I'm not a writing teacher. I'm a working writer who likes to teach.

Dave K.

Hi, I'm Dave. I graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in Creative Writing, and I've been earning my living as a writer ever since. First as a politics reporter for small-town newspapers around the northeast...the greatest crash course in real-world writing I can imagine (with a big helping of character-studying on the side). From there I moved into writing for New York ad firms, and then to Los Angeles where I currently work as a TV and Film writer. On the side I also write family biographies and non-fiction books for clients in LA and NYC.

Along the way I've learned two things: I will never be great at tennis, but I do seem to have a knack for helping people write more clearly, more directly, and with just the right amount of style (because too much is often worse than too little). Plus, I get a big kick out of it - especially that moment when it clicks for the student, when the answer appears and the assignment comes together like a four-piece picture puzzle.

I've helped people write novels, college essays, screenplays, and fifth-grade geography papers. Every writer is different, every assignment is different, so there's no single approach to take with everyone. But I always start by listening. And I often say: "My job isn't to tell you whether your idea is good or bad. My job is to figure out where you're trying to go, and come up with ways to help you get there." And, I'll add, to make it fun - because when you're in the middle of writing something great, it feels like the smell of cookies in the oven. You know something good's on the way.

Writing, believe it or not, is fun. If you're stuck, or dreading getting started, give me a chance to help you turn your assignment into something you'll actually look forward to working on and be proud of when you're done.