Any time, any place, I write. I dream about writing. I write about dreaming. It’s such an adventure.
As a court stenographer (my very first job as an adult), the writing was not my own. Rather, my work involved transcribing the words of lawyers and judges and witnesses who spoke during criminal and civil trials. The transcripts I produced were nearly flawless. I was a perfectionist and would not — could not — release a transcript to the court or to lawyers that was not perfect. I made decent money for my efforts and was complimented by highly esteemed lawyers. It was years later that I learned that not that many people even read the transcripts closely enough to really know that they were flawless. I had spent ALL THAT TIME making sure I produced awesome work, but few noticed.
In my mid-career years, I was a marketing research professional. I wrote my little fingers to the bone. Similarly, the work was not my own creative endeavor but, instead, reports of research findings that were professionally and creatively presented. In that life, I was also complimented for the near-perfect presentation of concepts and succinct reports of findings. These clients hired me to discover hat consumers thought about new advertising campaigns, new products, or new techniques to help them simplify their lives.
And, in my longest and most meaningful stint as an entrepreneur (1994 to 2014), I operated Profile America, Inc., where I conducted secondary research, wrote industry profiles, and sold my material as sales-training tools to print media publishers. I also proofed and edited thousands of industry profiles through the years that were written by researchers and writers who worked for Profile America.
More-creative output started coming when I was asked to write blog entries for a client and friend, Ross Rossin. He’s the most amazing portrait artist in the world. (I’m really not overstating his greatness … not much, anyway.) I provide the following link to blog posts I wrote for him. He approved them with only the slightest change of a fact or a feeling, to make them more reflective of his own experience.
Blog content for I wrote for fabulous artist Ross Rossin
I created the blog posts after a long conversation with Rossin, during which he shared his view of the world, his explanation of what he presents to the world through his art, and his deep appreciation for people from all walks of life. His travel schedule and his long “line” of clients waiting for portraits to be painted and unveiled precluded his spending time reviewing blog posts, so we decided to put a halt to the project. Still, the words and photos I chose paint a lovely picture of the masterful artist and convey a few of his musings.
All ghostwritten material follows the same general pattern: client and I converse, sometimes at length; client provides the overall message he or she wants to convey and a few bullet points to cover; I write and submit a first draft for review; the client provides edits; and I make edits until client approves the publication of the material.
Follow these links to see samples of some of the work I have produced for clients:
Brochures, Proposals and Whitepapers