[Podcast] Lessons from a Professional Writer

by Melissa Parks and Dave Goetz

There's a yawning chasm between writing for yourself and writing for a client.

Writing for yourself is, well, so personal. Writing copy for a company like Target or Google, on the other hand, requires that you capture the voice of the brand. You must step outside yourself and write to spec (to use the old magazine phrase).

Jennifer Olvera is a full-time professional writer. She has written eight books, including her latest, The Easy Meat Cookbook: 75 Simple Recipes for Beef, Pork, Lamb, Veal, and Poultry. Jennifer has also written scores of magazine articles and written copy for Global Fortune 500 and Fortune 500 brands, including PwC, Kohler, Marcus by Goldman Sachs, United Airlines, Google, and Accenture.

In this episode, Dave and Melissa interview Jennifer on her writing life, both personal and corporate. She captures the essence of what it means to write a book when she discusses the importance of asking, "What will this evoke in the reader?"

Writers will be encouraged to persist in their writing journey and in creating their unique voice.