How I ‘unearth’ the best words and shape them into the best order…

My sister’s granddaughter, Avery, takes me on a train ride in Brooklyn.

I am grateful that for almost eleven years I have had the opportunity to compose the best words, in the best order, for the best clients. Take the word, ‘unearth’ as an example. I could use any of the following:

• Dig up / uncover / discover / expose
• Reveal / find / disclose / bring to light
• Reveal / unveil / divulge / make known

What’s a writer to do with so many options?!  Fortunately, deadlines save me from being overwhelmed by so many choices.  What I’m writing and for whom help narrow the list as well.

• “Dig up” and “discover” make me think of a dead body in a mystery.
• “Expose and “unveil” suggest lacy underwear in a forbidden romance.
• “Disclose” and “divulge” take me to peoples’ secrets being involuntarily uncovered.

“Reveal” is a better verb when suggesting what a research study says about good youth development practices.  Or a program “finds” that quality afterschool programming helps families have a better shot at the future.

When I’m not writing for pay, I write poems, essays, and short stories, and regularly keep a journal, especially when I’m hiking.  To date, my creative writing has been published in newspapers, magazines, websites, and other writers’ blogs.

My goal for writing is concise language that makes a point with power.  My business-related deliverables are better because of my strength as a creative writer.  Here’s why:

• An article or grant with word limits is an enjoyable challenge after years parsing every word in poetry.
• I get a kick out of writing a three-page letter of inquiry to a funder because of my experience agonizing over the most powerful verbs—within a confined space–in an essay.
• A strong opening sentence for your publication has more punch because of what I’ve learned in workshops at George Washington University, Georgetown, the Key West Literary Seminar, or the Bethesda Writers’ Center.

I look forward to the opportunity to produce the best words in the best order for whatever you need to have written or edited.  Contact me here.