Shenandoah Writing Services

Don’t waste your website!

2009-10-31T20:27:00.012-04:00

Isn't it frustrating when you try to go to a website and the page is practically empty? Maybe you're interested in doing business with someone or making a purchase from a store. You get nowhere with a website that is “under construction.”

In an effort to cut corners, many website owners decide against using a professional writer to develop their web content. These business owners make the commitment to develop their own content, only to discover that the everyday responsibilities of running a business prevent them from doing much writing. The result? A website ready to be populated which sits virtually empty for months. The last thing you want to do, as a hard-working business owner, is saddle yourself with the daunting task of writing scintillating text to populate your site.

Take the responsibility off your shoulders and let a professional writer develop the text for your site. You'll avoid having to choose between seeing an empty website and agonizing over how best to get your ideas across to potential clients.

Web users view online text differently than they do printed material. The word “surfer” has come to mean users who rapidly switch from one web page to another. In Faster, Smarter Web Page Creation, Mary Hillhallon writes, “If a web page doesn’t grab a user quickly—within 10 seconds (according to most usability studies)—the user will very likely move on to another page (or another site altogether).”

A professional writer can mold your information into eye-catching and interesting text, written specifically for an online audience. The results are better adapted to the web than merely reworking an existing brochure or other print advertising.

Take the worry out of writing. Get a free consultation on your project. After all, you've got nothing to lose—except all that worry.

www.shenandoahwriting.com
colleen@shenandoahwriting.com
540-476-1855

~~Colleen

Get your facts straight

2009-06-11T08:57:00.003-04:00

Do you ever stop to think about whether the information in the newspaper, book, or web page you are reading is correct or true?

Unfortunately, the world has recently seen the downfall of journalists and book authors who fabricated their information.

That is at the extreme end of the spectrum. Toward the other end fall factual errors that could call the accuracy of an entire document into question.

Are you doing your best to ensure the information in your writing is correct?

This is where an editor can be invaluable to you.

Just as an editor checks for grammar and typographical errors and readability, an editor can also double-check spellings of names and places, and ensure information is accurate.

Here are some recent examples I’ve come across while editing:
• Misspelling Aaron Copland’s name
• Misspelling an author’s name in a book promo
• Citing the wrong city as the location of a Marine Corps Air Station

You may be thinking, “So, what? Who’s going to notice?”

You’d be surprised the number of people who would notice. Factual errors like the ones in my examples may cause readers to doubt your ability and credibility.

Whether your project is for school or shareholders, be sure to get your facts straight. Having an editor do fact-checking for you is one way to ensure errors have not crept into your writing.

Visit my website, www.shenandoahwriting.com, to learn more about how I can help you with your next project.

~~Colleen

Don't dangle your modifiers!

2009-02-18T13:35:00.003-05:00

I love editing, especially when I get a good laugh out of what I'm working on.

While editing an intern's article, I came across these doozies:

--After all that work, students might type up a paper for an advisor that would just sit in a file cabinet.

Someone let that poor advisor out of the file cabinet!

--It makes it easier for students to explain what they do to a layperson.

Ack! Quick, cover the children's ears so they don't hear what students do to laypeople!

I love my work! Where else can I be guaranteed belly laughs?

~~Colleen
www.shenandoahwriting.com

Keeping up with customers

2009-01-15T15:11:00.005-05:00

My freelance business has definitely seen changes during these economically challenging times. Freelance websites are now clogged with other souls clamoring for the same jobs I'm bidding for. I've almost given up on them for now. Some of these sites cater to buyers who pay little or nothing for one's hard work, as well as to providers willing to work for poverty wages.

So, what's a freelance writer or editor to do?

In an article I wrote, "Tips for Keeping in Touch With Customers," I discussed ways to take care of customers you already have, which is cheaper than obtaining new ones. To read the complete article, visit http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1107305.

Keeping in touch means checking in with clients I've previously done work for, just to let them know I'm still available to assist with any project they have. I've been able to pick up projects from several clients just by sending them a short, friendly email.

If you have successfully worked with a client in the past, the chances of that pleasant experience repeating itself are good.

Consider dropping short emails to your client list. Who knows? You might pick up some new projects.

~~Colleen

How could one possibly "unthaw" anything?

2008-10-11T15:50:00.004-04:00

I read--a lot. Part of the reason for that is to expand my vocabulary and enjoy good writing. Another part is to know how to avoid bad writing.

Here's an example of truly bad writing from the AP's 10/11/2008 article, "Government to Buy Stakes in U.S. Banks":

The purchase of stakes in companies would be in addition to the main thrust of the $700 billion rescue effort, which is to purchase distressed assets from financial institutions as a way of unthawing frozen credit, getting banks to resume more normal lending operations and staving off severe problems for businesses and everyday Americans alike.

