Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Broad Shoulders podcast is live…and it sounds amazing. Give it a listen. In. Your. Earhole.

http://inourwordsblog.com/2012/05/16/broad-shoulders-the-maiden-podcast/

There are three major literary things going on in my life this month, all of which you should be privy to. And so I am privying you up with this blog post.

1. Stories from the Bottom of the Glass – Bridgeport

Six of the best damn live lit performers in the city are coming to Bridgeport to tell true stories of their own drunken mistakes.

Food and delicious concoctions will be provided. Complementary craft beer provided by Wild Onion Brewery. This is a free event with a suggested $10 donation to keep the performers in booze.

This show is a part of the Bridgeport Version Fest 12, a month-long celebration of this historic community.

Friday, May 18, 2012 – 7pm

The SMALL Showroom (aka Co-Prosperity Sphere gallery)
3219 S Morgan Street

There is ample free street parking. The location is a 15 minute walk from the Halsted Orange Line.

Admission: $10 Suggested donation

Performers:
Keith Ecker, host/producer of Essay Fiesta
Samantha Irby, writer of Bitches Gotta Eat
Ian Belknap, overlord of Write Club
JH Palmer, contributor to Gaper’s Block
Shannon Cason, winner of the Moth Chicago GrandSLAM
Dana Norris, host/producer of Story Club and writer of Bad With Men

2. Broad Shoulders Podcast

Soon you will be able to listen to my angelic voice via the Broad Shoulders podcast, a joint collaboration of In Our Words’ Nico Lang, Story Club’s Dana Norris and myself. Stay tuned.

3. Essay Fiesta – The Book Cellar

The Bulls might be out of the game, but we’re just getting started. Essay Fiesta is here to deliver you one of our best line-ups yet. And all this is going down at the Book Cellar on May 21st at 7 p.m. to help fund 826CHI. Thanks partners and sponsors Southport Grocery, Murder Mystery Maniacs and Chicago Underground Comedy.

This month Keith and Alyson welcome:

Director and Second City instructor Jen Ellison

Actor, writer and teacher Arlene Malinowski

Poet and playwright Chris Bower

Co-creator of In Our Words Nico Lang

Writer, editor and teacher Chris Terry

Hey kiddies! We’ve got a doozy of an Essay Fiesta lined up for May. Seriously. Alyson and Keith are thoroughly impressed with the caliber of talent. This isn’t marketing spiel, people. It’s the real deal. Take a look for yourself. Below are the people who will rock your world on May 21 at 7 p.m. at the Book Cellar:

Director and Second City instructor Jen Ellison

Actor, writer and teacher Arlene Malinowski

Poet and playwright Chris Bower

Co-creator of In Our Words Nico Lang

Writer, editor and teacher Chris Terry

I am sorry for abandoning this blog so unceremoniously. Or perhaps it was ceremoniously…because how else do you abandon a blog besides just failing to update it?

In any case, I have been busy being gainfully employed at my new company Jaffe PR. It’s a great agency full of great people, and they aren’t just paying me to say that. One of my favorite aspects of the job so far is my ability to blog for the company. And so I wanted to share with you all some of my recent blog posts. Enjoy!

• Brand Journalism Saved My Life
• The House That Cats Built: The power of Internet marketing
• What’s You Story? Telling the tale of your firm

Have you ever wondered how to get your name in the news? Are you trying to drum up more clients for your business? Do you need more individual donors for your organization? Then you need to learn to market yourself to the public. And one of the best ways to do this is through press releases.

I am teaching a class through the wonderful site Dabble.co called Press Release Writing Basics. It’s a 2-hour workshop held this Thursday at Noble Tree in Lincoln Park. I do not mess around when I teach. YOU WILL LEARN! And if possible, I’ll even provide some personally tailored advice to give you some ideas of how you can get the coverage you desire. And for only $20! Sign up today!

Here’s what you’ll leave with:

1) Format – What are all those little details that you should include in your press release, from a dateline to those little hash marks at the bottom. You need your press release to look like a press release.

2) Content – Pitching your business to the media is a nuanced skill. Merely saying your product is worth writing about is not enough. You need to be clever and think like an editor in order to create a press release that will actually get media attention.

3) Distribution – So how do you find media contacts to reach out to? And how do you alert them to your press release? What’s the protocol on follow-ups? This class will touch on each one of these critical points regarding press release distribution.

I just thought of an amazing new idea. Here’s a hint…

IT’S A BLOG!

