In 2012, after working for seven years as an editor at Business Day, South Africa’s leading daily newspaper, I decided to focus on my passion for writing, working on my own projects and collaborating with others on theirs.

A multiplicity of clients, websites, articles, and books later, I was drawn to developmental editing. I find this big-picture engagement with other writers’ projects both more challenging and more rewarding than line-by-line editing. I enjoy thinking through animating ideas, structural conundrums, and all the other questions that storytelling raises.

I have a decades-long interest in Buddhist philosophy and practice, and have taught meditation privately and in group settings. I believe the lessons of Buddhism — emphasising the importance of patience, forbearance, and compassion towards ourselves under all circumstances —can be extremely helpful to writers. The writing path, as we all know, is full of obstacles, but if we are deliberate about it, we can transform what most frustrates us into the moments of liberation.