Books, articles, reports, and blog posts are essential foundations of an author’s or organization’s platform. They serve as tangible indicators or expertise and provide substance to develop a presence on the web, in social media, and as a speaker. But writing is often difficult and always time consuming. Working with a writing partner can help you complete your important writing projects without bringing your work to a halt.

For a writing partnership arrangement, we will discuss your project in detail and clarify your preferred process, including revisions and reviews, time frame, budget, and other considerations. Please contact katy@docreative.com or 703-989-1730 to discuss your needs and how we can support you.

How does a writing partnership work?

In a writing partnership, I work closely with you to craft the best possible text in your style and voice, conveying the message you want to deliver. The structure of the writing process can vary depending on your needs.

For one business book project, the author came to me with a publisher’s contract and a comprehensive outline. He had strong personal motivation to complete the project and I was able to help his writing have the clarity and professionalism he was seeking.  He wrote the complete first draft of the text and sent it to me chapter by chapter. (A winter week hiding away at a friend’s beach house helped him push through that writing process.) As each chapter came in, I went through it with a fine-toothed editorial comb: improving sentence structure, clarifying meaning, and correcting grammatical errors. I identified any spots that didn’t make sense or had inconsistencies. I tracked all of my revisions and comments in Word and returned the chapters to the author one by one. He then read through the changes, accepted most of them, added comments as needed, and made further revisions. I then gave this second draft another thorough review. He created the charts, tables, and illustrations and I formatted them as requested by the publisher. When all of the chapters and materials were ready, we sent them to the publisher. A few months later, I reviewed the page proofs from the publisher and assisted the author in responding to any queries on the proofs.

Crucial in a project like this one is trust. The author must trust that the editor is on their team, that she is working to clarify the author’s message and make the work the best it can be. And the editor must never take text changes or rejection of revisions personally. Open communication is essential.

Another writing partnership project followed a traditional ghostwriting approach. The original assignment was writing two chapters for a multi-authored book on organizational change management. I met with the author in person and we discussed at length what he wanted to present in his chapters. He supplied case studies and research resources; based on our meeting and materials, I developed a detailed outline. Once he approved the outline, I wrote the first drafts of the chapters, indicating areas that would need his particular review and possible expansion. He made extensive changes and I edited his revised version. A few months after he submitted the chapters, the book leadership was reorganized and the new project lead decided that my author should write only one chapter that would combine many components of the original two. So we began again, equipped with the efforts from our first round of writing and specific guidelines. I drafted an outline, and with the author’s approval, wrote the first draft of the 10,000-word chapter. The author made revisions, I edited his revisions, and the chapter was published.

Even after a project is finished, a writing partner can provide an author with many benefits. You now have a professional writer available who knows your material inside and out. For the author of the change management chapter, I was able to rework the chapter material into a presentation with a white paper on the topic. For another book project, the author took advantage of my deep familiarity with his subject to reinforce his online presence. He hired me to write monthly blog posts and newsletters based on the book’s chapters. I even wrote a series of tweets drawn from the book’s text to streamline the author’s social media promotion.

Of course, I also provide straightforward document clean-ups. But the deeper understanding of a client’s needs and objectives from a writing partnership helps me do much more.