When I tell people that I am a professional writer, one of the most common questions I get is, “What do you write?” I know what this question implies. They want to know if I’m a novelist, a columnist, a screenplay writer or some other fun and zany writing professional. What these people don’t realize is that I am a working writer, which means the work is much less glamorous than penning the next Oscar winner. I largely stick to the income-generating forms of writing, like press releases, marketing collateral, SEO Web copy, custom publications, articles and the like. I also do some reporting, such as my work with Lawyers.com, the A.V. Club and the Huffington Post. And of course there’s that whole creative streak I have with Essay Fiesta and comedy writing, which has evolved into a labor of love instead of a pursuit of riches.

When I tell people this, they usually only perk up by the time I mention Huffington Post. And that doesn’t even pay. So what I’ve realized is that the general public has a very skewed idea of what it means to be a professional writer, particularly how writers actually make money. Likewise, some prospective clients/employers have a very limited view of what a writer like me does. They think I merely set copy to paper. In actuality, because I operate my own agency, I also am skilled in business development, client services, B2B communications, marketing and PR strategizing, media relations and project management.

So calling myself a “writer” maybe isn’t really doing me justice. I’ve been trying to think of a better title that more accurately describes what it is I do. I’m a editorial, marketing and PR copywriter, editor and project manager with business development, client services and media relations experience. Perhaps I’m a media professional? A marketing consultant? An agency founder/president/principal?

Here’s a fun fact about me: I wake up most mornings with a soul-crushing sense of dread that makes me want to stock up on canned goods, lock myself in my apartment and never see the light of day again. I don’t know what it is. I guess I’m just prone to anxiety and depression. Or maybe I just really get off to being afraid of everything.

A picture of me crossing the Chicago River on the way to the Loop

I’m on a tiny dosage of medication to help me deal with my broken brain. I also see a therapist off and on, but really I kind of just use him to bounce jokes off of. If I make him laugh, it was a good session.

Like many sad sacks, my mood fluctuates with the weather. But unlike most people, sunny days and rainbows don’t make me feel all cheery inside. In fact, blue skies and chirping birds make me feel worse. Much worse.

Welcome to my nightmare.

Instead, I’m happiest when the weather reflects my torrential depressive feelings, and by that I mean I love torrential downpours. It’s so cliche, but I’m only happy when it rains. Gray skies and thunder provide me with a rational excuse to hide under a blanket and be lazy.

You got that half right, Karen.

So what really dries up my serotonin levels is when the weather shifts from shitty to pretty overnight. And with this new crisp fall air and these bright lit blue skies, I’m ready to throw myself in front of a bus. I swear, if I see one more fucking squirrel frolicking or one more cute baby wearing sunglasses, I think I’m going to pull a Sylvia Plath.

Why do you torture me so? Do you not see that I'm in pain?

Fortunately, I do have one thought that keeps me going despite all these lovely perfect days with their perfectly formed clouds and brilliantly blue skies and softly blowing breezes and smiling dogs and pumpkin-flavored everything and scarves and crunching leaves. Winter. Chicago winter is coming, and it will kill everything.

Yes! Reap your wintery fury on us, oh Snow Gods!

I love Chicago winter because I hate it. It’s a fucked up way to look at the world. But beautiful weather just doesn’t harmonize with how I feel on the inside most days. Sunshine taunts my cold bitterness. It casts a warm and nurturing light on my black heart. But winter, oh you sadistic bitch, I love winter. It turns the sky a perpetual gray. It makes everyone into a shut-in. It weighs down the mood of the world so that everything retains a  constant and morose sadness.

Yes, cliched stock photo of depressed woman. I feed off your sorrow.

Also, I just realized that this post makes me sound incredibly goth. Like I may as well buy a trapperkeeper and cover it with The Cure and Morrissey song lyrics. But look, I don’t wear my misery on my sleeve. And I’m actually in a constant state of happiness. It’s a strange dichotomy, and it’s hard to explain. But I’m very happy for what I have, what I’ve accomplished and what I’m accomplishing. At this point, depression is like an imaginary friend I’ve had since I was little. It comes and it goes, and I find it kind of comforting.

Famous goth clown Robert Smith is a role model to depressed suburban youth everywhere

I have come to realize the importance of calming the fuck down.

For far too long I have pushed myself way too hard, putting too much responsibility on my shoulders in an effort to avoid any kind of failure or hardship. I have been successful because of this never-ending drive, but it is also making my life one giant task. And I don’t want my death to represent a big check mark on a to-do list.

So I realized yesterday that I got to take more breathers. I don’t have to rush myself. Not everything needs to get done today, and if there’s too much to get done right now, then something is going to have to wait or be dropped.

So no more juggling 30 things at once. No more running around like a chicken with its head cut off. It’s not that important. It’s time to simplify my life and to calm the fuck down.

End personal message of empowerment/rant.