THE WORD GARDEN

Whether you’re building kingdoms or crafting emotional character arcs, your adventure starts here

A smiling woman with glasses and long dark hair standing outdoors near a wooden fence, with trees and bushes in the background.
White line drawing of a butterfly's front view, showing detailed wings, antennae, and body on a black background.

HI, I’M JODIE

Editor and founder of The Word Garden.

I created The Word Garden to help fiction writers polish their prose, strengthen their voice, and feel confident in sharing their precious work with the world.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing, as well as professional training in editing through The Editorial Freelancers Association and Club Ed to provide you with the best services. My love for reading, language, and detail is what fuels my passion for helping stories shine.

GENRES I SPECIALISE IN:

  • Fantasy

  • Romantasy

  • Sci-fi

  • Romance

  • Young Adult

  • Short Stories

  • Poetry

View fullsize A well-developed novel is just as much about character as it is about plot (if not more). Your main character drives the plot foward - but not if you don’t know them. Your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect, and if you don’t k
View fullsize What I look for in a first chapter (as a developmental editor)🖋️📄 I don’t expect a first chapter to do everything and it’s doesn’t need to be perfect, but here are some things I look for that will make readers keep turning the pa
View fullsize As a developmental and line editor, these are things I look out for when editing your manuscript - and now you can too! 💫 Readers are sometimes pulled out of the story by these minor details even if they can’t exactly place why it was distrac
View fullsize 🌟How to transform your prose🌟 with examples! Here are a few short tips and examples sentences on how to transform a sentence to be more immersive.🌿 Note: When editing, I do not change your words and if I make big suggestions like this, they will
View fullsize Fantasy writers are often told to focus on worldbuilding, politics, magic systems etc. But strong fantasy isn’t just built on lore. These are some of the most common mistakes I see in early drafts of fantasy manuscripts. Need more help takin
View fullsize autumn poetry prompts🍂 I’m about a month late but we’ve only had cool mornings for a week or two so autumn has only truly begun now here is South Africa. This is my first time making prompts but I hope these inspire some creativity (wha
View fullsize My editing wishlist🖋️ - fantasy🐉 - romance 💞 - literary fiction ☕️ - gothic 🐦‍⬛ - short fiction and novellas 📚 My bookings for line edits, copy-edits, and proofreads are open📮 Link in bio! #bookeditor #writergram #authorsupport #fantasy
View fullsize 5 problems that can disrupt reader immersion💭 1. Point of view changes 2. Repetitive words or phrases 3. Inconsistencies 4. Unclear pronouns 5. Typos (within reason) These five problems are all addressed in different stages of line and copy-editin
View fullsize Backstory vs Infodumps. What’s the difference? A small, but important difference to consider when writing and editing your manuscript is infodumps (not in a bad way😉) and backstory. Telling is not *always* bad when it comes to infodumps and