Greetings, all!

An introduction

I have once again Started a Thing, and, as this may possibly reach beyond my current social circle, I do believe it’s time for an introduction.

Hi! It’s me, Jojo, your friendly neighbourhood wordsmith.

I've been obsessed with stories and the written word for longer than I can remember; even as a toddler I am told I couldn't get enough of it. My childhood was spent inhaling every book I could find that sparked my interest (primarily anything with dragons or pirates on the cover). I also discovered at a young age that I have a bit of a talent for wordsmithery, though I seem to have a lesser talet for actually finishing things...

After graduating high school I completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English, with an accidental second major in Theatre and Film Studies, then avoided entering the workforce by earning a Diploma in Proofreading and Editing. I was eventually badgered into becoming a technical writer in 2016, which I have discovered is a job I very thoroughly enjoy and excel at. I decided to go back to university part-time to pursue a Master of Writing just in time for the pandemic to hit, but nevertheless managed to graduate with Distinction in 2022.

I like to maintain a lot of variety in my writing, and bounce gleefully from detective stories to farce to sonnets to absurdism/surrealism to seventeenth century stage comedy and back again. I tend to be inspired first and foremost by technical challenges; more than what story I want to tell, I am intrigued by how to tell it. You can expect my work to include a lot of wit and irony, snappy dialogue, lovable characters, and an entirely unnecessary but satisfying level of structural complexity (it's only fun if I'm making things difficult for myself, after all).

I also have a passion for helping people learn; sometimes this reveals itself in my heavy involvement with training as part of my day job, sometimes in more informal mentorship opportunities, and sometimes in gleeful infodumping about punctuation on the internet. I intend to corral the last of these in a series of posts under the label “Grammar Talk”.

If you want to know more about me, here are some useful links:

• See more of my writing on Jojo Writes!

• Check out my proofreading and editing services with Jojo’s Red Pen!

• Peruse what I’m reading on The Storygraph!

• Consider one-off financial support via Kofi!

And, if you want to keep up with me: