About This Blog

Running a small business as an independent copywriter can be as challenging and as daunting as trying to run a 10K race through waist-high water.  With piranhas.  At night.  While wearing swimmies around your ankles and carrying a backpack full of bricks.

Yes.  The life of a freelance writer is often, well, a crucible: a severe test, or trial. 

A test of what, you ask?  Well, at its most basic level, freelancing is a never-ending test of a writer’s skills, versatility, and expertise.  But, beyond that, it’s also a test of a writer’s patience, determination, and resilience.  It’s a test of business acumen, customer service savvy, and public relations skills.  And, perhaps most important, it’s a test of a writer’s strength as an entrepreneur in a dog-eat-dog consumer culture that severely undervalues professional writing.

The goal of this blog, then, is to help writers (and clients, too!) overcome the crucible with helpful tips and tried-and-true tricks of the trade.  From grammar and punctuation refreshers to lessons in B2C etiquette—maybe even the occasional writer’s rant (hey, we all need to vent every now and again!)—The Copywriter’s Crucible will help us all survive the vagaries of the biz… and walk away smiling, satisfied, and unscathed.

Oh, yeah.  One other thing.  ”Crucible” doesn’t just mean a severe test or a trial.  (But I’m pretty sure you already knew that.)  A crucible is also a container for melting metals.  And, according to Merriam-Webster, it’s also “a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development. ”   In that vein, then, I hope to make this blog a kind of a melting pot of ideas and thoughtful conversations about writing—by writers and clients, for writers and clients.

Welcome!

–Rachel