Consultations

I love working with writers on memoirs, essays, and other book-length projects. I provide close readings, honest and motivating written feedback, and synchronous meetings when requested. I honor each writing project for what it wants to be, and for what the writer’s goals are.

I'm an Associate Teaching Professor at The College of William & Mary in Virginia, and previously taught writing and literature at Emerson College, Harvard University, GrubStreet, MCPHS University, and Northeastern University. I also facilitated workshops for Writers Without Margins—a non-profit dedicated to expanding access to literary arts for everyone, including those marginalized, stigmatized, or isolated by the challenges of addiction recovery, disability, trauma, sickness, injury, poverty, and mental illness.

If you’d like to work together, please contact me for more information about availability and rates.

  • “Caitlin has been my indispensable advisor on a lengthy project involving knotty structural issues. When I first sat down with her, I presented Caitlin with a basket full of broad ambition and tangled but good ideas, much in need of structure and direction. What I needed was a master architect, like Caitlin, who would work with me on turning my jumbled basket into a buildable blueprint. She is an insightful listener and a talented writer, and she skillfully helped bring my project into sharper focus and better alignment. She was also a pleasure to work with all along the way. Caitlin didn’t just answer my questions, or merely provide craft pointers (although she did do both of those things); what she did was teach me where to find, and how to answer, the key internal questions I should be asking myself. I asked her for direction, which she provided expertly, but she also offered me a compass, and taught me how to read and follow it. That’s what I carry with me.”

    -Thane Scott, Writer, Boston, MA

  • “With some trepidation, I asked Caitlin to help me with an essay I was writing about the death of my son. I felt exposed and vulnerable just thinking about having someone read it and give me feedback. I needn’t have worried! She read my piece with so much care and kindness. She gave me great ideas about everything from timeline and structure to word choice and use of detail and description. Her sensitive feedback allowed me to see if what I had written expressed what I intended. Thanks to her, I was able to dig deeper and trust myself  more as a writer.” 

    -Lorni Cochran, Developmental Movement Therapist, Guilford, VT

  • “Caitlin possesses the necessary attributes to not only assist the writer through a detailed review, but also inspire the writer to produce higher quality content. Her attention to detail is very impressive. She asks all the right questions in the exact manner that will assist the writer in having their work constantly improving and progressing to the best final product that can be achieved. Her ability to organize all of the moving parts while maintaining the big picture view that the work deserves makes the editing process interesting, exciting, and fulfilling. Her criticism comes in defense of the manuscript’s best version, and for that reason, I would trust Caitlin with any and all of my work.”

    -Brendan Howard, Writer, Boston, MA