Approach

Basically, we help people say what they mean.

We start by asking questions. It’s best to do this in person, but if we can’t, then email or a 20-minute phone conversation works fine.

We don’t charge for time spent considering a project. That would be charging for reading, which would be like collecting a fee for breathing.

The ultimate question we ask is usually some form of “What do you want your reader to do, having read this?” All decisions and edits flow from there.

(Sometimes the “do” is as simple as “Smile,” or “Pay me $16 for a compact fluorescent light bulb.” But usually it’s something more profound.)

We’re good at retooling messages for different audiences. We’re also skilled at spotting the places where you are likely to be misunderstood. We believe rephrasing sentences solves many problems, and that restructuring whole documents solves even more.

We like plain language. We understand what audiences need and don’t need. No one feels the slipperiness of human attention more sharply than a writer does. (Except for a good editor, possibly.) These are people you want on your team.

Only a writer wouldn’t use a word like “team” in this instance. Writers and editors can be pleasant people, though, and fun to work with.

As we’re constitutionally prejudiced toward direct, economical language and have strong ideas about style, we were once asked if our every client ended up sounding the same. “We don’t think so,” we said. And it’s true.

Fact is, our job is to help people sound more like themselves, to return to their original inspiration(s) and develop their best ideas — not their simplest ones.

If you think we might be able to help you, please be in touch at mh@wherewithalpress.com.

Thanks for reading.