Onsite Writing Consultation: Services Suite 1 ||  You’ve already done some writing…

As an onsite academic writing consultant, I work one-on-one or in small groups with participants at workshops, summer schools, institutes, retreats, and conferences to address their most pressing writing concerns. Delegates can bring any piece of writing at any stage to me: sometimes it’s something they’re almost ready to submit to a journal or press but just can’t find the time to proofread and check the references; other times, it’s the outline of a monograph that’s now causing writer’s block. More often, scholars bring me work that’s in between these late and early stages—often the paper they just presented and want to expand or transform. I act as a colleague and writing coach, providing feedback on ideas and structure. I provide a tailored assessment of the work that needs to be done and collaborate with authors to devise a plan to keep them moving toward their writing and publication goals.

Onsite Writing Consultation: Services Suite 2 ||  You don’t know what to write…

Sometimes when groups meet, organizers know that something—some kind of writing, some kind of publication—has to come out of the event, but they’re just not sure what that product could or should look like. That’s where I come in. I sit in on the event; I listen to presentations and take detailed notes; I talk to organizers and delegates during breaks and meals; and I help the organization decide what kind of written product and/or publication would best serve their needs and meet participants’ goals. Then, I work with the group (onsite or later virtually or in-person) to produce that piece of writing—from a website to a formal report or record of proceedings, from an edited collection to a letter to the editor, or something entirely new!

Here’s an example: In June 2018, I was invited to attend a three-day workshop in Dutch Harbor/Unalaska in the Aleutian Islands with small delegation from the University of Washington’s Jackson School of International Studies and the Korea Maritime Institute. Working with our local hosts, the Aleut International Association, and UW, I co-authored and managed the publication of a 70-page report on what we learned during the workshop on the history, culture, and future of this Indigenous Arctic community on the global stage. Check out the report here. (It includes some amazing sites from the Aleutians, too! Well worth the 9,000 kilometres I travelled to get there!) The Jackson School uses the report in their Arctic studies minor curriculum; the Aleutian organizations use the report as promotional material; and report provided the Korea Maritime Institute with important context and information for building partnerships with Indigenous groups.