Dr Dorothy Lawrenson | Nonfiction copyediting and developmental editing
Based in Edinburgh, UK, with clients worldwide
- [email protected]
- Membership Grade
- Advanced Professional Member
About Dorothy
About me
I am an approachable, reliable and efficient copyeditor and developmental editor with over six years' experience editing across a variety of nonfiction fields, often working with writers whose first language is not English. My academic background is in Creative Writing and History of Art, and I am most interested in editing texts about art and design, English and Scottish literature, and Scottish history and culture. I am the only editor in the CIEP directory offering editing services for texts written in the Scots language (Scots leid).
Qualifications
PhD Creative Writing, University of Edinburgh (2021)
MFA Creative Writing, Texas State University (2016)
MA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Edinburgh (2004)
Subjects
I am happy to edit and proofread any writing on the arts, humanities and social sciences, but I have particular expertise in the following areas:
- Art history: especially medieval, Renaissance, nineteenth-century, twentieth-century, contemporary, Impressionism, the Pre-Raphaelites, Arts and Crafts Movement, British, Scottish, printmaking, design, architecture, landscape design, urban planning, visual culture, film and television;
- Literature: especially English, Scottish, Irish, American, poetry, medieval, Romantic, nineteenth-century, twentieth-century, modernism, contemporary;
- Scottish studies: including folk and traditional music, visual arts, performing arts, literature, history, archaeology, anthropology, ethnology, mythology, folklore;
- Scots language (Scots leid): I understand the challenges of working in a language without a standardised orthography and can sensitively edit and proofread texts written in Scots.
Testimonials
Dorothy did more than copyediting on my latest book. She turned a mess of a manuscript which I had been working on for far too long into something I could respectably hand over to my publisher. Her understanding and insightful suggestions were remarkable, she worked at the speed of light, and her judgement was always spot on. A great gift to any writer who is running out of time and patience, and has deadlines to meet. (Prof Paul Chilton, Brexitspeak, Cambridge University Press)
Wonderful editorial work. The experience of working with Dorothy was pleasant and satisfactory, including clear and fast communication. Her editing was great; as I also edit and translate other people's texts in(to) Korean, I know working with others' texts is not easy. Since I wrote my theses in German and English, I've experienced multiple proofreaders and editors. Unfortunately, more than half of those experiences were not satisfactory, and I often felt that my text was 'savaged' by an editor who changed my intention and/or voice. I was impressed, as Dorothy understood my intended meaning very well, edited thoroughly without overriding/over-intervening in my text, and has a very good command of language. I would like to work with her again. (Sue, independent researcher)
We used Dorothy for the proofreading of a Scots translation. Working with a language such as Scots, which is less standardised than most other languages, poses a number of challenges. Dorothy helped us to overcome these challenges, demonstrating an incredibly professional, thorough and conscientious approach throughout our collaboration. She was a pleasure to work with, and we won’t hesitate to contact her again for future projects. (Andrew Wood, Linguatext Ltd.)
I had a series of sentences written in Scots to exemplify the language in contrast to other Germanic languages like German, Frisian and Dutch in a book I was writing. Unfortunately, the text I had in Scots was too English laden and so I sought out Dorothy to proofread the text and make it proper Scots. Dorothy did a fantastic job making the necessary changes to make the text truly Scots. I highly recommend her for any Scots need that you may have! (Robbie Kunz, robertsonbkunz.com)
The Investigator Brochure is a key piece of documentation in the drug development process, written in English but frequently read by investigators for whom English is their second language. Dorothy performed a very professional review of the Zapnometinib Investigator Brochure, identifying typographical errors in the document, but also highlighting areas which could lead to misunderstandings/misinterpretations. The work was completed on time and within budget. (Dr Tim Overend, Atriva Therapeutics GmbH)
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Disclaimer note
The CIEP Directory of Editorial Services should be considered a point of first contact and prospective clients must satisfy themselves that members are capable of the work on offer. The Institute cannot be held responsible for the quality of work provided by any member listed in the directory. The members themselves are responsible for the maintenance and accuracy of their entries in the Directory and the CIEP has not made any attempt to vet them. The institute cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies in the Directory. Inclusion in the Directory as a freelance does not necessarily mean that the member is self-employed as defined by HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions.