Mentoring & Editing

I offer mentoring and editing services for poets and personal essayists. I also work with writers looking to launch or sustain a freelance writing business.

Who Is Writing Mentoring For?

Writing mentoring is for anyone, whether you're a beginning writer, looking to pivot genres, feeling blocked, or wanting to return to writing after a long pause.

It’s never too late to make a meaningful life for yourself as a writer.

I bring you wisdom from my 25 year career as a poet, essayist, and professional content writer and journalist. I also offer tons of compassion, humor, and love.

I love supporting writers who've been wanting to do this for years and are finally ready.

I love supporting writers who are in the thick of a complex, messy, demanding life, and are looking for ways to bring writing in.

I love supporting writers who feel stuck and unsure.

I, too, have come back to writing after lengthy absences, and I’ve written in the midst of caregiving for young children and elderly parents.

I get how hard it is, and I also know how crucial it is to make time for writing, if it’s calling you.

Editing to Support Your Vision

As an editor, my role is to help you clear any unnecessary clutter in your piece, fine-tune the language, and discover the form or structure that works best to bring out the essence of your work.

I'm not here to rewrite your piece for you, but to support you in revisioning your work.

About Me

I'm a poet, personal essayist, and full-time freelance writer.

Poetry Publications and Awards

I’m the author of three books of poems, most recently The New Life, published by Cornerstone Press (University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point) and named a finalist for the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year.

My poems have appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, Prairie Schooner, Spoon River Review, Passages North, Raleigh Review, Verse Daily, and more.

I’m the winner of an Academy of American Poets prize and The Amy Award, from Poets & Writers.

Personal Essays

My essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Lilith Magazine, Elle, The Manifest Station, Full Grown People, Huffington Post, Family Circle, Scary Mommy, Literary Mama, SheKnows, and VICE.

Freelance Content Writing

For the past decade, I’ve maintained a thriving, full-time freelance writing career as a health content writer, with bylines at Healthline, Health.com, Care.com, Grow Therapy, Talkspace, Medscape, Parents.com, Verywell, and many others.

Teaching Experience

I’ve taught writing at Hunter College, Makor (part of the 92nd Street Y), and The Creative Center in NYC, which offers creative writing workshops for people living with cancer.

Editing Experience

I was an editor at Scary Mommy, where I edited personal essays and op-eds. I've edited poetry for The Rise Up Review, and I'm currently a poetry manuscript reader for Small Harbor Publishing.

Click here to see my full CV.

Offerings

Mentoring

We will meet on Zoom or over the phone (your preference) twice a month for an hour. These sessions are tailored to your needs, and can include:

Goal setting
Reviewing what writing you are working on
Editing a poem or essay together
Sharing writing prompts and doing some generative writing
Discussing your writing life and any challenges you may be facing
Navigating the writing business and sharing tips
Dealing with self-doubt and imposter syndrome
Preparing submissions, and brainstorming places to send your work

Between sessions, you can send me your poems and essays for us to discuss during our Zoom meeting. We will do weekly email check-ins, too.

Poetry and Personal Essay Editing

I understand how vulnerable it can feel to share your work with an editor. My goal as an editor is to help you find the heart of your piece, to hone your craft, and to help you showcase your unique voice and talents.

Here's how poetry or personal essay editing works:

You'll send me a packet of poems, or one personal essay
I'll send you ideas for line edits, along with a letter explaining what I think is working, where you might want to dig deeper, and thoughts about form, craft, and structure
Editing is usually done asynchronously over email, but we can also discuss your work over Zoom or the phone

One-Time Mentoring Session

During this one hour, one-time mentoring session, we will discuss writing, the writing life, and what your goals and struggles are as a writer.

Topics may include:

How to create a rich and fruitful writing routine
How to break through writer’s block
How to find the courage and tools to submit your work
How to begin or maintain a thriving freelance writing businesses

You can also “pick my brain” and ask me questions about my own writing life and practice, as a writer, poet, and full-time working content writer.

Fees

Please reach out to me to discuss fees. I have sliding scale rates for writers who are struggling financially.

Testimonials

"Wendy Wisner's feedback has helped many of my poems find homes with national journals, and her support and encouragement have kept me going in times of writer’s block or flagging confidence. She’s been a joy to have in my corner!"

— Christy Prahl, author of three poetry collections, including Catalog of Labors, forthcoming from Unsolicited Press

Contact

Email me at WendyWisnerWriter@gmail.com to discuss mentoring and editing or to set up a session.