Written Expressions: the blog

Brilliant marketing

2012-03-22T09:15:00.005-04:00

I took this photo at my local Giant Eagle the other day. I can't decide if I hope it was an innocent mistake or intentional. Either way, it's awesome.

Not pictured: the pregnancy tests they put on the bottom shelves.

A long sentence for a long absence

2011-11-05T13:32:00.002-04:00

For our at-work Halloween celebration, I dressed up as a run-on sentence. It was a total of 191 words long (which, if you're curious, equaled eight yards of ribbon), with many independent clauses.

Wanna bet the t-shirt writer went to U of Michigan?

2011-08-25T11:40:00.006-04:00

It's been a long stretch without a post...but I can't resist sharing this article (FYI, Michigan is Ohio State's big football rival, so the title of my post is for all the Buckeye fans out there):
http://shine.yahoo.com/event/fallfashion/grammar-fail-on-old-navys-college-t-shirts-uh-oh-2531551/

On a side note, considering her choice of subject, I am going to choose to believe that the author is either British or chooses to write in the British style--because if not, she has a grammar fail in her article, too. Can you spot it?

"Hundreds of thousands of shirts...have been shipped to stores with the phrase 'Let's Go', sans apostrophe."

In which spellcheck (almost) redeems itself

2011-02-17T12:18:00.005-05:00

I'm a believer in first going after the low-hanging fruit, so when I started a recent document editing project, I didn't hesitate to make a first pass using Word's Spelling & Grammar function.

My directive was simply to proof the document and make minor edits to copy based on changes provided by the client, so I clicked "ignore" on the plentiful suggestions to address usage of passive voice. I accepted changes to spelling errors and spacing issues, and studied the context for any identified sentence fragments or other infractions before choosing to ignore most (the majority were items in bulleted lists).

But I nearly chortled in joy when Word suggested that I reconsider the use of the word "impact" as a verb--this is one of my top three copywriting pet peeves, but I've never seen it flagged by Word as an error.

And I really DID chortle when, a few pages later, it suggested that I replace the phrase "step-by-step" with the word "systematic."

And then Word reminded me why I get paid the big bucks: it completely missed that "acronym" was misspelled "acroynm."

Three cheers for another victory of (wo)man over machine!

2011-01-25T13:09:00.003-05:00

I like this video...less because of the message than because I think the guy in it is a cutie.

Again, not "that" Written Expressions...

2011-01-12T20:43:00.004-05:00

I got an interesting email today:

"Hey Amie,

How's it going? Good I hope. I wanted to send over an email to you because I'm interested in sending over a few shots from a recent shoot I did for a romance & fiction book cover.

I have about 15-20 photos from the shoot that have never been published and are very high quality. These photos are good for any book cover (except gay publications.)

I am not looking to make any money off these, all I ask is that I get credit as the model in the book and that I get notified of a publication.

I have photos ready to go, just send me an email and I'll forward them to you.

Hope this email finds everything well with you."

I contemplated two responses (you'll be happy--or maybe disappointed--to know I went with the former):

Telling him the truth, which is that I am not the Written Expressions that publishes erotic novels
Telling him I only write gay literature and suggesting he send some "less vanilla" photos for my use

This is the second time I've been confused with the other Written Expressions...I don't think I can legally send a "cease and desist" to the other, but I don't like the thought that a person looking for me could accidentally end up on their site instead of mine, and not realize they're in the wrong place. So what's a poor writer/editor (of something other than erotic fiction) to do?

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T19:00:00.003-05:00

Pretend I'm singing you Christmas carols. May your days be merry and bright!

Now that's good marketing

2010-12-04T10:35:00.005-05:00

We received a very memorable direct mail piece at work the other day.

It was an oversized postcard from a proofreading service. One side of the mailer offered this explanation for a quote on the other side:

"That was an actual typo caught by our proofreader before the job went to press. Our client was happy, and the Easter Bunny was ecstatic."

And what, you're probably wondering, was the quote on the other side?

Just open the door

2010-10-19T21:19:00.002-04:00

Q: Knock knock...

A: Who's there?

Q: To.

A: To who?

Q: I believe you mean "to whom."

Not THAT Written Expressions

2010-10-09T23:00:00.003-04:00

I subscribe to Google Alerts for a couple of terms, one of which is "Written Expressions." That's how I discovered that I'm not the only Written Expressions, LLC around. Sadly for me, the other one is an e-book publishing site that specializes in erotic fiction.

That may or may not explain why I received an email via my web site asking if I publish and market e-books.

Nope, not me, I'm just a humble writer and editor.

Faint

2010-08-09T23:10:00.003-04:00

"Language lovers who are not faint of heart won't want to miss this one."

