"A very professional, skilled and keen writer who made an immediate good impression..."
Freelance writing is a passion. I have always had an intense love of the English language, from early English to modern linguistics. Writing has always been a thing of beauty, a natural flow simply surging from within in me. Yet, for many people this is not the case.
With markets becoming increasingly online, the power of the written word is what grabs and sustains lasting consumer relationships. If your business, be it practicing law or selling yarn, is unable to effectively assert what you have to offer, consumers will go elsewhere.
What I offer is effective communication. I am in business for the sole purpose of helping your business. Put me to work, and see what fantastic writing can do for you.
Free yourself from the ordinary. In today's economy, large and small firms alike are seeking ways to increase profits while decreasing costs.
By contacting me, you are one step closer to the most cost effective means to better office efficiency. I offer high-quality freelance paralegal and writing services without the additional costs associated with adding another in-house employee. Utilizing me saves your firm valuable time and resources.
As more firms become paperless offices through increased cloud computing, the ability for me to help you in an online atmosphere continues to rise. As a paralegal, I am still working under your supervision, and you can bill me to clients as you see fit.
All the fun, none of the mess. The beauty of virtual assistance is that you can get needed office support without unwanted office costs.
With today's technology, if you have a task that is done using a computer, it can generally be done online. This does not mean open sharing with inherent security risks; rather, it means that through e-mail or Workspaces, we can access the same information.
I also offer limited, non-virtual assistance. If you live within a given radius of me, I am more than willing to go to your office to help with certain administrative tasks. For instance, if you have a client bring in a box of financial papers, contact me, and if I am available, I can come organize it for you. Simply contact me for more details.
Services range from academic consultations to legal analysis. Due to their varying nature, while some services are available to all clientele, such as project preparation and drafting, others are restricted solely for legal practitioners.
Consultations are created on a per-client basis. Please contact me if you have a consultation request.
Note: Under no circumstance shall I provide legal advice.
Jessica is a graduate of Fort Hays State University. She double-majored, receiving a Bachelor's degree in English (emphasis in Literature), as well as a Bachelor's degree in Political Science (Pre-law), in 2007.
The month following her graduation, she found employment as a paralegal at a local law firm. While there, she discovered how desired her writing and administrative support skills were. Soon, she was maintaining the firm's multiple legal newsletters and creating Power Point presentations for the attorney's educational seminars for the public.
Jessica decided that she would like to broaden her scope of employment by working freelance. Since then, she has worked as a freelance writer (although she gave in to her creative side working part time in a craft's department, and her outdoorsy side working part time in a garden center). Now she works full-time as a freelance writer, online paralegal, and virtual assistant.
Also, in the summer of 2009, Jessica decided to update her Paralegal training by attaining a Paralegal Certificate through Boston Unversity.
When the weather isn't too bad (though even sometimes when it is), you'll find her outside writing on her laptop in her horse's pasture. If not there, she'll take her laptop hiking, finding the ultimate space for creative thinking. Once there, she'll often pitch a tent and simply enjoy the creative wonders on her screen and all around her.
Jessica loves being outdoors with her husband, regardless of whether they are out on the 4-wheeler, playing with the horses, feeding the cattle, or hiking.
When she's inside, you'll find her reading, cleaning (a task she enjoys), organizing and categorizing household items, or doing crafts. Jessica crochets, knits, quilts, paints, and sketches. Regardless, if she's not working, you can bet she's still busy.
Writing (General)
- Magazines
- Newsletters
- Correspondence
- Articles
- Blogs
- Product Descriptions
- Book Reviews
- Website Content
- Press Releases
- Ghostwriting
Legal Writing
- Briefs
- Analysis
- Pleadings (drafts)
- Summaries
- Depositions (drafts)
- Interrogatories (drafts)
Editing/ Proofreading
- Books
- Papers
- Reports
- Website Content (web pages)
- Forms
- Tests
- Legal Documents
Editing/Proofreading
- All Legal Writing Forms
(See ADMINISTRATIVE and CONSULTATIVE service descriptions for more paralegal assistance.)
Lists are non-exhaustive, so please e-mail me to inquire about services not expressly listed.
- Composition drafting from transcribed notes
Transcription
- Average typing speed: 85 wpm
- Composition creation, including
editing, from transcribed notes
- Legal
- Medical
- Mulitple speakers
- Presentations
Data-entry
Document format creation
- Brochures
- E-mails
- PDFs
General Assistance
-Internet Marketing
-Website Design (limited)
These lists are non-exhaustive. Please contact me to inquire about services not listed.
