Copywriting Archives - Page 2 of 4

Writing, Editing, and Reading: October 5, 2015 Edition

Writing:

My current copywriting assignment (a health-related business website) is in client review, so I’ve switched gears to work on creative projects: a residency application and poetry revisions. The key to moving forward as a writer is to always be closing on something (Glengarry Glen Ross reference).

Editing:

This week a new client found me online. We’re working together to tighten the plot and improve the flow of his science fiction short story. Fun!

Reading:

Perfidia by James Ellroy, for a book club, though my library copy of Elena Ferrante’s Days of Abandonment just arrived and I’m eager to start it. The fiction I’ve been writing lately is about women who stay at home too much (the perils of freelancing from home — it infects your creative work). I’m eager to get another perspective on solitude.

— Kristen

Writing, Editing, and Reading: September 21, 2015 Edition

by Kristen

Last week, I worked on a magazine pitch, website updates (my own), short fiction, and poetry. This week. . .

Writing:

I’m finalizing an agreement to write 16 pages of short copy for a health-related website.

I’m also revising a short story and several poems while getting back encouraging rejection letters from literary magazines. Pro Tip: If you get a form letter saying something like, “This story isn’t quite right, but we like your writing, please submit again,” pin it to a cork board over your desk. The growing pile is a daily reminder that you’re on the right track–and also a reminder that you really do need to submit to that publication again.

Editing:

Since finishing my last batch of career content for a client, I’ve had my copywriter’s hat on, creating website content for health companies. That’s one of the joys of freelancing–no two weeks are exactly the same.

If you need a professional bio, a LinkedIn profile, or an application essay critiqued or edited, please contact me. Career content edits are thoroughly enjoyable, and my clients usually feel the same way by the end of the process. (Here are some testimonials.)

Reading:

Perfidia by James Ellroy for a book club. Hard-boiled crime is not something I’d normally pick, which is why I voted for it–one needs to stretch now and again.

I’m also picking my way through a couple issues of The New Yorker and was impressed by this eerie short story, “In the Act of Falling”, by Danielle McLaughlin. Here’s an interview where she talks about what it looked like in earlier drafts.

— Kristen

Writing About and Reading: August 31, 2015 Edition

by Kristen

I try to update this log on a weekly basis, but I had a minor hitch–hackers have been attacking my site by trying to guess my password, which triggered my security software into locking me out. Repeatedly.

My excellent web guru reinforced my defenses and got me back in. If you need this kind of help, contact me and I’ll happily pass my expert’s information along. She’s great. Kind, patient, dogged about solving puzzles, and very reasonable. Now, onward!

Things I’m writing and reading this week (and last, and the week before that. . .)

Writing:
I recently finished a batch of website copywriting for a corporate client–personal stories. (Sorry, I can’t get more specific, NDA and all).

On my own time, I’ve been working on short fiction. One story’s just come back from my beta reader. Another is in its infancy. There’s no NDA preventing me from discussing these, but experience has taught me to stop talking about writing at the expense of actually doing it. Plus, being secretive will lend me an air of mystery, right? (Bonus!)

No editing to report this week.

Reading:
This may be folly, but I just joined a second book club. Right now I’m reading The Martian (see also: the upcoming Matt Damon film) for one club and soon I’ll be starting James Ellroy’s Perfidia for the other. Lest this get too macho, in the last few weeks I’ve also enjoyed Housekeeping by Marilyn Robinson, Ongoingness by Sarah Manguso, and The Folded Clock by Heidi Julavits. I have Elena Ferrante’s second Neapolitan Trilogy book waiting in the wings. Mars, murder, feverish introspection, family dissolution, and bad marriages. This should make for some interesting dreams.

— Kristen