Alissa de Wit-Paul

Project Background

Alissa De Wit-Paul is an architect who teaches architectural history, studios, and sustainable design at the Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York. Because her professional activities took precedence over preparing manuscripts for publication and conference scripts about her research, she sought assistance in strengthening her writing.

I contacted several editors for help with academic writing and developing and Flatpage immediately responded. I did interview several editors but felt extremely comfortable with Flatpage’s responses to my questions. They understood my dilemma in moving my writing from professional to high level academic.

Alissa de Wit-Paul

The author was interested in working with the team at Flatpage on several documents that she was preparing, including proposals, scripts for conference papers, and journal articles. She wanted her writing to sound clear and concise, and grounded in a scholarly argument. Additionally, she sought out coaching services as she further developed her writing and conference presentation skills.

The Collaboration

Because the author had focused over the course of her career on professional practice, she wanted to work with an experienced and well-published developmental editor who could help her elevate her writing. She had been working on several conference proposals and abstracts that had been well received by the organizing committee but didn’t exude the strength she wanted them to.

During the full developmental edit on one of the author’s proposals, Flatpage’s editor provided an evaluation, focusing on its organization and the way the author’s argument was presented. The editor used tracked changes and provided comments on the draft to illustrate how the author could address the big-picture issues in her writing.

I have worked with editors before but I never truly understood how to elevate and organize my writing for academic journals. Flatpage has made my writing process and results much more accepted and professional. I am now free to write what I think knowing Flatpage has my back in terms of creating well-written and argued papers. I also know that when my paper is completed I will be proud of the work and not embarrassed by my lack of organization and clarity. I cannot stress how important this has been to my career in academia and to my personal growth.

Once the proposal was accepted, the author worked with the same editor in a coaching capacity in order to improve the script of the paper. During their hour-long virtual calls, the author and coach discussed the writing process and addressed some of the issues the author encountered during the drafting process.

The Outcome

The author successfully presented several papers with the help of our developmental editor and coach. She has since worked with the same editor on a number of other projects, including journal articles and other proposals.

I have recommended Flatpage to my colleagues and students. My students also loved working with Flatpage because they felt the editor valued their ideas and truly worked towards making their writing fit their intellectual ability. Again, I am grateful for Flatpages helping my students’ academic growth.