FAQs
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
"I’ve been a professional writer for more than 20 years, and specifically have worked as an art critic for the Boston Globe since 1995. I thought I knew how to write. I have been working for several years on a memoir, which I had taken to an independent editor for insight and advice. Lately I have been struck – every time we meet – at how much more concise and thorough Lauren’s advice is. I feel as if I’m taking a master class with her about how to shape a narrative. She is honest and forthcoming, aware of her own biases, and most importantly, she fosters a writing process that teaches students about themselves at the same time it teaches them about writing. I’ve had many writing teachers in my life, at Vassar College and during a year abroad with teachers from University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin, not to mention several professional editors at the Boston Globe and other newspapers and magazines. I have learned more about the craft from Lauren than from any of the others. She’s remarkable." -- Cate McQuaid, author of Midnight Mass (memoir-in-progress) and writer for the Boston Globe.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
As a veteran of the publishing industry, Lauren Sarat worked as an assistant editor at Picador USA/St. Martin's Press, and with the literary agency, Sobel Weber Associates. Prior to working in publishing, she was a bookseller in traditional stores like Three Lives & Co. in New York City, and also worked as a freelance features editor with barnesandnoble.com.
- What types of customers have you worked with?
"Lauren Sarat helped me develop and refine the stories that grew into my autobiographical play Monocular Man, which I performed in several cities. My acting didn't win any awards, but my critics always loved the writing, and for that I credit Lauren's help. Her responses to my early and late drafts were brilliant, concise, honest, compassionate, and authoritative. She brings both her heart and brain to the coaching process, and writers -- beginner or experienced -- feel like they're in remarkably knowledgeable hands. They are. I look forward to working with Lauren on my next project." -- R. Jim Stahl, author of Monocular Man