Editing
GETTING IDEAS INTO ORDER
Having edited professionally for many years, I have a well-honed instinct for how to improve different kinds of writing. Often working directly with authors – of both fiction and non-fiction texts – I enjoy helping people marshal their ideas and achieve creative objectives. I can offer candid, friendly and insightful guidance on everything from a text’s overarching argument or building of character to chapter-level issues relating to structure and expression.
As well as doing detailed development work on a text, I can also offer authors a fixed-price manuscript assessment that gives them a positive steer on how to move a project forwards. I also take on some work as a copy editor; in recent years I have improved texts as diverse as catalogue essays on the work of contemporary artists, and the text of a children’s book on the life of Saint Augustine. Whatever the job, I am able to combine an expert editorial eye for detail and structure with my skills as a writer. This means I can suggest substantive ways to improve not only syntax, consistency and spelling but also content, flow and expression.
Recent editing projects
Development editing
In the last few years, I’ve acted as a sounding board and creative coach for authors of a varied set of fiction and non-fiction manuscripts. These have included two novels by an award-winning mid-career British author; a book by an Associate Professor at the New School New York (for the MIT Press) about the relationship between revolution, progress and design in the period between the French and Russian revolutions; an unconventional biography of Robert Mugabe by a debut author supported by the Miles Morland Foundation; and an illustrated book on happiness and mid-life creativity by a business consultant-turned-mosaic artist.
I have recently begun providing editing and writing services to Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good, and helping develop online content for Kinship Works, a new non-profit policy network that aims to help invigorate the public sector’s approach to tackling some of society’s biggest problems. Projects from the past few years include online messaging and content for the Eschaton–Anselm Kiefer Foundation in Paris, a series of online reports for The World Economic Forum, and bringing better focus to a set of essays for the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo‘s catalogue for ‘Christian Marclay Translating’, the artist’s first large-scale museum exhibition in Japan.
Ally is one of the best editors I’ve worked with.
Giles Foden, author of novels including The Last King of Scotland and Freight Dogs
Ally is a sympathetic and exacting editor who gets people to look critically at their writing. She not only offers the external perspective crucial to any project, but also helps make genuine improvements to the quality and appeal of the text. Working with Ally makes me a better writer.
Ulrich Lehmann, Associate Professor of Design Practice and Theory, The New School, New York
Copy editing
I’ve been the sole freelance editor used by White Cube (one of the world’s leading commercial art galleries) for over 20 years, working on catalogue texts by leading writers, curators and academics, including Will Self, Nicholas Serota, Simon Schama, Michael Bracewell, Ben Okri and former director of Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum, Rudi Fuchs. I’ve also done lots of editing work for leading contemporary art magazine frieze, as well as edited a number of books for Damien Hirst’s publishing company, Other Criteria.
Ally is the sole freelance editor called on by White Cube in the gallery’s work on publications, on jobs that range from copy editing to more complex rewrites. Although she’s a sensitive editor, she’s also not afraid to argue for changes, as well as having the creativity to be able to find ways to better and more imaginatively present a set of ideas. I have often received high praise for the gallery’s editing and must in no small part attribute this to her.
Honey Luard, Director of Publications, White Cube
With a keen eye for detail and a great sensibility for the English language, Ally is an exceptional editor, and has the intelligence and sensitivity to confidently handle a range of complex subject matter. Working with Ally is always a pleasure, since she is both incredibly personable and extremely reliable – a true professional!
Rosalind Furness, former Managing Editor, Frieze
Ally is an excellent and efficient editor, capable of forensic yet sensitive shaping of text. She is also a brilliantly astute reader – her broad-sweep reports on approach, content and tone have been as invaluable as her detailed edits. I would recommend her for any publication project without hesitation.
Amie Corry, former Editor, Other Criteria
Past editing projects
– Artist and illustrator Paul Davis‘s Line in the Sand, the catalogue for a show of his work at Ginza Graphic Gallery, Tokyo
– Jake Chapman’s introduction to the catalogue for the Chapman Brothers’ notorious exhibition ‘Insult to Injury’, for MACK
– A survey of contemporary Colombian photography for The Photographers’ Gallery, London
– Conversations between acclaimed architect and designer Ron Arad and art critic Matthew Collings for the book Ron Arad talks to Matthew Collings (published by Phaidon)
– A book published to accompany a Tracey Emin retrospective at the Southbank Centre
– A series of books on cultural theory for Iniva (the Institute of International Visual Arts), London
– Books on art, architecture and critical theory for arts publisher August Media