I start by listening. We’ll talk — over Zoom, over coffee, on a walk. I’ll want to hear not just the facts of the case but the voice behind them. I’ll probably ask to talk to other people in your orbit, too. The goal is to understand your world well enough to write from inside it.
Then I’ll read everything you’ll give me. Clients sometimes ask “Are you sure you want all this?” Yes. Send the reports, the transcripts, the old drafts, the stuff you’re not sure is relevant. I read widely because I don’t know yet what’s going to matter.
My Process
Ingestion
Interviews, documents, site visits, background reading. I come up to speed in your domain quickly — law, finance, science, history. I’ll ask more questions and read more material than you’ll expect.
Exploration
We’ll try some things that don’t work. Follow a few dead ends. That’s not wasted time — it’s how we find the ideas that do work. Some ideas are born brilliant, others take a lot of polishing.
Architecture
There’s structure in the material, but it can take some poking and prodding to find it. Always hard questions and surprising decisions here.
Drafting & revision
Draft, react, revise. You never really know if something’s working until you see “if it writes.” Sometimes, we’ll change a sentence, and it ripples through the entire outline.
Your role
Some clients hand over material and wait for a finished product. Others want to edit pages together. I’m flexible — we’ll figure out the cadence that works for you.
Your Project
Every project takes its own shape. I work over Zoom, in person, by email — whatever fits. Whether it’s an oral history, an op-ed, a website, or the book you’ve waited your whole career to write, I’m ready to start.