Editorial Freelancers Association
Member Profile
Helen Verongos
I am three decades into a varied, stimulating, and immensely enjoyable career in editing and writing, currently, and largely, at The New York Times where I work full-time. I have filled roles ranging from Foreign Desk night assignment editor to deputy editor of the Continuous News Desk, the first in-house web-content-producing body at The Times that came into being at the turn of the millennium. In my current position, as a senior staff editor in the Culture Desk backfield, I help to shape and polish articles, reviews and in-depth profiles. And once the pandemic took hold, essentially freezing the arts in New York City, I rotated through other departments at The Times, including the politics desk during the 2020 election campaign, the obituaries editing pod, and, for part of my week over many months, the Covid-19 Live Briefings team.
The guiding principle of my editing work at The Times is to preserve the voices of the writers I edit while enhancing and elevating their stories to the organization’s standards, and beyond, and to ensure the writing and reporting is clear, fair and sensitive, taking into account the complex considerations necessary to avoid oversimplifying important details such as gender identity and sexual orientation; ensure writing does not express a white-centric point of view; and prevent assumptions about groups including immigrants from various cultures, trans people, and individuals with disabilities, visible and invisible. My goal is to have every piece of writing I work on become clearer, more focused and easier to comprehend without compromising the rhythm or beauty of the prose.
When I deal with less experienced writers, I try to imbue my edits with gentle instruction to help bolster the reporters’ skills and confidence. Watching their transformation is gratifying. Often, I am assigned to shepherd the more sensitive or complex culture-related stories through the editing process at The Times. Formally, I have used those skills as a mentor through both the New York Times mentorship program, which pairs more experienced journalists with newer employees who aspire to similar jobs, and another mentoring program established by the Times Unit of the NewsGuild to help develop a career path for young journalists.
Writing is something I pursue as often as I can. I began my career as a reporter and reviewer of the arts, and I have throughout my career written literary and film reviews, theater reviews, Page One obituaries, and, on occasion, the Wordplay crossword column for NYT Games — on a freelance basis.
Before I joined The Times, at newspapers including The Hartford Courant, Stars and Stripes (in Tokyo) and The Clarion-Ledger (in Jackson, MS), my responsibilities have included arts reviewing, science writing, supervising the chiefs of several local news bureaus, and, of course, editing copy in every sense of the word. I have contributed writing or editing to fiction and nonfiction books as well as to almanacs, a historical atlas of the Middle East, blogs, crossword collections, academic publications and legal documents.
My volunteer efforts include coaching underserved students in writing college essays and taken part in a book project that captured in photographs a vivid commercial street in the Bronx that was in danger of losing its historic identity to development. At the same time, I worked as a contributing writer (and resident proofreader) for PTSD Journal, a magazine that served a specialized readership until 2019.
I’m interested in creatively applying my skills in areas including but not limited to: Asia and Asian affairs, literature, life sciences, theater, medicine, communications, labor, AI and its ramifications, neuro-psychological development, special education and adoption.
Being a writing coach to advanced-degree students in writing — as well as medical students applying for residencies, artists seeking fellowships and students for whom English is a foreign language — is another area I have found rewarding as a freelancer. It has also been a happy surprise to find how engaging it is to work with individuals on drafting and editing their personal correspondence, from business letters to carefully worded inquiries about sensitive issues.
For fun, since I enjoy solving puzzles, I started learning the art and craft of crossword construction a few years ago, and since then have had my puzzles appear in books, national newspapers and in syndication. I am delighted to add creating personalized crosswords to my list of freelance services.
