Writing Coaching
Strengthen your writing for school assignments, essays for college applications or college coursework.
Looking for feedback for your works in progress? Need a gentle, yet firm push to get it into saleable form?
Facilitated by Ellen Blum Barish
The schedule is yours to design. You set the agenda. We meet at your campus, kitchen or nearby coffee house, or work by phone and e-mail. To learn more about customizing a way to move your writing to the next stage, contact Ellen.
Ellen Blum Barish is an award-winning writer, seasoned editor and book author.
She has taught writing at several Chicago-area universities including Northwestern, Dominican, North Park and Elmhurst and Oakton Community colleges.
You can reach Ellen at ellen@ellenblumbarish.com or (847) 207-7695.
Here's what Ellen's students had to say about working with Ellen:
--"created an extraordinarily open, nonjudgmental environment where all of us felt respected and heard."
--"has a real knowledge and experience with the topic and a very effective way of teaching and handling sensitive areas with grace and finesse."
--"was very knowledgeable and set a warm, supportive tone for the class and kept things interesting."
--"was warm and encouraging."
--"was very personable, very well-read and great presentation of the material for further reading [and provided] wonderful motivation to write."
Manuscript Editing
A big picture review for guidance about where to submit finished work as well as a line-by-line edit to strengthen, tighten and clarify your work.
Here's what clients have said about working with Ellen:
"I heard Ellen speak at an Off Campus Writers’ workshop meeting and was so impressed that I asked her if she could help me with some editing and direction with a book. We met twice at a local coffee shop, several hours each time, and talking with her was just wonderful! I work with a great editor in New York but felt like I needed a face-to-face. Ellen's excitement was infectious! I came away with the fuel I needed to press on!"
Janice LaRosa
author of a memoir in progress
“Ellen’s insightful and careful editing made me feel confident about my final manuscript. She met all my deadlines and guided me through some questions and concerns I had about my project. If you are looking for a seasoned editor to polish your prose, I highly recommend Ellen.”
Laurie Wurth Pressel
Freelance writer
www.wurthwriting.com
Family Memoirs
Interview transcripts or shaping material for family and business histories.
Here's what clients have said about working with Ellen:
“Every year we kept thinking that we should be writing down our family stories, but no one took any action. Then we met Ellen and learned about her special talent for capturing family stories. Our whole family now delights in the stories she wrote based on conversations with my mother, my sister and I. We plan to continue the saga and make it a living history of our family with each person adding their own chapters. We are very excited about the potential of this to enrich our children’s lives.”
Joan Cartier, Ph.D.
Daughter of Winnifred Cartier, whose survived the Canadian flu epidemic in 1918 and raised her family in a remote location in the Bahamas.
