Sense/Sensibility Content

Small-scale content strategy and content design

I work on microsites and long reports and documents to organize content and get it to your readers in a way that’s clear, accessible, easy to digest, and makes sense.

For example, I can:

• Help you organize a book or long-form report, ensuring that your information flows logically and has a clear architecture.
• Make you a template, content guide, or content model to structure complex writing and web projects.
• Help you put together a well-designed wiki or documentation.
• Work with your notes and vision and help you create a thorough outline for your project.

See my content strategy work →

Line- and copyediting

I love to be taken all over the world in my editing—as well as to outer space, cyberspace, and any worlds of your making! Specifically, that means I love to read (and edit) speculative fiction/magical realism, out-there literary fiction, and detective novels. I also have more than five years of experience working on international affairs and tech content, and a master’s in Russian studies. Please send me your forays into different countries, deep inside computers, and everywhere in between!

As a nonfiction editor, I want your writing to be clear and readable, even if that means breaking some grammatical rules. (But I do have an exhaustive knowledge of grammar, if that’s your thing, and I can quote the numbers of my favorite sections of the Chicago Manual of Style.) I’m also passionate about conscious language: I stay up-to-date on changing linguistic norms, follow alternate style guides, and edit with a consistent focus on sensitivity and respect.

Practically speaking, if you work with me, I’ll spend time going over what you’re looking for and providing a sample edit of a page or so—so we start out, well, on the same page about what you’re looking for. I’ll return a fully edited manuscript with tracked changes (Google Docs, Pages, or Word), a detailed style sheet, and an editorial note summarizing my work.

See my editing work →

Plain and conscious language

I’m passionate about equity and accessibility, and in my career that translates into a love of plain language. I can transform government, tech, and academic jargon into a smooth, simple piece of writing that your audience can read easily. In my full-time editorial roles at the Council on Foreign Relations and Flashpoint Intelligence, I translated overly complicated and jargon-filled into a clear final product that non-experts could easily digest. I’ve also worked with the US Department of Health and Human Services to transform notices of funding opportunity to make the language more readable while maintaining the details and field-specific content. I’ve edited several academic dissertations, abstracts, and papers written by non-native English speakers to produce flowing, fluent language.

In all my editorial roles and freelance/contract work, I’ve spent time finding the right words—doing deep dives into conscious language blogs and the sites of professional associations, newsrooms, nonprofits, and others to make sure I’m using current, accurate, and inclusive terminology and never inadvertently causing offense or othering. I’d love to help you find the most appropriate, inclusive, and equitable terminology for your writing.

See my plain language work →

Making things make sense

I often think of my career as “making things make sense”—using words to disentangle confusion and clarify meaning. That’s where the name of my business comes from! If your project doesn’t fit neatly into one of the above categories but if you’re working with words and need help with sense, throw it at me and I’ll see what I can do!