Writing: I first realized that I was a non-fiction prose writer at summer camp, between fifth and sixth grades. I would send 5-10 page letters to my best friend, cataloguing my adventures. I have continued to mine my personal life for stories and share them on the page and onstage, ever since. My passion for observing and reporting branched into journalism in high school, which led to staff writer and editor roles at the Daily Cal, East Bay Express, SF Weekly, SFist.com, Fodor’s Berkeley Guides, Red Tricycle, and Bravo Your City!
I write because I cannot help it. I write because I experience and feel things that I want others to experience and feel. One of the greatest gifts from sharing my writing has been hearing how others are inspired by my work to reflect on their own lives and experience healing. Another gift is hearing that a restaurant I recommended was a pleasure for someone else to experience.
Editing: Editing is taking my passion and skills with writing and helping others express themselves. It’s seeing where a piece wants or needs to go, and helping it get there. A good editor is like a good hairstylist: after the job is done, you like how you look and you still recognize yourself in the mirror.
I once took a drawing class where I found that in order to replicate the upturned saucer in front of me, rather than sketching an outline and shading it in, I had the most success when I covered the entire circle in a thick charcoal smear and then erased out the highlights with gum; the image emerging as if by magic from the gray mass.
Editing can sometimes be like that.
- Personal Essays
- Journalistic Articles
- Travel Writing
- Storytelling Monologues
- Blog Posts
- Ghostwriting & Editing for Books
- Professional Correspondence
- Job and School Application Essays