Books, writing, yada yada yada....

About a year before my grandmother died, I went over to her apartment and interviewed her about her life. We talked for awhile as I recorded our conversation, but to be honest it was hard to get much information out of her. She wasn't a woman of many words. But I did ask her what she felt was her biggest accomplishment. She said, "well, I think it was having my three children." And then she rambled on for a while about my mother, aunt and uncle, and then her grandkids. She was very proud of us all. But as she was talking about us grandkids, she went down the list. "Well, there's Amy, an attorney. Then there's Julie and Kris, both nurses, and Scott, an attorney, and Phil, a chemical salesman, and then you.....now what do you do?"

I sighed. I'm a writer, grandma. "Oh," she said, "Yes, a writer."

Another time I told a cousin of mine I was writing marketing materials for an Insurance company. "Oh, so you're an underwriter?"

"No," I said impatiently. "A WRITER!"

Why is it so hard for people to understand what I do for a living? Maybe it's because I haven't published a book, so I'm not really a writer until I have something on the shelves of Barnes and Noble. Or maybe it's because they're not used to having a creative type in their midst. Teachers, doctors, nurses, attorneys, they can understand. But how, exactly does one make a living as a writer?

Hmmm. Well, to be honest I've been trying to figure that out for the past 20 years, so maybe I shouldn't be so hard on my family. I used to write articles for magazines. That was a little more tangible for my friends and family. But for the past 9 years or so, I've been writing more obscure things...like brochures and websites and postcards.

I'm now basically a "copywriter"....and if you live in Chicago or New York or anywhere else where there are ad agencies, you probably know other copywriters out there and have a vague sense of the advertising industry.

What does a copywriter do? Well, it's more than just writing a few words for an ad. It's creating concepts, brainstorming ideas with art directors, learning about the product or company who's your client, and trying to figure out their "voice." Their "brand voice" is very important. How does a company want to present themselves to the world? What tone will best communicate what their product is all about? Smart? Warm? Cocky? Arrogant? Intelligent? Friendly? Accessible?

It's also about working closely with designers and art directors so the copy and images/design play off of one another. It's sortof like putting together a puzzle. The pieces have to all work together to form a complete picture of the company or product.

I like the problem solving aspect of these projects. I like working with other fun, creative people. I like figuring out the brand voice for each client, and helping them achieve their goals. It's creative and challenging.

Click here to see an example. It's a microsite I just finished for Navigon, a German GPS device. What is a microsite, you ask? Well, click on the link and find out! You may also see some online advertising for Navigon (these are called "banner" ads). I also wrote those. Except not the ones that are on the, um, crass side. Those were written by another agency. I have to admit it's not writing that's going to change the world, but I had a blast with this fun new agency I was working with on this project. I had forgotten how fun it was to be a part of a creative team.

I'm hoping to do more work for this agency (Elevate Studios), but until then, I'm contemplating a 3 month project with the Chicago Board of Trade. They're renovating their website since they recently merged with the Chicago Merchantile Exchange. We'll see if that pans out....

Since I finished the Navigon project, things have been a little slow. So I've spent some time finishing "The Lost: The search to find 6 out of 6 million". I started it on our Michigan trip and it took me a while to finish (it's over 500 pages long). Wow! is all I can say. That's my reiview. "Wow"! My only complaint is that he almost includes too many details. It gets a little bogged down in places. But what a story.

Now I'm on to "There is no me without you."

And I've been itching my legs -- turns out I have poison oak, too!