Writer, Editor, & Interculturalist

Steven Darian

About Darian

Writer, Editor, & Interculturalist

Where to start? Well, I’ve done about a dozen books & a slew of articles. While I’ve written scholarly works & textbooks, my main focus has come to be tradebooks — especially, popular nonfiction.

I’ve taught at Penn & Columbia, & 30 years at Rutgers. Plus 10 years as Editorial Director for a small publishing house in New York. I’ve also lived & worked, studied & traveled — in 9 or 10 countries around the world, including Saudi & Turkey; Ukraine & Switzerland; Afghanistan & Uzbekistan; India, China, & Indonesia.

Writings. For writings to share, I’ve included a chapter from my book The Wanderer: Travels & Adventures Beyond the Pale, with a cast of characters you won’t forget: The baby in the back seat (Marrakesh); Escape from Haifa; On the take in Tashkent; A Jewish-Christian-Muslim (Kabul;) Alfie Zander & the Red Army (Hainan). At the Lama’s table (Sikkim). Captain Werner & the Burning Grounds (Banaras). If you like to laugh — and want to learn a little more about the world — you’ll love The Wanderer; that I like to sum up in four words: profound & irreverent; outrageous & hilarious. Some, naughty. But all, very funny.

Your Writing. As for developing your writing, I’ve included several chapters from my book Technique in Nonfiction: The Tools of the Trade (2nd edition), that contains all the techniques a person needs, to write any kind of nonfiction: articles, textbooks, or popular books — science, history or travel; health or cooking, social or cultural issues. You name it.

Technique in Nonfiction

The Tools of the Trade

Whether you’re writing a scholarly work or a textbook, a tradebook like the history of archery or a term paper; or an article for The Atlantic—it’s the same challenge: the quality of your writing. In a sense, the more obscure or technical the subject, the more important good writing becomes.

This little book has four reasons to exist: to help you develop your reader’s interest, increase their understanding and remembering. And...help you establish the relationship.

The Wanderer

Travels & Adventures Beyond the Pale

Join the wanderer on his travels & adventures in the Middle East & Central Asia; India, China, & Indonesia. Plus visits to some ancient sites: Borobudur in Java; stations on the Silk Road; the Buddhas of Bamiyan, before they were dynamited by the Taliban. And Gaur: once the greatest city of India; today, the haunt of birds and monkeys.

With a cast of characters you won’t forget: The baby in the back seat(Marrakesh); Escape from Haifa; On the take in Samarkand; A Jewish-Christian-Muslim; Drinking with the Russian 2nd Secretary in Kabul; At the Lama’s table. Atheists and swinging swamis. A chance meeting in Banaras. The perils of harem life.

The book can be summed up in four words: profound & irreverent; outrageous & hilarious.

SHARING & BLOGGING

Writer, editor, interculturalist. These are probably my 3 main identities. In writing, my main focus is tradebooks; especially nonfiction. In editing, it’s scholarly articles & books of any sort, from academic to trade-books. As for interculturals, it’s whatever exists in time & space, that’s different from where we sit. For more, come join me on the journey.


The Writing Life. After you’ve looked thru Tools, let’s also share some of your thoughts—& examples—on writing techniques you really like. Or perhaps some new ones.

ACADEMICS


B.A - City University of New York. Major: Professional Writing
M.A. - New York University. Major: International Relations
M.A. - New York University. Major: Applied Linguistics
Ph.D. - New York University. Major: Applied Linguistics
University of Pennsylvania. Coursework & thesis completed for
M.A. in Indian History & Culture.

AWARDS


1992-1993 Fulbright Visiting Professor. India.
1997-1998 Fulbright Visiting Professor. Uzbekistan.
2001-2002 Fulbright Visiting Professor. Ukraine.

HOW I CAN HELP

  • Editing Services

    For more than 20 years, I’ve edited articles for scholars who want to publish their work in academic journals. My editing can help you improve the quality of your work and the chance of it being accepted for publication (Studies show that half of scholarly papers are rejected
    because of poor writing).

  • Other Special Areas

    As someone who has taught English around the world, I have also worked a great deal with people whose first language is not English. For this reason, I especially welcome inquiries from non-native-speakers of English.

  • And so...On to the Wider World

    I also help rewrite scholarly books as trade books: popular books on serious topics, that are written for the wider world. If you really want to connect with that wider world, this is one of the best ways to do it.

  • Rates

    My rate for editing is $2.00 a page (with 1.5 line spacing). In addition to correcting things like grammar & punctuation, I focus on those concepts that make your writing easier to understand & remember, more convincing, and more interesting.

Question to questions

Any question? Reach out to me and I will get back to you shortly.
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Three Great Thoughts   

Here are three things that are worth spending some time really thinking about. The first is from French Novelist Stéphane Mallarmé: “Everything in the world exists in order to end up as a book.” The second, from Nobel laureate Toni Morrison: “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” And the last, by writer Joseph Cirignano. “Each of us is a book waiting to be written.”

So come, let’s make the journey...together

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