It’s strange how you begin to appreciate the finer things in life when a lot of the freedoms you are used are stripped away by conventions. I’m speaking of course of creative writing within the confines of a specific number of characters. Working in content development and creative writing has really tought me to wear a couple of different hats at all times. On one hand I’ve got to look at things like SEO, find ability, ease of read and the scan ability with pretty much everything. Rope all of that in with a low character limit and you might be able to understand why I’m trying to adjust my own vocabulary to include nothing but 2-syllable words of late.

On the other hand I’ve got a sense of creative pride and integrity that will stop at nothing to write most creative and engaging piece of copy anyone will ever read (alright, maybe that’s stretching it a bit, but I’ve got lofty goals just like anyone else). I want to generate interest on an intellectual level for niche audiences that stay with readers / viewers at all times. This of course hardly ever takes anything else into account and I’ve appropriately named this stage of the interactive writing process as “The Selfish Draft Stage.” Basically what I mean is I create the most engaging version of what I want to write first. Sometimes it’s as short as a paragraph, while other times I go on to write a 500 dissertation about the ideals of what a campaign can accomplish (again, lofty goals ). Once that’s all sorted out I put on my lumberjack plaid shirt and just start hacking.

I strip away everything that doesn’t necessarily draw the attention of the masses. Then I strip away more, and more and more. Finally by the end I’ve got something I’m happy with presenting, but its really just a shell of what I had originally written. But why do I do this? Why do I strip and hack away the wonderful supportive words that keep me at bay? Because the creative brief always says, “Be as unique as possible, draw in as much attention as you can, don’t hold back. Please keep in mind that each line can be no longer than 45 characters with spaces.” It’s like reading the fine print – the tiny bit of extremely important information that is spoken of matter-of-fact-ly. It’s rough sometimes, but it has to be done and by the end of the project I’m usually drained of most brain matter.

K, I’m gonna get back to writing some amazingly engaging content that prompts readers to want to know more, interact and eventually spend money in some capacity – all within 45 characters including spaces…

I work from home (primarily in my pajamas with a cup of a coffee), which definitely has its perks. I can get up and leave any time I want. If I really just don’t feel like doing anything, I just won’t do anything and I never have anyone around me to constantly remind me that I’m on a deadline, or that something is due within the next few hours. When I first started out this was great. I made my own schedules, left enough video game time and work life was peachy. But after doing this for a while now I’ve discovered that I not only need a more regular schedule, I actually need a project manager – or at least someone to help me keep track of what is coming up.

A perfect example of why I need someone like this is this weekend. Vancouver gets beautiful weather for like 2% of the year. During this time everyone drops what they are doing and heads outside to work on their blotchy tans and show off the guns at the beach – everyone except me of course. Because of my own disorganization and lack of time management, the one weekend that the sun decides to come out and play is the one weekend where I have to bare down and finish a crap-load of work for Monday. This is just me whining about it. Thanks for listening.