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Quill & Compass · Freelance Writing Providence, Rhode Island

Copy that sounds like the business you are.

You bring the rough draft. I’ll bring the compass.

Quill & Compass is a freelance writing practice in Providence, Rhode Island. I write copywriting, blog posts, whitepapers, editing and content strategy for businesses that have something worth saying and not quite the words for it yet.

Every project starts with reading what you already have and asking the questions nobody has asked yet.

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Copywriting · Blog posts · Whitepapers · Editing · Content strategy

A writer's desk in soft morning light with an open notebook, fountain pen and a small brass compass
Enclosure i. — The desk, most mornings.

What I Write

Five things, done properly.

Each of these can stand alone or sit inside a larger content strategy. Scope and format are agreed before any writing starts, so you know what to expect.

  1. 01

    Copywriting

    Website pages, campaign lines and the paragraphs that have to carry their own weight.

    Homepages · product pages · campaigns

  2. 02

    Blog posts

    Regular, readable pieces written for the people you actually want reading them.

    Editorial series · thought pieces

  3. 03

    Whitepapers

    Longer arguments, carefully built and plainly said, shaped for the people who decide.

    Research write-ups · guides · reports

  4. 04

    Editing

    Structural edits, line edits, and the last quiet pass before anything goes out the door.

    Developmental · line · proofreading

  5. 05

    Content strategy

    What to say, in what order, and who it is meant for — decided before the writing starts.

    Messaging · content plans · audits

The Process

How the correspondence goes.

Four steps, and you always know which one we are on. No mystery and no silence between drafts.

  1. 01

    You send a reply card

    Tell me what you are making, roughly who it is for, and when you need it. A sentence is enough to start.

  2. 02

    I write back

    With questions, a plan for the piece, and an honest word about what it will take to get it right.

  3. 03

    Drafts you can mark up

    Real drafts in a document you can comment on, with the reasoning attached, so you can disagree with something specific.

  4. 04

    The last pass

    We tighten it together until it reads like you on your best day, then it goes out into the world.

Enclosures

A few things from the desk.

What the work looks like between drafts: pages marked up, sentences cut, a window seat in Providence.

Hands marking up a stack of printed pages with a pencil at a wooden desk in warm afternoon light
Enclosure ii. — Marking up a long draft.
A studio corner with a low bookshelf, a jar of pens and a potted plant on a windowsill
Enclosure iii. — The corner where the reading happens.
An open laptop on a wooden writing table beside a notebook and a stoneware mug in late afternoon sun
Enclosure iv. — Tuesday, near the window.
Good writing is mostly listening, and then having the nerve to cut.

Tear along the perforation

The Reply Card

Send the card. I’ll write back.

Fill in as much or as little as you like. Tell me what you are working on and I will reply with questions and a plan for the piece.

  • What you are making
  • Who it is meant for
  • When you need it
  • Anything already written down

Providence, Rhode Island · replies by correspondence

Prefer email? Write to [email protected].

Postscript

P.S. Say hello first, if you’d rather.

You do not need a brief, a budget figure or a finished plan. Tell me what you are working on and I will tell you how I would write it. That is usually enough to know whether we should work together.

Request a quote