ABOUT MARTY

My namesake great-grandfather, Martin Joseph Moran #1, claimed to be the world's record holder in the Backwards Jump, a self-invented event. He also peed next to Theodore Roosevelt after tiling Teddy's mansion. This brings me to my first point.

Story is Everything

It’s no secret that storytelling is central to any successful writing venture, whether it’s creative or commercial. Stories entertain and captivate, and it’s through storytelling that we build connections to each other and to things such as places, concepts, and products.

Most importantly, storytelling gathers and galvanizes the goals, motivations, and experiences that shape a wholly unique identity. That might be the identity of a person or a brand. But either way it's indispensable.

Part of effective storytelling is understanding how narrative functions and how language is best shaped to support it. Just as important, though, is understanding an audience. Who they are. Where they’re from. What they value. What they need.

I excel at storytelling and capturing the voice of a client because watching, listening, and learning are foundational crucial to me. And I’ve spent years translating these lessons and insights into evocative language. So where does this come from?

FUELING THE EMPATHY MACHINE

To me, variety and experience have always been the most valuable of currencies. They’ve not only given me fuel for story and training as a writer, but an ability to connect with a range of people from a range of places.

Here's a quick sampling:

An elaborate quilt, I know! But this patchwork of experiences has gifted me the perspective, empathy, and breadth of knowledge that fuels thoughtful and effective writing. It’s also lended my writing a unique character and personality that helps my clients stand out from the reams of factory-farmed, sound-alike prose littering the Internet.

So I wouldn’t trade that quilt for anything, no matter the thread count. It’s given me a voice, and it's allowed me to help countless students, organizations, and businesses find unique and powerful voices of their own and yawp them at the world.

Going Legit

Woven into said quilt, I earned a BA in American Studies from the University of Notre Dame and an MFA in Creative Writing from Colorado State University. I taught at Colorado State for six years − various composition, literature, creative writing, and American Studies courses − before moving on to Portland, Oregon.

In Portland, I dove headlong into e-learning, a valuable introduction to crafting writing that could be creative within a corporate structure. For Apex Learning, an industry-leading curriculum developer HQ'd in Seattle, I’ve written scores of instructive material across several humanities domains. This work taught me how to navigate domain-specific terminology in a variety of fields, and also to write for a wide range of language and reading levels.

This e-learning work continues, but I’ve since branched into a wider range of web-based writing and consulting, drawing on my various writing experiences to help clients educate, affect, and influence their audiences. Meanwhile, I currently live in Cincinnati where my partner Molly is pursuing a doctorate in fiction writing. As a result, I can spell Cincinnati.

Words Aplenty

And when I’m not writing for work, I’m still writing. I’ve co-penned several screenplays and released a favorably-reviewed album of original songs with my band, Loose Freight. We're big in Italy, anyway. I also have a custom wedding poems business (but who doesn’t, right?). The short of it is, I thrive in making. For me, there’s nothing like creating, and for whatever reason words became my tools.

Which is fortunate, because I’m far too tall to be moving pianos.

Still here? This is my favorite joke.
thank me later. :)