Monday, November 17, 2014

Hire me! I'm a novelist.

Ana muses about the benefits of liking to play with words.

I am past the halfway point of building a new website for my soup business.

Pitch phrases are easy to call up. I repeat them regularly at craft shows and to interested shopkeepers.
Some sound essential: I can't be too creative with "add to 7 cups of water" without sounding like a nutcase. "Stand on a kitchen chair holding a full pot of water and pour the water into a narrow-necked bottle sitting on the floor," isn't good advice.

I can be a bit more creative with the "About" page. I rewrote that completely, giving a thumbnail history of my gardening-preserving-cooking journey.

Customers have commented that I must have a background in marketing- specifically copy writing.
I don't. I've had no training except for novel writing. The descriptive skills of a novelist are useful. That mental thesaurus, which stores ten choices that mean "tastes good."

Other endeavors benefit from a writer's word-smithing. Have you parlayed your skill with words into useful cash? Does your day job require the ability to construct understandable messages?








4 comments:

  1. I think in general, being a good writer helps in a variety of areas. However, there are many different types of writing and just because I can write novels doesn't mean I can write advertising copy or a newspaper article or a technical journal. I have found that many people do ask me to write things because I can do it faster than they can and it gives them a place to start.

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  2. I love the kitchen chair idea....ha ha!

    I write a newsletter each week to my students' parents, in which I try to be a bit creative. I also am the go-to editor for our fourth grade teacher. He has me proofread many of the things he sends out.

    When I wear my other hat and do work with the Historical Society, I often write blurbs for various things. Event descriptions, raffle basket items, etc.

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  3. I've used my writing skills in many spheres during my life, including reports and speeches as well as training articles for Girl Guide leaders and information sheets for 11-18 year olds. The style and vocabulary may be different, but for me the important thing is the 'flow' of the writing. I seem to know instinctively if something doesn't 'sound' right, at least to my own ears!

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