Brianna Dworsack
Associate Editor & Beta Reader
Brianna Dworsack is an active member of the local writing community and a former editorial intern at Yellow Bird Editors. She is a long-time writer working on a novel and a collection of short stories. Her interest in editing was sparked by conversations with other authors and extends to many genres and all phases of the editing process, especially developmental editing. Her areas of focus are mystery/thriller and literary fiction. She was recently published in the Fall 2022 edition of Wrongdoing Magazine.
“My writing has greatly improved since Bri’s kind, concise, professional, and profound critique and editorial work. She understood the goal of my writing and help me move much closer to it. I was especially grateful for her suggestion to revive underused characters and, of course, to stop head-hopping. The entirety of my novel will be better for Bri’s critiques on issues both small and large. Thank you for all your hard work!”
-Melissa Ranlett, attorney and writer
“Brianna offered valuable feedback on my novel-length manuscript that confirmed many of my own suspicions regarding what needed updated and rewritten, but also asked me to consider looking at and addressing subjects within the work from a different perspective. She offered advice for how to strengthen plot lines and character relationships to add more emotional impact, which is always needed!"
-Alisha McDarris, journalist/photographer
“Brianna Dworsack reviewed my full-length manuscript. First, I’d like to say that she returned her feedback in a timely manner. Next, she was quite thorough and helpful. I was pleased that she laughed at things that I thought were funny, which showed me that the incidents in my book were really funny and not just funny to me. Also, she felt sorry for my antagonist, which is exactly what I was trying for. She also talked about characters that she loved and their interactions with other characters. This was most important to me because I wanted to make sure that my characters were “real” people. Next, she pointed out passages that were unnecessary to the flow of the story. These were places where I felt that something was wrong, but I wasn’t sure how to correct them. She gave me meaningful feedback on the storyline, the characters, and technical aspects of my writing. Most of all, I always second guessed myself, and she helped me to see that I can tell a good story.”
-Sharon Ballentine, writer
“I feel very fortunate to have worked with Brianna Dworsack on my novel-in-progress. Her feedback was completed in a timely manner and included thoughtful comments about the structure of the novel as well as leading me to take a deeper look at character development. Brianna provided me with a narrative critique of the novel as well as commentary embedded within the text. Her feedback was clear, instructive, and guiding. Brianna offered opportunities for me to reexamine actions taken in the story in relation to the plotline to keep the sense of the story sharp and compelling. She helped me see the novel in a more holistic way and, in turn, helped me develop a stronger story.”
-Denise Tolan, author
“I’m grateful to Brianna for her developmental edit of my thriller manuscript. I’ve had help from other writers at a chapter-by-chapter level, which is useful, but it was so valuable to have her practiced eye read the whole thing. It was validating to have her recognize the strengths of the draft, in addition to her expert suggestions on where it could be improved. Her feedback was insightful, actionable, and on the nose. I plan to start querying agents with this manuscript soon, and I’ll feel much more confident in that process after addressing the issues she helped me see. She performed the edit faster than I expected, and all of her communication was clear and prompt. It was a pleasure to work with her.”
- Chris Grayson, writer
“Brianna's review of the first twenty pages of my novel in progress was invaluable in bolstering my confidence to continue writing. Her thoughtful, kind and insightful critique validated the overall story direction. In addition, her edits assisted with the pacing of the action, early character development, and story line clarity. Her insight helped me recognize some issues to address before progressing further. I was very fortunate to have worked with Brianna at an early stage of my work.”