My Writing Journey | by Warren Goldie
I’ve been fortunate to have worked in many industries. In Los Angeles, I was a screenplay analyst for Hollywood production companies and a publications editor at the Shoah Foundation, a digital archive of 50,000 hours of Holocaust survivor testimonies headquartered on the Universal Studios backlot. The foundation’s chairman was also its founder—Steven Spielberg. I ghostwrote articles for him that were published in the international newsletter, Past Forward. My mother, herself a survivor of Auschwitz, contributed her account to the project.
In business writing, I focus primary on B2B (business-to-business) copywriting, content production and marketing. At FoodChain ID, I wrote and produced websites and participated in marketing campaigns that contributed to years of record growth. I’ve written extensively about SaaS (software as a service), and have subcontracted for dozens of organizations, including Texas Instruments, U.S. Department of Energy, eFax, K12.com, and Voice of America. I was a senior writer at IBM’s go-to marketing agency, now incorporated into Ogilvy.
Often I come in cold to a new industry or company, hitting the ground running. “You’re good at writing about things you know virtually nothing about,” a client told me. I took it as a compliment. And as a testament to having been around the block once or twice. In a different vein, I’ve successfully marketed spirituality (which takes a deft touch) at the Omega Institute of Holistic Studies, Interface Foundation and Maharishi International University, all leaders in mind-body-spirit education.
In B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing communications, I worked at CyberMedia, whose PC antivirus software dominated that industry. “TI Tomorrow,” an intranet website I edited and cowrote for Texas Instruments, was a finalist for the Smithsonian Innovation award. I’ve written scripts for training videos, documentaries, and museum kiosks. As a creative writer, my novel Waking Maya occasionally leads its category on Amazon, appears in the Top 20 Best Spiritual Fiction list on GoodReads, and was Book of the Month at BookReview.com.
Fresh out of college, I started my career as a software developer at Lockheed Missiles & Space Company in California’s Silicon Valley, the holder of a top secret security clearance. I signed up for a creative writing course and wrote an essay, “On Retreat with the Buddhists,” which was published in the Baltimore Sun, my adopted hometown’s largest circulation newspaper. I was off and running. I pursued my twin careers of creative and business writing, initially working as a technical writer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., and a few years later, made my way into marketing copywriting and digital communications, building a reputation as an idea generator and a strategist.
My writing journey has taken me on two seemingly divergent paths: the first, into the business and education worlds where I work to satisfy client or employer. The second follows the trail of the storyteller seeking to discover, explore and dramatize life’s hidden truths in stories that aim to absorb and move readers. These seemingly different paths can and do inform each other. I’ve used more than a few “fiction” writing techniques in my marketing writing. But, trust me, that’s a good thing…
If you have a project that you think would be a fit for my skills and background, please contact me by email, voicemail (720-608-2311) or using the contact form. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.