Continuing my education is important to me and helpful to my work, so I pick up professional development courses whenever I can. I have found that the best assignments are the ones that inspire me to dig deeper and expand my knowledge. Although I took several months off freelancing earlier this year as I recovered from an illness, I am back at my day job full time and am once again accepting outside projects, so please do reach out with your requests and requirements. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
106 Christopher St.
Montclair, NJ 07042
US
Email: hevero@verizon.net
https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-verongos-19820753/
Years in the field: 35
Years freelancing: 15
Helen Verongos
I am three decades into a varied, stimulating, and immensely enjoyable career in editing and writing, currently, and largely, at The New York Times where I work full-time. I have filled roles ranging from Foreign Desk night assignment editor to deputy editor of the Continuous News Desk, the first in-house web-content-producing body at The Times that came into being at the turn of the millennium. In my current position, as a senior staff editor in the Culture Desk backfield, I help to shape and polish articles, reviews and in-depth profiles. And once the pandemic took hold, essentially freezing the arts in New York City, I rotated through other departments at The Times, including the politics desk during the 2020 election campaign, the obituaries editing pod, and, for part of my week over many months, the Covid-19 Live Briefings team.
The guiding principle of my editing work at The Times is to preserve the voices of the writers I edit while enhancing and elevating their stories to the organization’s standards, and beyond, and to ensure the writing and reporting is clear, fair and sensitive, taking into account the complex considerations necessary to avoid oversimplifying important details such as gender identity and sexual orientation; ensure writing does not express a white-centric point of view; and prevent assumptions about groups including immigrants from various cultures, trans people, and individuals with disabilities, visible and invisible. My goal is to have every piece of writing I work on become clearer, more focused and easier to comprehend without compromising the rhythm or beauty of the prose.
When I deal with less experienced writers, I try to imbue my edits with gentle instruction to help bolster the reporters’ skills and confidence. Watching their transformation is gratifying. Often, I am assigned to shepherd the more sensitive or complex culture-related stories through the editing process at The Times. Formally, I have used those skills as a mentor through both the New York Times mentorship program, which pairs more experienced journalists with newer employees who aspire to similar jobs, and another mentoring program established by the Times Unit of the NewsGuild to help develop a career path for young journalists.
Writing is something I pursue as often as I can. I began my career as a reporter and reviewer of the arts, and I have throughout my career written literary and film reviews, theater reviews, Page One obituaries, and, on occasion, the Wordplay crossword column for NYT Games — on a freelance basis.
Before I joined The Times, at newspapers including The Hartford Courant, Stars and Stripes (in Tokyo) and The Clarion-Ledger (in Jackson, MS), my responsibilities have included arts reviewing, science writing, supervising the chiefs of several local news bureaus, and, of course, editing copy in every sense of the word. I have contributed writing or editing to fiction and nonfiction books as well as to almanacs, a historical atlas of the Middle East, blogs, crossword collections, academic publications and legal documents.
My volunteer efforts include coaching underserved students in writing college essays and taken part in a book project that captured in photographs a vivid commercial street in the Bronx that was in danger of losing its historic identity to development. At the same time, I worked as a contributing writer (and resident proofreader) for PTSD Journal, a magazine that served a specialized readership until 2019.
I’m interested in creatively applying my skills in areas including but not limited to: Asia and Asian affairs, literature, life sciences, theater, medicine, communications, labor, AI and its ramifications, neuro-psychological development, special education and adoption.
Being a writing coach to advanced-degree students in writing — as well as medical students applying for residencies, artists seeking fellowships and students for whom English is a foreign language — is another area I have found rewarding as a freelancer. It has also been a happy surprise to find how engaging it is to work with individuals on drafting and editing their personal correspondence, from business letters to carefully worded inquiries about sensitive issues.
For fun, since I enjoy solving puzzles, I started learning the art and craft of crossword construction a few years ago, and since then have had my puzzles appear in books, national newspapers and in syndication. I am delighted to add creating personalized crosswords to my list of freelance services.
Continuing my education is important to me and helpful to my work, so I pick up professional development courses whenever I can. I have found that the best assignments are the ones that inspire me to dig deeper and expand my knowledge. Although I took several months off freelancing earlier this year as I recovered from an illness, I am back at my day job full time and am once again accepting outside projects, so please do reach out with your requests and requirements. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
