Definitions of Services
Elizabeth Barrette offers a variety of editorial, writing, and other wordsmithing services. Below are some things that are generally available. If you like her work and think it’s applicable to some oddball project of yours, or if she did something for a friend of yours and you’d like to hire her for something similar, feel free to ask about additional options.
Editorial Services
In reference to “reviewing” a document or “providing services,” that means performing one of the three services listed in the pricing table: proofreading, editing, or commenting. Which level of service provided in reviewing your document is up to you! Here are detailed descriptions of what each service includes.
Proofreading: The editor corrects spelling, punctuation, and simple grammar issues such as subject/verb agreement. Changes are made directly on the paper without explanation. Recommended for good (A or B) students or individuals confident in their writing skills, who just need a fresh set of eyes to go over their work and catch those last few typos.
Editing: The editor corrects spelling and punctuation. Grammar is also corrected, including rephrasing sentences where necessary to improve clarity. This may also include rearranging sections of text to improve organization, providing suggestions to expand or delete material, or questioning the intended meaning where it is unclear or more than one solution is possible. Changes are made directly on the paper, usually without explanation. Recommended for fair (B or C) students who need substantial help improving their work, or individuals having difficulty structuring their documents appropriately.
Commenting: The editor marks (but does not correct) mistakes in spelling, punctuation and grammar. Problems with overall organization and/or focus are marked or described. This may also include identifying recurring patterns of error. The editor explains what is wrong, and offers suggestions or guidelines of how to fix it, but leaves the actual corrections for the student or individual to make. Recommended for poor (C or below) students who want to improve their overall writing skills in addition to correcting a single piece of work. Also recommended for those who want detailed feedback on a partially-completed project, or for good students who wish to develop professional-level writing or editing skills.
Editorial Management
This is a type of ongoing service which may involve soliciting, selecting, and polishing submitted materials in nonfiction, fiction, art, etc. for a publication or program. Experience includes managing PanGaia magazine (8 years), supervising the academic program for the Grey School of Wizardry (4 years), and serving on the canon board for Torn World submissions (current). Handling a publishing imprint or line of books would be an easy extension of this and the book revision work already done.
Research Services
This involves tracking down information online or in print. Main fields include speculative fiction, constructed languages, alternative religions, gender studies, and environmental/social activism — but you can ask about anything.
Writing Services
Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and other written materials can be created. Examples include short stories, articles, essays, interviews, reviews, press releases and other promotional materials, blog posts, entire blogs, sections of website content, chants, song lyrics, and poems. Topics include speculative fiction, gender studies, alternative religions, environmental/social issues, linguistics and xenolinguistics, crowdfunding or cyberfunded creativity, and a great many other possibilities. You can request something for a project you’re doing, or sponsor more of something you like that is already in progress. Examples appear under the "Books Written" tab, and others are linked on the "About Me" page.
Other Wordsmithing
If it involves words and language, you can ask. People have requested help with all sorts of things. A few odd examples include:
• designing a constructed language for Torn World, as part of a team.
• tromping through a freshly designed website (such as Stardancer.Org) trying to make it crash and reporting bugs.
• explaining how to do something for which no coherent how-to is available.
• custom-creating metaphors to describe something that is hard to make someone understand, so that it will make more sense.
Sometimes a project starts out just playing around with friends, but could also be done professionally.
Editorial Services
In reference to “reviewing” a document or “providing services,” that means performing one of the three services listed in the pricing table: proofreading, editing, or commenting. Which level of service provided in reviewing your document is up to you! Here are detailed descriptions of what each service includes.
Proofreading: The editor corrects spelling, punctuation, and simple grammar issues such as subject/verb agreement. Changes are made directly on the paper without explanation. Recommended for good (A or B) students or individuals confident in their writing skills, who just need a fresh set of eyes to go over their work and catch those last few typos.
Editing: The editor corrects spelling and punctuation. Grammar is also corrected, including rephrasing sentences where necessary to improve clarity. This may also include rearranging sections of text to improve organization, providing suggestions to expand or delete material, or questioning the intended meaning where it is unclear or more than one solution is possible. Changes are made directly on the paper, usually without explanation. Recommended for fair (B or C) students who need substantial help improving their work, or individuals having difficulty structuring their documents appropriately.
Commenting: The editor marks (but does not correct) mistakes in spelling, punctuation and grammar. Problems with overall organization and/or focus are marked or described. This may also include identifying recurring patterns of error. The editor explains what is wrong, and offers suggestions or guidelines of how to fix it, but leaves the actual corrections for the student or individual to make. Recommended for poor (C or below) students who want to improve their overall writing skills in addition to correcting a single piece of work. Also recommended for those who want detailed feedback on a partially-completed project, or for good students who wish to develop professional-level writing or editing skills.
Editorial Management
This is a type of ongoing service which may involve soliciting, selecting, and polishing submitted materials in nonfiction, fiction, art, etc. for a publication or program. Experience includes managing PanGaia magazine (8 years), supervising the academic program for the Grey School of Wizardry (4 years), and serving on the canon board for Torn World submissions (current). Handling a publishing imprint or line of books would be an easy extension of this and the book revision work already done.
Research Services
This involves tracking down information online or in print. Main fields include speculative fiction, constructed languages, alternative religions, gender studies, and environmental/social activism — but you can ask about anything.
Writing Services
Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and other written materials can be created. Examples include short stories, articles, essays, interviews, reviews, press releases and other promotional materials, blog posts, entire blogs, sections of website content, chants, song lyrics, and poems. Topics include speculative fiction, gender studies, alternative religions, environmental/social issues, linguistics and xenolinguistics, crowdfunding or cyberfunded creativity, and a great many other possibilities. You can request something for a project you’re doing, or sponsor more of something you like that is already in progress. Examples appear under the "Books Written" tab, and others are linked on the "About Me" page.
Other Wordsmithing
If it involves words and language, you can ask. People have requested help with all sorts of things. A few odd examples include:
• designing a constructed language for Torn World, as part of a team.
• tromping through a freshly designed website (such as Stardancer.Org) trying to make it crash and reporting bugs.
• explaining how to do something for which no coherent how-to is available.
• custom-creating metaphors to describe something that is hard to make someone understand, so that it will make more sense.
Sometimes a project starts out just playing around with friends, but could also be done professionally.
- See an example of worldbuilding in "Quiar" featuring a planet with moons, magical systems, anthropomorphic races, and sociopolitical dynamics. A sample story is "Swallow the Sky."