This is a quote from the book jacket of William Gay's Twilight. Apparently, I am not that kind of language lover (and no, I didn't get it confused with the Stephenie Meyer book of the same title).

I picked up the novel based on the description offered in a recent edition of my local library's "Thrillers & Suspense" e-newsletter: "a resplendently dark Southern Gothic thriller," it gushed.

Dark, yes. Southern, yes. Thriller? Well, I was less than thrilled.

I pride myself on finishing what I start, at least when it comes to reading, but I just couldn't get through this one. I returned it unfinished today because I couldn't bear the thought of incurring fines for a book I wasn't even remotely enjoying.

Among my many issues:

Gay doesn't use quotation marks to set off his characters' speech, which makes differentiating dialog from description challenging--especially in light of the following issue.

I couldn't keep myself from editing his writing. Run-on sentences, commas in odd places (when he used them at all)...it was kind of like reading stream of consciousness writing, if the writer had ADHD. I had to read some passages two or three times before I could make sense of them. He's won awards for his writing, so I guess somebody sees merit in it--but yeesh.

The book is written in third person, with the exception of one early chapter written in first person...I have no idea who the narrator of that chapter is, despite the fact that I made it two-thirds of the way through the book before abandoning it.

My last reason for not liking this book has nothing to do with the writing itself. In fact, it's a horrible reason, but I'm going to share it anyway: the photo of Gay on the book jacket is scary. He looks like a backwoods psychopath. Do I expect all authors to be attractive? No, of course not...but at least wash your hair for your author photo...

Where?

2010-06-21T22:35:00.003-04:00

Last night, one of our local news programs reported on oil drilling in Point Hope, Alaska. Great attention was paid to the particulars of the story--the reporter balanced the pros and cons of drilling in water that is shallow (established safety measures) but ice-laden (aforementioned measures have not been proven in frozen waters). Locals were interviewed for their opinions. The economic and environmental impacts of drilling vs. not drilling were explored.

Before you nominate the piece for the journalistic award of your choosing, I should also mention that the caption that remained on-screen for the entire piece read "Point Hope, AL." Good going, Fox 28 News.

Typo and the City

2010-05-31T15:25:00.003-04:00

Today, against my better judgment, I went with some friends to see Sex and the City 2. There is a lot I am willing to put up with in exchange for a little girl time: I overcame my distaste for what passes for "style" and my general dislike of Sarah Jessica Parker. I overlooked the almost universally horrible movie reviews. I paid for mediocre food and an overpriced margarita (the theater we went to was a "movie tavern").

But I very nearly got up and left the theater when "writer" Carrie Bradshaw submitted an article to Vogue with the title "The Terrible Two's."

Bacterial marketing?

2010-05-21T14:02:00.002-04:00

This afternoon, I walked into the ladies' room in my office building. Laying on the floor of the stall next to me was a business card belonging to a commercial moving vendor that had been in the building yesterday.

I'm sure one of the other female tenants dropped it accidentally, but it's much more entertaining to imagine that the commercial moving vendor--a man--snuck into the restroom and dropped it there himself to drum up business.

That got me thinking about the various places I've left my business cards, and creative places that I COULD leave them.

What's the weirdest place you ever left your card?

Make way for ducklings

2010-04-19T21:08:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure how or why, but I have a momma mallard, several ducklings, and several as-of-yet unhatched eggs in one of my flower beds. Cross your fingers that they stay off the radar of the neighborhood hawks, feral cats and traffic!

Any tips on how to keep them happy until they move on, and what to do when they're old enough to swim? The nearest body of water to us is a small koi pond about ten houses down the road...

Obscene kids' toy?

2010-04-11T19:34:00.002-04:00

I received a package of "grow capsules" (those little gel caps that dissolve to release sponge shapes) for my birthday from some young friends. The directions instructed me to "please the capsules in hot water."

Through the looking glass

2010-02-13T17:37:00.003-05:00

I spent a good part of Wednesday and Thursday on the glass side of a 2-way mirror, watching people respond to some materials I helped create. It was fascinating, but exhausting.

There were nine one-hour, one-on-one interviews over the two days. I took many, many notes.

Here's something weird for you to mull over:

When the interviewees entered the room, they brought with them a cup of water and their name tag. Every one of the women left their name tags behind at the close of the interview, but every one of them men took or threw theirs away when they left. Not sure what that says about the nature of men versus women, but I'm sure there's something psychologically or sociologically significant in that.

It isn't lost--it ran away from your stupidity

2010-01-27T22:33:00.003-05:00

This weekend, I copy edited a "lost dog" flier. There were no more than 1o words on it, and I corrected four of them. Two of the more egregious errors were "are" instead of "our" and "thank's." I was tempted to call the number listed and demand payment for services rendered.

