If these guys were your big report, I could sort them out.
Happy New Year! Right now the world situation looks a lot like this picture. Yesterday even my guinea pigs were looking like this picture, when I put their clean beds down. And not even the Text Pixie can sort it out. But she can do what she can, and I can do what I can to make my little corner of things cleaner, truer, more functional, and better.
In the past year I’ve been doing a lot of digital PR activities – tweeting, blogging-in-residence, acting as a consultant for people setting up new blogs; I even ran an ambitious blog tour that had measurable impacts. (Kind of like the Green Lantern, only nice.)
I’ve done writing: articles, news in briefs, press releases, pitches and submissions, interviews, reports.
I’ve done editing, lots of editing. And written a series of articles for MsLexia magazine on digital media. (This year: a series on e-publishing.) I was even interviewed as an expert for Communication Director magazine.
As well as syntax, I can kick into place your grammar, your corporate messaging, your good news stories, your readability – even your technical documents.
I’ve also been running a lot of creative writing workshops – and while that isn’t quite the same thing as ‘copywriting’, it is very much about seeing what the possibilities are and then choosing the one that works. Technically. And gets your readers to feel what you want them to feel. So it is the same thing, kind of. I’ve been working with people from where they are, not just slapping a load of rules on them. See what they say.
I’ve been mentoring people who want to improve their manuscripts, or just their ability to write, and make their words sing (and not ‘like a canary’). They’re getting published so it must be helping.
In short, I’ve been putting my powers to good use, and thinking a lot about how we communicate with our audiences; how we put forward our narrative to get the results we want. That’s what I’ve been doing in the past year, and this year I want to do more of it. (Which is where you might come in… )
And by the way, I never advocate the use of guns. As it happens, my superhero power is correct use of a semi-colon.
Drop me a line to find out more.