Academic Writing Consultations
- Research Papers
- Literary Analysis
- Creative Writing
- Technical and Report Writing
- Beginners to Advanced Composition
Legal Consultations (available only to attorneys)
- Legal Analysis
- Case Reviews
Writer's Block
Get the creative process going.
Tea & Gram
Debating the
oxford comma
Consultants
Determining if
you need one.
Highlighters
The tips and
tricks that
make them
useful.
Project!
Fun with
three-ring
binders
Semi-colons
Enough said...
Or maybe not.
On the Cover
Writer's Block . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Three-Ring Binders . . . . . . . 5
The Oxford Comma . . . . . . 9
Using Highlighters . . . . . . 11
Writing Consultants . . . . . . 15
Social Networking
Proper writing style 17
Personal vs professional 19
Mobile Coupons
What R U missing? 21
Take a bow
Write for the audience. 23
Add flair to your performance 25
Supreme Wordsmiths
Dropping the O-bomb in court. 27
Edgar Allen Poe
The mysterious visitor vanishes. 29
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08
09
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11
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Welcome to my virtual magazine.
On these pages, you will find advice aimed at professionals, students, and everyone in between. This is a bi-monthly online publication only.
In my unique "Tea & Gram" section, you will find articles discussing proper grammar. From analyzing English grammar to debating newer changes that seem to be taking place, you'll find it here.
As an added, fun bonus, I have also included a section in the magazine entirely dedicated to stationary projects. As a stationary nut, I want to give you not only some additional uses for your everyday stationary, but also give you something to do with your kids.
Writing should be fun, and I hope you find this virtual magazine fun, as well. If you are ready for a new online experience, simply aim your cursor over the magazine's corners to begin flipping pages.
Justice is served, and now it must be done.
When a mother's child falls victim to a tragic act of violence, she must take matters into her own hands.
The courts did not fail in judgement, only in sentence.
Red Courage
Literary Fiction
Short Story, $2.00
Literary Analysis
In the first volume of the Writer's Block series, we take a look at how to write a college research paper.
Using Red Courage as the literary work, this ebook will take you through the step-by-step process of how to properly research and write a research paper.
The lessons learned from this ebook can easily be applied to research papers in other academic subjects, as well.
WBS Vol 1: Literary Analysis $10.00
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form below.
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Check back soon for release dates!
Writing, in and of itself, is an action being performed, not a completed product. The completed product of writing is the written composition. Don't worry about the completed project being perfect, once everything is down on paper, you can go back and edit, edit, edit, if you have to. Instead, focus on the journey.
Writer's Block is a series that I have created to explore and assist with the writing journey.
Please view the virtual catalog to the right to find the writing resource for your needs.
See page 4 to get on The Write Shadow mailing list.
< Click here to
turn pages.
Contact Information
email: Jessica_TheWriteShadow.com
Check out my Wordpress blog here:
Today is the first day of my online journal, so I'm slightly at a loss regarding what I should talk about. A blog is simply another form of social media, meant to help market a product or company. In my case, I feel that this blog's purpose will be two fold.
On the one hand, it will serve as a medium to let current and potential clients know what I am up to. Theoretically, this should help current and potential clients ascertain my availability, and thus my likelihood at being able to accept an order. On the other hand, people who are interested in freelance writing or starting a home business can follow along and see what is like.
This is where the social media conundrum comes into play. There is a fine line between professional and personal, and while I want this journal to take on a professional air, I also want it to be personable enough to make reading this worthwhile.
So, on a professional note, it is now 6:00pm CST, which means, my business hours have officially come to an end. I say officially, because I still have a press release to write, and after I get my family situated for the night, I might go ahead and finish that before tomorrow.
On a more personal note, I have made the decision to get my MBA-JD. I have already taken the LSAT, and I discovered today that I will need to take the GMAT, as well. So, after business hours, I will be diligently studying for the test. It is the middle of January, and I plan on taking GMAT in March, so it's mental boot camp time!
Yesterday, I commented about business hours. I find that often people have the impression that freelance writers do not have actual business hours. Perhaps that is true for some, but I think in order to be fully professional, one should treat their home-based business as a career.
Perhaps some writers simply write in their pajamas, but I do not. When you hire me, you are hiring someone who takes their job seriously. This includes clothing.
