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. And he also peed next to Teddy 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 another and to things such as places, concepts, and products. Simply put, storytelling is good marketing.

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.

This is one reason I excel at storytelling and capturing the voice of a client: because watching, listening, and learning are centrally important to me, and I’ve spent years translating these lessons and insights into evocative language. So where does this come from?

BETTER THAN SCHOOL

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. A quick sampling:

I ran a hostel in Ireland. I dug ditches in Montana. I waxed floors at a junior high I later taught in. I was a park ranger on islands in Boston Harbor and coastal Georgia. I spent a week in a hospital bed for $800. I staffed a youth home in Alaska and an AIDS center in Oakland. I counted traffic, professionally. I built rose beds in rural Virginia. I was a holiday airport greeter in Missoula. I moved pianos in my off days as a college English instructor.

An elaborate quilt, I know! But this patchwork of remarkable 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 individuals, businesses, and brands stand out from the reams of factory-farmed, sound-alike prose littering the Internet.

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

Going Legit

Woven into that same quilt, I earned a BA in American Studies (more breadth!) 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, which was a valuable introduction to crafting writing that could be creative within a corporate structure. For Apex Learning, an industry-leading curriculum developer based 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 writing and digital marketing, drawing on my various writing experiences to help clients educate, affect, and influence their audiences. Meanwhile, I currently live in Cincinnati where my partner 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-authored several screenplays, and recently released a favorably reviewed album of original songs with my band, Loose Freight. 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.