Because of my years of experience as a writing tutor, writing instructor, and as a successful writer, I bring a wide range of skills to the editing table. I've kept a journal for thirty years and won awards for both fiction and non-fiction writing. I recognize the difference and the similarities, and feel at home in both domains. I'm especially good at big picture questions. I'm skilled at sentence-by-sentence development and at honing a style or clarifying a message. I have an ear for rhythm, cadence, and narrative flow. I've been told I'm a natural storyteller and good at strengthening plot and subplot. I love working with dialogue and have a keen sense of how to develop and sustain a strong, but flexible point of view. Bottom line: I value communication, respect, collaboration and personal empowerment. I like to inspire. I listen. I'm more interested in your voice and how to make it work on paper than I am in a set of rules, or in drawing attention to myself. I believe anyone who has the desire to write, can learn to do it well and I'm here to work with you. My goal is to assist you in creating and/or polishing a work you can take pride in.    More About Molly What I like most about editing: That it's satisfying. It reminds me of refinishing a piece of fine furniture or painting a room. I enjoy bringing the best out of a writing project, tinkering and trimming until it really shines. My best advice to writers: Don't give up. Write, rewrite and rewrite again. Mingle with other writers. Read good books. Be bold and audacious and dedicated. Most of all, be honest and true to yourself. My favorite genres to edit: I like a lot of different kinds of writing. I love working with fiction, but I also really like good nonfiction, essays, even academic work that teaches me something new. What I most appreciate is a strong voice and a penchant for story telling. Number of years I've been editing: I've been editing (and teaching writing) for about 20 years. Edit hard copy or on-screen: I prefer to edit hard copy, but I always edit my own work online and would be happy to work online if that's what you prefer. My "must have" writing reference books: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. Favorite background music when I edit: We have a genuine, local radio station on the Mendocino coast that's eclectic. They play everything from the Beatles and Bob Dylan to U2, Sting, and Madeleine Peyroux. Right now they're playing Elton John. I'm a total fan, but I've also been known to turn off the radio and listen to Beethoven or Chopin when I work. Scene outside the window where I edit: I have a small herd of deer that have found their way into my yard. They come everyday around sundown, but sometimes they spend most of the day in view. I look out onto a small Pacific coast nature reserve called Jug Handle Creek. In the distance I can hear the ocean. Favorite quotes: "What if you slept, and what if in your sleep you dreamed. And what if in your dream you went to heaven and there plucked a strange and beautiful flower. And what if when you awoke, you had that flower in you hand? Ah, what then?" —Samuel Taylor Coleridge Memorable fictional character: Emily Bronte's Heathcliff. Most recent blog/website I bookmarked: Paris Writers Workshop. My second novel, The Appassionata, is set in Paris. I hope to go to there to finish my book. What I'm reading: Because of my research, I'm into nineteenth century French novels at the moment: Hugo's Les Misérables, George Sand's Consuelo. I'm about to start a historical fiction, Mistress of the Revolution: A Novel by Catherine Delors.