Story Surgery:
Got a novel or memoir you’ve been dying to write? Notes from your editor or agent? Want to come up with a book proposal or a SubStack strategy? Perfect! Bring me your thoughts, vision, idea, thoughts, or even a completed, messy first draft. I will help you transform your vision into a well-structured novel, hybrid memoir, or essay. I have decades of expertise in narrative structure and knowledge of literature— I taught Latin and Language Structures at Saint Ann’s School and Creative Writing at Hunter College plus am a published author— as we work together to develop and complete your manuscript.
What I offer:
As a book coach (and occasional ghostwriter), I work closely with writers to help them structure and complete propulsive novels, memoirs and nonfiction projects.
Initially, I help identify the exact structural scaffolding to hold and support the story via a very detailed outline. (Some writers work with me on outline only. This is about 4 to ten sessions depending on the project.) Then we take that outline and work thought it to write the first. draft of the book.
Whether you come to me with a bare-bones idea or with a completed first draft that needs some attention, you will receive supportive, helpful, actionable feedback. As anyone who has worked with me one-on-one or has been in one of my group classes will tell you, I am obsessed with structure. What’s more, I can see structural holes from space. But I don’t just fix these holes for you, I help you identify what’s missing in hour-long ideation sessions during which we recreate your book beat-by-beat, scene-by-scene, or chapter-by-chapter. It’s a highly effective, successful, and fruitful process. Some clients choose to work with me for their entire book journey from idea to publication.
My clients have sold projects to imprints of Simon and Schuster, Double Day, and Random House.
Their essays have been published in Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, Zibby Mag, the Insider, the Washington Post, Salon, Kveller, New York Magazine, The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue.
Emily is the real deal. She has brought structure and clarity (and, and and +!) to my writing and has given me the chutzpah to write my first novel. Her razor sharp feedback and seemingly endless knowledge has been an invaluable guiding light. Not to mention she is hilarious, brilliant, and just makes the work so much fun. I am so grateful to have found her. -Ayala Skopp