What's the story?

I’ve truly enjoyed using this space to share essays that detail my personal journey, and I am thrilled that a few people beyond my parents are reading my posts. But truth be told, I’m still trying to figure out what I want this blog to be when it grows up.

In the couple months since I launched my website, I have been satisfied to simply use this space as a public outlet for any old random topic I want to write about. And it turns out my favorite topic is me. (My inner circle of friends and family are collectively rolling their eyes right now.)

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I’ve spent a good portion of my career telling other people’s stories, and while I relish the opportunity to do that for many years to come, I have realized recently that I also have a profound need to write my own stories. I was afforded the chance to do that for seven years at Business First, albeit with some restrictions, but my storytelling has been latent since 2007 when I left the paper.

Enter my new blog. I gotta say, it’s been extremely liberating to write just for me again. Hence the very personal essays about family, life choices, relationships, etc. Not to be too cheesy -- OK, screw it, bring on the Velveeta -- but I can feel the bard in me blooming like the first peony of spring.

As someone who is marketing herself to businesses as a web content writer (among many other things), it occurs to me that maybe I should heed my own advice and start using my blog to drive potential business to my site. Y’know, write with keywords in mind without screaming: I AM A FREELANCE WRITER IN LOUISVILLE. GIVE ME WORK. I mean, there are much more subtle ways to drop in words that folks who need writing help might be searching for online.

WRITER. EDITOR. PRESS RELEASE. MEDIA CONSULTING. COPYWRITING. MARKETING. 

Ahem. *Cough, cough.*

But here’s the deal. I think what I really want my blog to convey is that I love to write, and that I am pretty darn good at it. I don’t know if it makes much difference what the topics are, as long as the copy is engaging and well written. I think the page on this site that features a wide variety of my writing samples demonstrates that I have a lot of experience across a broad spectrum of styles, and that I know what the hell I’m doing. When it comes down to it, my blog is really just another writing sample.

At some point, I will probably start compiling “how-to” articles, offering up the basics of a good press release, how not to approach a reporter or the essentials of a website’s homepage. In fact, I’ve been invited to write as a guest blogger on a few of these topics for an inbound marketing firm here in Louisville, and I’ve been ruminating on how much info I can share without writing myself out of potential work. Once I settle on that, I will be sure to post a link here for all who are interested.

For now, I have a lot more personal stories to share on my own blog. I hope you’ll indulge me awhile longer, and please share the links with anyone who might have a few minutes of idle time to kill.

I also would love to hear from my loyal readers (all five of you) about what you’d like to see here. Cooking disaster stories? The antics of my teenage son? More about my ridiculously cute dogs? You’re also welcome to tell me to shut up. Some of my best writing has historically been a result of pretty harsh criticism.

When you get a sec, leave a comment here or send me a message through my “Contact Amy” page.

Or just keep reading. Yeah, that’ll do just fine, too.