When I get up, I exercise, eat breakfast, take a shower, and dress for the day. While I do not put on my suit, as I would when working as a paralegal, I do wear a nice blouse and sensible pants. When someone visits my home during business hours (9am-6pm CST), they will find me tucked away in my office.
So, why am I sharing this with you?
I find it frustrating and disrespectful to my business when clients presume that I should be available to them 24 hours a day. While I do not mine making exceptions in an emergency, as a rule, I only dedicate eight hours a day to my work.
This not only helps me focus on your project in a professional manner, showing respect to you. This also allows me to work from home in a manner that is conducive to having a family life.
Please do not take this as a severe reprimand. I simply wish for
others to recognize that I take my business seriously. As a freelance writer and paralegal, I take treat your project in a professional manner, and I appreciate those who pay me the same respect.
I love writing, and I desire to continue to assist people with all of their writing needs. However, I find it so odd that this is a profession in which people bid on projects. As a paralegal, I would be paid per hour for my services, yet so many people seem to hold writers in such low regard, that asking one dollar per article is a standard rate of pay for some.
One dollar per article equates to anywhere between 50 cents to 3 dollars per hour depending on the speed of the writer. Is that really what some writer's are worth? I find that highly implausible.
Oh well. The point is, I treat my home-based business as a business. I give my clients professional attention. Please pay me the same respect.
Okay, I'm getting off my soap box now. Thanks for listening...er, reading.
Well, a lot has happened since my last journal entry. For one, my family had a very close passing, which has reshaped a lot of life. Needless to say, blessings always manage to find a way to grow, even in a sea of tears. So, since one door was closed, I hope to be carried through the threshold of another.
I am now working from home full-time, and I am excited by all the new clientele I am getting. I am having a good variety of services being requested, which keeps my knowledge expanding, and my interest perked.
After months of planning, my grief has finally come full circle enough that I think it is safe to publish this new website. I had planned to do so in March, but after the loss, I just felt I needed to be a little more realisitic about when I could truly offer my services again. No one wants to hear the pity-me story of their service provider, so I thought it best to wait until I could at least see the rainbow through my tears.
So, without further ado, let me publish this site.
If you are reading this, please check back often. I will be updating it often.
Have you ever seen a new horse presented to a herd? The introduction causes a disruption which is both beautiful and dangerous.
Horses institute a definite hierarchy amongst themselves, and with each new horse, their place must be establishedoften forcefully. Kicking, biting, bucking, rearing; all life-threatening to a human, are just forms of communication in a herd. The idea is to move hooves. The lead horse will not move its hooves for a subordinate horse (unless its to double barrel a challenger).
From the perspective of a spectator, the prancing and running is breathtaking. Majestic creatures develop a community, equal for all to challenge for the first seat in the orchestra. Yet, walk out in the middle of this fiery orchestra transforms into a gladiators pit of death. Step up to the bat and be humbled.
I would like to say that I am about to compare all of this to the life of a freelance writer. However, this is not going to be nearly that profound. It did get me thinking, however, about the different reactions I have from people when they find out what I do for a living.
Some people effectively kick me in the ribs and act like Im a liar, whereas others begin to prance around, making room for me to share stories and any how-to advice I might offer.
What I began to wonder is how my actions are viewed by others around me. Do I respond to these situations differently, acting as a lead mare in some situations, and yet cowering in others? I wonder why humans have to continue to explain and redefine themselves constantly. Who we are seems to be a mascaraed, fitting and blending ourselves to each situation.
I have an online businessone that I am proud of. Not everyone has skills that make such a possibility become a reality. Yet, I am looking for an additional jobnot for the money, but so that when people ask me what I do, I can give them a different answer than freelance writer or virtual assistant. With online entrepreneurs being praised and written about as the new future, why do I feel like I should end the answer with an apology or an explanation that I am looking for other work?
Humans may not move each others feet to establish a social hierarchy, but it seems we do the same thing through causing emotions. Whoever causes the most distinct emotion in the other becomes the leader. When we lower our eyes, rebuked, we have moved our feet and established ourselves as subordinates. I am who I am; you are who you are; we are who we are. We must begin to raise our eyes and be the person that only we truly know.
We must learn to step up to the bat, prepared to be humbled, but ready and willing to go down swinging.
change pages.
Blog, journal, call it what you will.
Regardless, welcome, and I hope you enjoy!
Copyright 2010 The Write Shadow Contact: Jessica_TheWriteShadow.com Twitter: _TheWriteShadow
