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The following comments are anonymous. They are included here simply so you can discover what other authors have found helpful about The Word Story’s services.
I got a lot out of your review; I got pretty much what I wanted–an entirely new perspective and a lot of work to do, and I guess it left me breathless. (MW)
I found your appraisal most worthwhile and it has inspired me to carry out the necessary changes to the book. I found the character descriptions particularly useful. It is interesting to learn what you as a reader learned about the characters...Obviously I was not as clear about some things as I thought I was. (RP)
I genuinely love your editing treatment. Now the article feels just like I wanted it to feel, but didn’t have the skills to do myself. (LB)
I really appreciate your extra reflection on my writing, the suggested ways to improve it and the exercises. You're a great coach. (TW)
You have done such a fantastic job…Thank you so much for your professionalism. (DA)
Have
now read and digested most of your feedback. It has been a very helpful experience. You are the first person who even knows I've written a manuscript so it's quite a relief to have an objective view. Thank you. (MM)
Thanks for the work you have completed–I'm very happy with the result. Am going to take your advice–changing to third person seems the best way forward. (WS)
I must first of all thank you for the comprehensive nature of your report. It is extremely helpful, doesn’t pull any punches and is intellectually very sound, written by someone who knows their business. (DO’D)
I've never had a professional opinion before on anything I've written, and you alerted me to so much I'd overlooked…You truly have opened my eyes and I thank you sincerely. The list of errors, though numerous, are challenging and conquerable, and I will rewrite the story. (MW)
The longest testimonial of all:
There are two types of readers in the world, there're the readers who just read and enjoy the plot and get on with absorbing the story. Their heart races in all the right bits; they chuckle at all your bad jokes and basically enjoy your tale as it's written. This is my audience! I write for them, I write like I read (fast and furious), the words are on the page, formatting is for snobs, spelling and grammar curiosities I might accidentally carry out with a fifty/fifty success rate.
Then you have the professional readers, people like Anna, who read what you wrote with a split view, one eye (I think it’s her left one) will read the words and be able to enjoy your story (or not), while the other eye is looking for all the mistakes you've made (grammar, spelling, structure). Not only that, she thinks about your characters, and whether you are following up on that plotline you started on page 27 and you never went anywhere with. Are you exploring all the possibilities of your work? She's giving you ideas and helps you cultivate your own, and most importantly (and I can't stress this enough) she recognises your voice and doesn't try to steal it away.
Anna is fun to work with. I rewrite things just to see what Anna would think: have I pushed the boundary of my genre, have a broken a rule that should never be broken? She holds my hand (settle down, I'm talking figuratively) when I try something new and encourages or debates my ideas with the patience of a saint.
So I write for the first group, the social readers, but when it comes to 'proper readers' I've got Anna to sort it all out for me. Anna Kassulke, the Mrs Sheen of manuscript editing – I write it and she polishes it. Guaranteed she edited this before it went up on her web page, but (not to big note) she will edit it to make me look much funnier, cleverer and intelligenter than I really am.
By all means, if you want to make a great manuscript fantastic and pander to all those 'proper' readers with all their fancy spelling, grammar and other toffee-nosed 'literacy' things then Anna is your lady.
Signed with a clear mind and sanity – ACW
And our writing workshops:
'Gave good diagrams and clear teaching.'
'Learnt how to re-evaluate my work...Be ruthless!'
'This month's session with Anna Kassulke has been a major breakthrough for some of our authors...Anna gave the group some valuable insight into different styles of manuscript and how editing changes with style. She also outlined proofreading tips to help us with editing our own changes...Anna described her style as one of getting to know the way the writer she is working with thinks.'
‘You highlighted the importance of writing for the audience.’
‘Discussion centred on specific samples of our work.’
‘You reinforced the importance of keeping things simple.’
‘I liked the idea of the six crimes!’
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