Sonya Kohut

I’m Sonya Kohut, an editor specializing in academic writing and professional architectural writing. My past editing work has ranged in scale from ten-page book forewords and thirty-page academic articles to three-hundred-page PhD dissertations.

My editing philosophy focuses upon clear storytelling and lines of argumentation. I want to help you express complicated and nuanced ideas as simply as possible while preserving their subtlety, in a manner that entices your reader to keep reading. Whether the piece in question is an essay, a design proposal, or a work of fiction, my editing can help you delve into your own thought processes to finally arrive at what you really meant to say all along. Sometimes that means untangling ambiguous theoretical ideas; sometimes the process clarifies what is central to a narrative while leaving concrete conclusions to the reader’s judgment. In all cases, my editorial interest is about making texts of all kinds intelligible to external readers who want to engage with the author’s ideas.

Since 2013, I’ve instructed Masters of Architecture students in writing, history and theory at McGill and Carleton University. The skills I’ve learned through this process—particularly, a cooperational mentality, supporting students through meaningful feedback so they can produce excellent work—have contributed immeasurably to my editing abilities.

My areas of specialty are:

• Academic editing, including theses and dissertations, journal articles for publication, essays, grant proposals, and statements of intent.
• Editing for humanities subjects, with specialized knowledge in architectural history, theory, and design.
• Professional architectural communications: project proposals, statements of project and design intent, discussions of sustainability.
• Developmental editing and copyediting for works of fiction. 
• Respectful and collaborative ESL language corrections for students and academics.

If you have a writing project underway that requires editing at any stage, from developmental editing to copyediting to proofreading, please get in touch! I’d be happy to talk about your project’s requirements, provide you with a quotation, and conduct a sample edit, so we can determine whether my editing is a good fit for your work.