Inspired Freelancer

The Sarah McCarthy Memorial Scholarship

I was touched to learn that a friend and colleague of mine, who lost his sister 11 years ago, continues to keep her memory alive through a memorial scholarship. I do not know the details of her passing, but I do know that the McCarthy family has instituted a scholarship in her memory for a high school student with an emphasis in creative writing. My friend, Adam McCarthy, will be running the Palm Beach Marathon to raise money for the scholarship on December 7th.

There are so many wonderful ways to remember a lost loved one, but I am always thrilled to see people helping others in their memory. I wish Adam all the best in the Marathon and I hope the scholarship continues to help young writers make their dreams come true.

If you would like to donate and help the McCarthy family keep the memory of Sarah alive, while helping a future writer, please click the link below.

Donate to the Sarah McCarthy Memorial Scholarship

Symptom: Writer's Block

Well, hello blog readers. I haven’t written very much in this new blog because I’ve been so busy with work. I guess, in some ways, that’s a good problem to have. On the other hand, I really want to get this blog off the ground. One of the biggest challenges I’ve been facing since I wrote last is “writers block.”

I’m even experiencing a little bit of writer’s block right now as I try to write this blog post. The good news is, I’ve figured out that writer’s block is a symptom of something else. Now when I have writer’s block, I look for the cause. If I can eliminate the thing causing the writer’s block, I can get back to writing. When I get writer’s block, it’s usually a symptom of one of the following three things:

1. Getting Started Blues

Diagnosis: I’m trying too hard to start at the beginning.

Cure: Write from the bottom (or middle) up.

Yep, sometimes I just want to write the title before I write the article/piece because it’s at the top of the page. I also want to compose a brilliant, snappy and interesting introduction before I delve into the meat of the article. News flash to myself: that doesn’t always work very well. It’s very easy to get stuck on the title or the first paragraph and feel all blocked up.

I’ve learned not to dwell on the opening of my articles, but to start with the section I am the most ready to write and work out from there. Sometimes this means starting in the middle of the article and occasionally it means writing the last paragraph first. Allowing myself to start somewhere other than the introduction fits the bill when I’m stuck at the starting line.

An Open Letter to Company ABC on PR Best Practices

or ("The Biggest, Most Important Secret to PR Success")

Dear Company ABC,

I just called you to interview you for an exciting, 2-page spread because I thought your product line was perfect for the feature. I checked your website first to find the number of your PR person, but all that I could find was a general number. Maybe you don't get a lot of press and don't have a PR person? I called the general number, and instead of talking to a person, I talked to your high-tech phone menu. I couldn't figure out which number to push as there was no marketing or PR option, so I pushed "0" for the operator.

Could you find someone a little more personable to be your operator? First, they assumed I was calling about selling you something and hung up. The second time, I got past the point where I introduced myself by blurting out "I'm a reporter from XYZ publication looking to interview your marketing person" faster than an assumption could be made. Expecting better, more responsive treatment, I was disappointed when this person said, "please hold" and put me directly to someone's voicemail. She didn't tell me who the person was, she didn't tell me when they would be in, all I got was "hi, this is Bob, I'm not in - leave a message!"

I could have been a little more diligent, since I really liked your product, but time was of the essence, so I moved to the next person on my list and called them, hoping to get a live person. Someone friendly answered the phone and now their products are featured in my article. What's wrong with this picture? Well, Company ABC, a whole lot - you missed out on free PR! How did this happen? Let's start at the beginning.

(Read on to learn the biggest, most important secret of PR Success.)

The Lost World

I read the recent news of Michael Crichton's death with equal measure of shock and sadness. I had not heard that he was ill, and despite the fact that many of his novels were written before I was 10 years old, I viewed him as a young man. Indeed 66 years old is young in this day and age. Still, it seemed like an untimely end to one of the greatest writers of our time. While I can't boast of having read each and every one of his novels, Crichton's work has certainly influenced me as a writer and a human being, and I am sad to learn that I won't be surprised or thrilled by any new Crichton novels after his last posthumous publication.

I can remember the first time I read Jurassic Park. In 1990, when the book was released, I was nine. About a year later, just as I was entering the 6th grade, a friend of my father's sent me a copy to read. My parents had some reservations about the subject material and it's appropriateness for a ten-year-old, but decided to encourage me. While I had ventured from the children's section into adult literature a few times already, Jurassic Park had a scientific flavor that I had not encountered in other books. I was fascinated with the detailed descriptions of the cloning procedures and Ian Malcom's pontifications on chaos theory and paradigms. With a father who had raised me on chemistry sets and computer science, I was drawn to the technicality presented in the material, even if only to realize later that it was intelligent fiction, but still fiction.

Welcome to Inspired Freelancer

My name is Julie Cajigas, and I'm the "Inspired Freelancer" around here. I'm starting this blog and website to chronicle my adventures as a full-time, professional freelance writer, discuss the freelance copywriting profession and to share all of the lessons I learn along the way. This website will also feature information on my services and an online portfolio of my work.

My business, Inspired Copy & Communications, LLC, launched on October 1, 2008. I provide freelance copywriting, ghostwriting, editorial writing, web copywriting, public relations and marketing communications services to corporate and small business clients across multiple industries. I also specialize in editorial and feature writing and currently serve as a contributing writer for several trade publications.

This website and blog is currently "under construction," so keep an eye out for the information on my services and my online portfolio - coming soon!

Welcome to what will hopefully become an exciting venture and an interesting blog...

Thank you for visiting!