Besides teaching writing and writing about that subject, I run a side business as an editor and writing coach. My specialty is science and medicine and my four-word sales pitch is “Science background plus speed.”
I stress my speed because I began my reporting career on daily newspapers with tight deadlines. I not only covered science and medicine for three daily newspapers, but also worked as a writer at major university hospitals. (The details are in my CV, elsewhere on this site.) I’m still quick and as a freelance editor I have turned some projects around in a day.
I specialize in RO1 and PO1 grant applications for NIH and proposals for NSF. Recent clients include Harvard, U Michigan Medical School, the Dartmouth biochemistry department, the University of Utah Biomedical Informatics department and pharmaceutical companies. Topics have included public health, epidemiology, statistics, pharmaceutical and LED research—you name it. I do copy editing (commas, etc.) but am best at clarifying a paper marred by murky patches where you know what you wanted to say but didn’t get it quite right. I seek always to make the manuscript I’m working on totally readable, clear and interesting. I’m a more aggressive editor than many and will completely rewrite sections that need it.
I’m proud of this critique of my editing early in 2017 by client Wendy Chapman, chair of Utah’s Biomedical Informatics Department.
“The grant looks amazing, John! I love it. You are a master at understanding the important points and making them clear. I love the white space and your reduction in detail. When I’m in the middle of it, I think there is nothing that can be removed.”
I also do seminars on readable writing for professionals at a high level. Most recently I did two-day conferences for the American Wind Energy Association and Dartmouth College.
Use the contact form to request editing or to discuss a writing seminar.