Unthawing frozen credit? Wouldn't that be to actually FREEZE frozen credit, as the opposite of "thaw" is "freeze"?

That word isn't in any dictionary I consulted.

What were they thinking?

And don't get me started on the incredible run-on sentence that consumed an entire paragraph.

~~Colleen

Beware of GoFreelance.com

2008-10-05T18:25:00.005-04:00

If you are a freelancer looking for work through online listings, you've probably run into Web sites that are too good to be true.

This is a warning about a site that, at first, looked really promising: GoFreelance.com. I got a 7-day trial for $7.99, and got access to a small amount of postings. Every day, I also got emails about jobs that sounded really good. They always included a link to apply to the job but, when clicked, they always led to a page to join GoFreelance.

Call me naive, but I assumed that this was just a sampling of what I would be getting after the one-week trial, when my PayPal account would be reduced by $39.99.

Wrong.

I still got several emails a day with great-sounding jobs described, but there was never a way to actually apply for these jobs. If I logged on to the Web site, there was still the small listing of jobs, most of them either old or extremely low-paying. I couldn't find the jobs mentioned in my emails.

Oh, they had a "Support" link where I could report difficulties. What that got me was an automatic email that my problem was being worked on. However, this only led to dead-ends when I couldn't log in to the Help area.

I canceled my membership and will have to chalk up the lost $$ to learning the hard way.

I won't reveal how I obtained the email address of the owner of this site, but it is rob@robpalmer.com. I emailed Mr. Palmer directly, not really expecting any response--so far, nothing.

If you have had similar experiences from this scam site, please let me know if you were able to resolve it successfully.

~~Colleen

How to Ruin an Interview

2008-06-23T20:34:00.006-04:00

I picked up the phone the other day to arrange an interview.

“Hello, Major, I’m calling to schedule an interview with you about your recent competition.”

This would normally be just another step on the way to creating an article for the university magazine to which I’m assigned. I was tapped to do this interview because I’ve been in the Navy Reserve for more than 18 years and I understand military terminology better than the other civilians on staff.

The interview was going well. Letting Major S. know about my military affiliation showed my membership in “the club”—I may not be in the same service, but I could relate to most of what he was talking about. At some point, I commented on the difficulties in identifying other service ranks, particularly Air Force enlisted personnel.

“Are you still in?” asked Major S.

I confirmed that I am.

“What’s your rank?”

I knew that question might come up. I had purposely not mentioned my rank before, but there was no avoiding it now.

“I’m a commander,” I replied.

A commander is one grade senior to a major.

That’s when I heard the words I didn’t want to hear in that interview.

“Yes, ma’am,” the Major said.

I knew that if he found out I outranked him, the major would be deferential, as a junior officer should be. I didn't need deference, I needed him to be comfortable enough to answer my questions.

“No. I’m not here as a commander, I’m here as a civilian,” I reassured him.

“Yes, ma’am.”

I sighed.

That’s the quickest way I know of to ruin an interview.

Postscript:
Things turned out well in the end.

Here is the product of this interview:
Not for the weak or fainthearted

Is Spelling Still Important?

2008-06-09T20:01:00.005-04:00

I've been noticing an increase in spelling errors in e-mail, documents, newspaper headlines and other forms of writing.

While this troubles me, I am aware that some would argue that it's not a big deal. As long as the reader understands what the writer meant, some spelling errors won't matter.

Really?

I'm surely dating myself, but my teachers and professors expected me to spell properly, in all forms of classwork. I would think they still expect that.

When I read the newspaper or a magazine, I don't want to have to struggle through misspelled words. My local paper, the Daily News-Record, is notorious for misspelled words. What really kills me is that headlines frequently have misspellings in them. Since when is the word dairies spelled daries?

I've read that, in this era of instant communication, with text messages, IMs and emails, spelling and grammar are taking a beating. These types of mistakes are even showing up in classwork--work turned in for a grade.

My sincere hope is that our educators will continue to hold students accountable for correct spelling. Once the general opinion, expressed above, spreads and people believe that spelling errors don't matter as long as the reader understands what the writer meant, we will regress more than three hundred years, to the days when people spelled words like they sounded.

I also hope my local paper will start paying more attention to headlines. It's Eastern Mennonite University, not Easter Mennonite University!

~~Colleen

Which is Easier, 1,000 Words or 100 Words?

2008-05-23T14:37:00.007-04:00

One would think that having a limit of just a few words would be easier. In actuality, you'd be surprised at how quickly you can reach a 100-word limit. Having 1,000 words in which to make a point is much, much easier--unless, of course, you don't have much subject matter.

