[ Alongside ] combines one-to-one conversations with close reading and written feedback on your work. I'll spend time with your writing between sessions, offering comments, questions, observations and suggestions to help you explore its possibilities and work out where you might go with it next.
[ Alongside ]
reading and editorial support for writing and ideas-in-progress.
For women and LGBTQIA+ people who want to develop their writing and ideas on their own terms.
My approach
My approach is guided by a queer, feminist and relational sensibility. I am interested in the ways we shape and are shaped by the language we use (and don't), and particularly in how our institutional histories and presents influence what language we feel is available to us. My intention is that our work together be a conversation, motivated by a shared desire to make good meaning in the world.
In practice, this means bringing a particular kind of attention to your work: reading not only for what is already there, but for what might be emerging; noticing the questions, connections and possibilities that your writing opens up, as well as the places where it gets stuck, becomes constrained or seems to be reaching for something it hasn't quite found the language for yet. I am interested in how the language, structure and form of a piece of work shape what it can say and do.
Rather than approaching your writing with a predetermined idea of what it should become, I want to help you discover what it might need: what to follow, what to question, what to hold on to, what to let go of, and what other forms or possibilities might be available to it.
Alongside can support all kinds of writing and ideas-in-progress: from novels, essays, poetry and creative non-fiction to academic and independent research, artist statements, proposals and applications. You don't need to arrive with a finished draft, a clear plan or even a fully formed idea of what the project is. We can begin with whatever you've got and wherever you are with it.
What can I bring to Alongside ?
Packages
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Project Reading
£90
A standalone reading and editorial response for writing up to 2,000 words. This is an opportunity to have an engaged, thoughtful reader spend time with your work, without committing to a series of sessions.
You can also add an optional one-hour discussion session to the Project Reading package for an additional £60, and receive additional reading at £90 per 2,000 words.
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Project Companion
£450
Three one-hour sessions and reading and written feedback for writing up to 6,000 words, over approximately 4–6 weeks. A focused period of support for a project you'd like to explore, develop or find your way back into.
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Project Development
£750
Five one-hour sessions and reading and written feedback for writing up to 10,000 words, over approximately 8–12 weeks. More sustained support for a project with several strands to bring together, a developing structure or questions you want time to work through.
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Deep Dive
£1,380
Eight one-hour sessions and reading and written feedback for writing up to 20,000 words, over approximately 3–4 months. Extended editorial and developmental support for a substantial project that would benefit from sustained attention over a longer period.
Practical information
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The word counts included in each package are the total amount of writing I'll read and respond to over the course of our work together.
We'll agree a schedule for submitting work and receiving feedback at the beginning of the package, taking into account the length and nature of the writing and the overall timeframe.
The reading and feedback included in Alongside focuses on developmental and editorial engagement with your work: questions, comments and suggestions about ideas, language, structure and form. This isn't a comprehensive line edit, copyedit or proofreading service, although we can discuss additional editing if that's what your project needs.
Sessions last one hour and take place over Zoom. If you're not sure which option is right for you, or would like to talk through what you're working on before deciding, please get in touch.
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For the smaller packages, the price is payable upfront, in advance of us starting work together.
For the larger packages, you can also pay upfront or via the following instalment options:
Package
Payment option
Project Reading £90
Full payment upfront
Project Companion £450
Full payment upfront
Project Development £750
£375 × 2 (1 x payment of £375 before we start; 1 x payment of £375 four weeks later)
Deep Dive £1,380
£460 × 3 (1 x payment of £460 before we start; 1 x payment of £460 at 4 weeks; £460 at 8 weeks).
All instalments must be paid before the final session takes place or the final piece of reading is delivered. If an instalment is overdue, I will pause the work.
If you have any questions about payment, please get in touch.
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Packages are intended to be completed within the agreed timeframe: six weeks for Project Companion, twelve weeks for Project Development and four months for Deep Dive. If circumstances change, extensions can be discussed and agreed together.
If you need to cancel or rearrange a session, please give at least 24 hours' notice. Sessions cancelled with more than 24 hours' notice can be rearranged within the package period, subject to availability. Sessions cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice will normally be forfeited, except in emergencies or exceptional circumstances.
If I need to cancel, I will offer a replacement date within the package period or extend the package timeframe. If I am unable to complete the agreed reading or support, I will refund the value of the work I can't deliver.
If you decide to withdraw from a package before it is complete, I'll calculate the value of the work already undertaken, including sessions and reading, at the equivalent standalone rates (£60 per session hour and £90 per 2,000 words read). Any difference between this amount and what you've paid will be refunded or invoiced accordingly. Reading already underway will be charged according to the proportion of the submitted word count read.
If you have any concerns about continuing, I'm always happy to talk about whether there might be another way to approach the work.
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All sessions will take place over Zoom. You will be sent a link in advance of your session.
About me
Hi! I’m Ruth. I’m a queer, neurodivergent writer, editor, researcher and creative mentor. I have a PhD in English Literature and worked as a lecturer in universities for around ten years. Alongside my own writing, I bring many years of experience as a freelance editor of academic and non-academic work, as well as experience supporting writers and researchers through supervision and creative mentoring.
I work with people who have ideas they want to explore, develop and bring into the world, but aren't always sure how to. Maybe you've felt constrained by what you've been told (usually by school, university and/or professional environments) about how writing should happen, what it should look like, and who gets to do it. I'm interested in working with people who want to find other ways of thinking, writing and making.
My work brings together literary and critical expertise, editorial experience and a relational, embodied approach to creative practice. I'm interested in how we come to think and write in the ways we do, what shapes our sense of what's possible, and how we might find other ways of working, thinking and making meaning.
Get in touch
If you're interested in working together, or would like to talk through whether Alongside might be right for your project, email me at rne.charnock@gmail.com .
I'd be happy to hear more about what you're working on and what kind of support you're looking for.