manuscript for a book I have been working on. True to form Monica was clear, insightful and helpful. She was reliable, diligent and timely but more importantly she “got” the work I was doing, came in alongside my intention for the writing and worked with me from that vantage point. Each correction she offered improved my manuscript and her encouragement meant a great deal to me in helping me with the final preparations and completion of this work.
Monica has a high level of expertise with technology which was very useful and saved me a lot of time in completing and comparing drafts of my work. I highly recommend Monica for any editing work you may have.
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David Verghese
Monica absolutely helped transform my writing. I was under a strict deadline and not only did she deliver, but she really understood and shaped my writing so it was focused and engaging. She is one of the best copy editors out there and she is always dedicated to ensuring her client gets the results they desire.
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Jessica Mehring
Monica's research is top-notch. Not only is she skilled at finding great sources and clipping the perfect nuggets of information, but she also adds a layer of insight most researchers don't. She connects the dots, then clearly points out the connections to me so I feel total confidence in the topic I'm writing on.