Adrian Van Young – Editor

I am a Columbia University MFA & a university-level creative writing instructor who has published five books of fiction, and short fiction & non-fiction in Electric Literature, Conjunctions, The Southwest Review, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Guernica, BOMB, Granta, The Believer, McSweeney's & The New Yorker. I have over a decade of professional freelance editorial experience working with dozens of highly satisfied private clients, as well as with a diverse array of independent literary presses & magazines such as Black Lawrence Press, BOMB, Gigantic, and The Master's Review.

I am qualified to provide high-level manuscript consultations, book coaching, & developmental editing on original manuscripts of fiction, particularly within the sub-genres of the literary short story, the horror, sci-fi, or speculative novel, crime & suspense, and character-driven narratives. In my editorial practice itself, I tend to take an approach of providing affirmative & critical feedback in equal measure, as well as always approaching a narrative on its own terms. In other words, I will never attempt to make your manuscript into something that it's not--and I am a BIG believer in discerning & identifying your manifest strengths as a writer first, allowing what you're doing right & well in your manuscript to guide the process.

But don't take my word for it, here are some blurbs!

"As a screenwriter with 35 produced international credits, a tenured professor of screenwriting at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, and an international script doctor and consultant, I've spent more than forty years teaching screen and television writing and editing screenplays. Yet writing my first novel scared the hell out of me. When I finished the first draft, I realized I needed to learn the craft of novel writing on a much deeper level.

Instead of enrolling in an MFA program, I hired Adrian.

His editorial notes and line edit on my historical novel went far beyond improving my first draft. Through his thoughtful, insightful, and always encouraging guidance, I came to understand the essential differences between writing for the screen and writing fiction. As I near the end of that process, I feel as though my manuscript has become the novel I set out to write.

If you want someone who will not only make your manuscript better but make you a better writer, I can't recommend Adrian highly enough.

-Don Bohlinger, Screen and Television Writer

"Adrian is a terrific editor. He hones in on what is working in a story, and then he explains what still needs work. His detailed critiques are as supportive as they are helpful, and he has always pointed me in the right direction for revision. His explanations helped me expand my characters in a way that deepened the narrative and made it more compelling. After working with Adrian for two years, I published several stories and was able to get my collection published."

-Carol Dines, author of This Distance We Call Love