Writing headlines and captions can be difficult, as well, because a great deal of information needs to be relayed in just a few words. Take a look at some of the captions in the next magazine or newspaper you pick up--do the captions tell you the story of the photo? Does the headline give an accurate indication of what the story is about?

Here is a sample of a piece for which I won third place in a 55-word contest. I initially had roughly twice the number of words allowed, and had to work hard to whittle the count down to 55. Let me know what you think of the result:

Jakob

The small boy slept peacefully in my arms as we rocked. My heart broke as I thought about his fate - most likely dead before he reached manhood. He would never fall in love, never hold his child. No money for good food or doctor visits. As he slumbered on, tears rolled slowly down my cheeks.

Until next time,

Colleen

www.shenandoahwriting.com

What Do I Write About?

2008-03-11T17:02:00.007-04:00

Some writers focus on a particular genre, or type of writing. For example, science fiction and fantasy sound like fairly specialized writing.

"Creative nonfiction" is how I would categorize my personal writing. I tend to use life events to tell a story. I've always had a knack for creating vivid word pictures--"showing" rather than "telling."

In my part-time gig as a writer for a university magazine, topics I've written about cover a fairly broad spectrum. The first assignment I got was a feature on a center promoting physical fitness for girls and women. I had only been at the university a few months and didn't know anything about the history of the program or the professors for whom it was named.

Where to start? Research, research, research; and then interview, interview, interview.

The final product made my editor happy. Here is the finished article:
http://www.jmu.edu/madisononline/madison/wm_library/W07_P32-P49.pdf

I've written about a 100-year old alumna's memories of her Madison experience; a long-time athletic trainer who spent a large chunk of time mothering her charges in the Women's basketball program; and the new outdoor astronomy park for the Physics and Astronomy program. That park's first star-gazing event took place on the coldest night of December 2006.

When someone asks what I write about, I can easily say, "What topic are you most interested in?" Chances are that I've written something they'll like.

Take the worry out of writing--use Shenandoah Writing Services

www.shenandoahwriting.com

Which do you need, an editor or a proofreader?

2008-02-21T09:14:00.005-05:00

Many people who advertise for proofreading help are actually in need of an editor.

How can you tell the difference?

If your document is in need of serious help--reducing word count, replacing confusing or redundant phrases, rearranging or deleting content, and in general making it "read" better--you need an editor.

If you want someone to check for typos and stray punctuation marks, what you need is a proofreader.

Having said that, did you know that editing can have different levels?

Line editing is a bit more complicated than tracking down misspelled words and erroneous commas. Your document is submitted to line-by-line scrutiny for uniformity of fonts/headers/figures, etc. and for style issues (i.e., AP, Chicago Manual of Style). Your editor will also make note of worrisome word choices, verb tense disagreement, and awkward phrasing.

Content editing includes proofreading and line editing tasks, as well as looking at the overall flow of the text. Your editor will suggest improvements in paragraph structure, rearrange sentences where needed, and perform other tasks to enhance your document.

Who knew it was this complicated? Semantics aside, all clients want their paper, report, article or other type of text to get their message to readers. My goal is to learn about my clients' target audience, in what shape they believe their text is and what they'd like to see in a finished product. That gives me a good idea of how much word wrangling I'm going to be doing.

No matter if your document needs a light proof or heavy content editing, I want you to be satisfied that your text is the very best it can be.

Until next time,
Colleen

Where Should You Get Your Information?

2008-01-03T19:57:00.001-05:00

When most people need to find out about something, whether it's how to plant a garden or do front shoulder raises, where do they go?

The internet, right? Hasn't "google" become a verb?

But what about more detailed, complex topics? Should you trust the information you find through internet research?

That depends.

For instance, you might need to find information about prostate cancer. Researching at your local library can yield valuable information. For faster results, plenty of good information is available on the internet--you just have to be aware of the source.

Concentrating on reliable, known sources can help you steer clear of confusing, outdated or just plain incorrect information. With a topic as important as prostate cancer, wouldn't you want to ensure the information is as up-to-date as possible?

Besides knowing the source, check to see if the web sites you visit have a "Last updated on" date. Information that has been collecting dust for three years may not be what you're after.

~~Colleen

Take the Worry Out of Writing

2007-12-31T21:37:00.001-05:00

Has this ever happened to you? You've worked hard researching and writing something and, after you've already sent it out, you discover an embarrassing error.

What about this? You need to write an article, letter, or similar piece, and just can't get started. Staring at a blank screen doesn't help. Writing has always been hard, but now your deadline is looming.

Using a professional writer or editor can give your message the right polish, and the benefits far outweigh the fee.

Take the worry out of writing--use Shenandoah Writing Services.
Check out www.shenandoahwriting.com