In second grade, while on a weekend trip with her family (a lot of free time traveling in the camper), Doresa crafted a tale about a financially struggling farmer. Not wanting to repeat the same word multiple times in the piece (a writing 101 rule), she asked her mother for a synonym for “poor.” Mom suggested “poverty stricken,” which Doresa liked and used.
Once finished with and proud of her story, the budding wordsmith showed “The Farmer Who Had No Money” to her schoolteacher, who commented, “This is fantastic! Keep up the great work!” However, Mrs. Teacher (name omitted intentionally) contacted and told Doresa’s parents she believed Doresa hadn’t written the story and, instead, had called someone else’s work her own. As if.
Just as Doresa did at age seven, she still strives today to elevate her own writing and, through editing, that of others. She has decades of experience crafting all kinds of content, from company Web copy to magazine articles to recruitment letters. Also, she has become an author and blogger.
Editing comes easily and naturally to Doresa; errors simply leap toward her off the screen or page. She’s edited everything from pamphlets and medical records to magazines and books. Passionate (okay, perhaps rabid) about proper grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure and all of the components of superb writing, Doresa delivered The Who, Why, When and How of Editing at the Writers Conference in Northern Nevada in 2009 and taught Editing Techniques for Writers at the local community college in 2009 and 2010.
Currently, her clients primarily are publications, authors and businesses.
Doresa’s educational background — a B.A. in Writing and Literature from the University of California, San Diego and an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Nevada, Reno — informs her work.
When not writing or editing, the Reno, Nevada resident enjoys doing crossword puzzles (The Wall Street Journal’s Saturday one is her all-time favorite), reading, and buying treasures at the local library book sales (yes, truly unoriginal for a writer/editor). Other top pastimes, though, include jogging (with music or a friend,) tackling house/yard projects and knitting/crocheting wearable accessories while watching crime shows.