Hannah Irish, PhD
Writer ~ Editor ~ Educator
My editing philosophy
My role as an editor is to help you look your best in writing, plain and simple! Whether it’s a professional bio, website copy, an article for a journal, a business proposal, a marketing newsletter, a piece of creative prose, a book-length manuscript, or anything in between, I am here to help you successfully communicate your ideas to your readers.
A little about me
My love for editing comes primarily from my love of a good story, and from knowing that a good story is most powerful when well presented. Whether it’s your personal story, your business's story, an academic story presented as research and analysis, a fictional story, a marketing story, or any other story you want to tell, I want to help you tell it by ensuring it’s presented in the best possible light.
I’m a storyteller at heart, and have been since childhood. I was an avid reader as a child, so much so that my mom once told me I couldn’t keep reading until I cleaned my room. I still have copies of my earliest creative writing endeavors, clearly written in a seven-year-old’s hand, and I have the fondest memories of being introduced to acting in third grade. These childhood loves only grew as I got older.
English and theater were my favorite subjects in middle school and high school, with my English and theater teachers always being my favorites, and this easily translated into college majors. As an English major, I studied literature, journalism, poetry (both reading it and writing it), and fiction-writing, with a healthy dose of research and analysis papers thrown in. In my theater program, I studied plays from all over the world, from Ancient Greece to 21st-century America, as well as playwriting, including serving as the lead playwright on a student-written main-stage production.
It was during college that I discovered both a love and a skill for editing. I worked in the English department, tutoring and editing student papers. As an assistant in the theater department, I edited emails, newsletters, posters and programs, and anything else my professors asked.
After college, I continued to use my editing skills, and my love for reading, writing, and storytelling, in many professional capacities. While in graduate school, I was an editor on an academic journal, a professional journal, and a creative writing journal. It was during this time that I began formally freelance editing and met my first long-term client, with whom I still work on a regular basis.
I look forward to working with you and helping you present your writing, and yourself, in the best possible light!
Subject area expertise
While I can and do consult and edit material in a wide variety of subjects and formats, here are a few that I am especially well-versed in:
Comparative mythology
World religions
Literature
Theater
Ecological frameworks
Feminist frameworks
Depth psychology
Creative non-fiction
Research and analysis
Academic and scholarly writing
Professional and business writing
MLA style
Chicago style
AMA style
Work Sample Portfolio
CEO-Column-Turned-Book-Introduction
This sample includes two drafts. The first is the original essay with my suggestions in tracked changes, as well as new material from the author based on my recommendations. The second is the revised draft as the book's introduction chapter after my final proofreading.
Monthly Medical Journal Entries
This is a sample of a monthly project copy editing a journal written for physician leaders. The client requests general copy editing and proofreading, using their in-house style, which is an amalgamation of the American Medical Association and Chicago styles. Specific guidelines include:
- Keep bullets uniform within each list.
- Remove contractions whenever possible.
- Liberally edit instances of slang, metaphors, and strong opinions.
Ghost-Writing Book Introduction
Sample coming soon.
Original and Abridged Versions Side-by-Side
This is a sample comparing original content, which I had completed the editing process for (developmental, line, and copy editing, and proofreading), with an abridged version the client asked me to create. The original was a short ebook; I abridged the ebook into an article.