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Editor.
Writing Coach.


Helping Heart-Centered Writers

Touch Their Readers’ Hearts.

Are you looking for an editor, ghostwriter, or writing coach?

I'm Ralph, and I'd enjoy talking to you about your next writing project. 

Whether you are a poet or memoirist in the making, a student seeking writing assistance, an individual looking for a ghostwriter, or a writer in need of an editor, you've come to the right place.


My mission is to help you express the poetry and beauty of everyday life through writing.  

In other words, I'll help you to see the extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary moments of your life and translate that into clear and compelling writing.

Through our work together, you will be able to express the deep truths that you’ve longed to give words and shape to for a long time, while experiencing the joy and satisfaction of reaching your writing aspirations and goals.


As an experienced editor, ghostwriter, writing coach, and widely published poet and writer, I can help you:

  • Start getting your poems published

  • Get into that special high school, college, or graduate program

  • Complete your memoir (or other piece of writing) by providing you with the support and guidance to write it yourself, or I can write it for you in a compelling way that maintains your own voice

  • Fine-tune what you've already written so that the writing powerfully expresses what you want to say.


Allow me to help you to express the poetry and beauty of everyday life through writing, whether you’ve already written something (and are seeking an editor), want to begin writing, or are looking for a writer to write your life story for you.

Contact me at (510) 465-3935 (Pacific Standard Time), or email me at ralphdranow@yahoo.com for a complimentary 30-minute phone conversation to discuss your project.


 
 
 
 

➤ LOCATION

Oakland, CA

➤ CONTACT

 
 
 
 
 
 

How I Can Help You


Coaching

If you feel frustrated because you have a passionate desire to write stories of some kind but aren’t writing, I can help you get started. I’m a good listener, and after we have a conversation about your writing project, I will coach you, providing guidance and support to help you get past that initial barrier and begin feeling the joy of creation. After that, I can continue coaching you, if needed.


Ralph has the rare gift of teaching; he is the five-star college professor we all wish we had. You can see the love for what he does in his eyes. His warm smile and nurturing feedback helped me get to the essence of my thought, provide self-confidence and motivate me to write more.
— Bethany St. Clair, author of Organizing with Feng Shui: 101 Tips Room by Room

fine tuning/Editing

If you’ve written something deeply felt but sense it could use some fine-tuning, I would be glad to help you with such essentials as clarity, flow, organization, use of evocative detail, etc. Your writing will be more accessible and say clearly and powerfully what you want it to say.
And I can edit what you've written until you feel your project -- poems, memoir, personal essays, nonfiction, or fiction -- is complete.


It was a pleasure working with Ralph. He did a wonderful job cleaning up my manuscript and making it a much better book to read. I learned a lot from him about the process of writing and creating stories. He will be there, guiding and supporting you every step of the way.
— Mary Ann Konarzewski, author of Harvesting the Light: Stories of Love, Wisdom, and Inspiration at the End of Life.

ghostwriting

If you have a valuable story that you’ve been longing to tell and are looking for a ghostwriter, someone to write your story for you, I’d love to help you with that.
As a skilled interviewer and listener and widely published writer, I will honor your story, maintaining your unique voice while crafting a compelling narrative.

 

Ralph was exceptionally helpful in working with me on a book about my husband’s life-threatening illness. He was extremely patient with us during this very emotional time.
I couldn’t have finished the book without him.
— Tammy ring-Gjerde, co-author of Beyond and Back

Why I Write.  What I Do.

I love stories. They give our lives feeling, shape, and texture. People have been telling each other stories for thousands of years. Stories can celebrate the human spirit, giving us hope, especially in difficult times. They can express awe and wonder at being alive in a vast, mysterious universe. Stories can also allow us to express the pain in our lives, enabling us to feel heard with compassion by ourselves and others. And they can help us puzzle out the meaning of our lives. Almost all of my widely published writing, poetry and prose, has consisted of stories, other people’s and my own.

And it's gratifying to know that the work I do can make a difference for my clients: for example, working with a beginning poet and sharing her excitement when she got her first two poems published; or helping a teenager get into her dream school, a high school for spoken arts; and crafting a personal statement and editing a research paper for a client which helped him get into a PhD program for Christian social workers.