Telling Your Story

I love to tell a good story.

People intrigue me, as do organizations with their various missions, goals, and activities. I enjoy telling their stories by finding unique points of interest and oblique angles in order to make a personal connection between their message and their target audience.

For the past twenty-four years, I have worked in an array of professional fields (government, education, healthcare, private enterprise, non-profit, news media, agriculture, architecture / engineering, and more), and have developed the ability to adapt quickly in order to produce material that is both appropriate in tone and accurate in content. I am able to author pieces that are either succinct and factual or lengthy and layered, depending upon the identified project need.  

I am extremely versatile and able to author material in a variety of styles on a diversity of topics.

Examples include:

• Grants to federal, state, and private sources

• Freelance news and human interest articles

• Freelance blogging

• Web content / copy

• Media relations

• Video (scripts, voice-over dialogue, etc.)

• Brochures / Newsletters

• Coffee table and promotional books

• Custom content designed to suit your needs...ask me.

See examples here.

A Distinct, Yet Chameleonic Voice

I have an instinctive command of the English language and am thus able to produce writing that is clear and concise, yet vivid, layered, and enjoyable to read.  My writing maintains a strong, clear voice that moves quickly and efficiently through details, without feeling rushed.  

I enjoy experimenting with language in order to articulate ideas in original ways, and I avoid using clichéd phraseology which tends to tone down the energy of a piece and diminish its impact. I want the reader to be able to smell, taste, and feel the ideas being expressed. I refuse to “write down” to audiences, and yet I do not author complicated prose that requires multiple passes over a sentence in order to comprehend its meaning.

I endeavor to communicate more than just the facts of a story by drawing out and imparting its essence; I take difficult or technical subjects and make them accessible to a broader audience; I channel highly diverse writing experiences into a distinct, yet chameleonic voice that can be tailored to the style needs and preferences of clients.

Finding the Gold

At a personal level, I am in tune with both my intellectual / analytical self, as well as my emotional / intuitive self. This enables me to produce material that is multi-layered and reaches the reader at different levels. I am often told that my writing makes potentially dull or complex subjects engaging and accessible.

I enjoy the process of delving into a subject and finding the heart of the story…what I often refer to as “finding the gold”. Every subject has a “surface story” that is quickly identified and easily written. But very often, there is a fresher angle or a more substantive story (the gold) beneath the surface and it takes a bit more digging to find it. I enjoy digging deeper, finding the gold, and giving it some polish in order to make it both valuable and attractive to the reader.