MLK

2010-01-18T20:41:00.001-05:00

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

Happy Birthday, Dr. King.

New Year post

2010-01-02T20:05:00.002-05:00

What a year.

In a time when many people were being laid off, my business boomed. I was blessed with clients who were a pleasure to work with. I sincerely thank everyone who allowed me to help them with their business communications.

While I had several clients, one in particular kept me busy almost full-time, almost all year. This is the same client who in October became my employer. I've spent the last few months working my tail off, but enjoying every minute of it. It's amazing how great it is to work for and with people that you like and respect, and who like and respect you.

Sorry it's been so long since I posted...I will try to do better in 2010.

Oh the irony

2009-11-09T07:00:00.001-05:00

Last Wednesday, my boss sent around an email asking if anybody was interested in attending a two-day project management workshop over at our local community college. Since my title is Project Manager, it seemed ideal for me--unfortunately, it was scheduled for last Thursday and a Friday, the two days of the week when I actually had to manage the projects I'm working on.

I guess on-the-job training is better than a seminar, but hopefully they'll have another session soon that doesn't conflict with my responsibilities.

Jet setter

2009-10-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

The new job has been keeping me pretty busy. For the most part that's a good thing, as it makes the days fly by . . . but the bad thing about the days flying by is that I blink and the week has also flown by, and I still have a lot of stuff to do.

In a nice change of pace, I flew to Philadelphia Monday morning to attend a symposium on the Retail Clinic industry at the College of Physicians. I love that place because it's the home to my favorite Philly museum, The Mutter Museum. I arrived a few hours early, so I used the time to explore the two floors of medical oddities on display. Cheng and Eng's liver. Babies in jars. Human horns (fans of the show Futurama may get this reference: "wooooooooh!") I looooves me some good medical oddities. Had I been in the city for more than eight hours, or trapped in the symposium for fewer than three hours, I would also have tried to check out the Bodyworlds exhibit (not to be confused with Body Works, which is a similar but in a shadier, bodies-swiped-possibly-illegally-from-Asian-prisons kind of way) at the Franklin Institute . . . I saw it in Cleveland a few years ago and it rocked my world.

In the taxi heading back to the airport, I was treated to a lovely sunset. The sky was awash in pink and gold, and it was a fine way to end a day.

Come for the rugs, stay for the Pilates

2009-10-17T16:03:00.003-04:00

My hubby and I took a last-minute trip to the Tampa Bay area last weekend. We spent a lot of our time driving around and seeing what there was to see. One of the highlights for me was a business whose sign read "Oriental Rugs and Pilates." It's nice to see entrepreneurial diversification in these trying economic times. I wish them success!

Taking the plunge

2009-10-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

After much thought, I have decided to take the job.

I can't believe how tough a decision this was to make, and how bittersweet the whole scenario has been for me. I have loved freelancing for the past two and a half years. Even when I didn't have much work to do and was worried about paying my bills, it was so liberating to know I was in business for myself.

I'm proud that I was brave enough to quit the cubefarm and start my own business. I'm proud that I can say I have been moderately successful in my freelancing endeavors. And I'm proud to say I am good enough at what I do that one of my clients actually wants me to work for them full-time.

If it were any other client, or any other job offer, I don't think my answer would have been the same. I was so jaded by the time I ended my tenure with the cubefarm that I swore I would never go back into a corporate environment. That should tell you something about how special these people are. It's a small business, which is enough to differentiate it from the cubefarm--but the most impressive thing about them is the employees really seem to care--about each other, about their work, and about their clients. It's sad to say, but that is a rare find in a business these days.

I'm going to continue to do some freelance work on the side, but obviously I won't have a whole lot of time to devote to it (I have no intention of giving up all of my free time!). I will continue to blog, though perhaps not as frequently as I have in the past (although that's been pretty infrequently of late, I know).

Thanks for caring enough to read about the goings-on here in my little corner of the freelance world (I started this blog in July 2008!). I hope you'll wish me luck as I plunge back into the 9-to-5 world!

What's a girl to do?

2009-10-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

My agency client asked me to be project manager for an upcoming project related to the report I wrote recently. It's a pretty big deal, and I'm excited to tackle it. But . . . they also asked me if I wanted to keep going on a freelance basis or make things more permanent.

I'm torn. On one hand, I love working with them and have been basically working on-site with them full-time for the last few months, so becoming an actual employee isn't really going to change my day-to-day existence. On the other hand, I'd be giving up that sense of "freedom" that comes with being a full-time freelancer.

Of course, there are other considerations as well: Is it a smart move financially? Will I be able to manage my other clients in the evenings? Would I even WANT to keep freelancing on a part-time basis?

Guess I've got some thinkin' to do . . .

While I'm giving my noggin a workout, How about telling me what you would do if you were in my shoes?