{"id":27670,"date":"2020-03-26T16:20:14","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T20:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdcontent.com\/blog\/?p=27670"},"modified":"2021-10-08T14:58:48","modified_gmt":"2021-10-08T18:58:48","slug":"writer-spotlight-carrie-mccarthy-a-story-of-wine-crayons-and-coyotes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crowdcontent.com\/blog\/writers-hub\/writer-spotlight-carrie-mccarthy-a-story-of-wine-crayons-and-coyotes\/","title":{"rendered":"Writer Spotlight: Carrie McCarthy \u2014 A Story of Wine, Crayons and Coyotes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Despite the zombie apocalypse known as COVID-19, Crowd Content\u2019s long-running Writer Spotlight forges on with its second installment. This week, we ask you to take a socially distanced break from hand washing, news watching, homeschooling and, of course, writing to learn a little bit about Crowd Content writer Carrie McCarthy, aka Alana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Crowd Content\u2019s most skilled writers, Alana has completed over 1,400 orders and written nearly 800,000 words for our clients since joining the platform in May of 2016. Her knack for writing compelling marketing copy has earned her frequent praise from numerous businesses, and she\u2019s often the go-to writer for project managers who need high-quality sample or calibration orders for new clients. \u201cI do love onboarding new clients though and doing samples. It\u2019s especially rewarding to help bring CC business and play a role in shaping project briefs,\u201d says Alana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALSO<\/em><\/strong> – Hire Freelance Writers Today<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in Ohio and currently living in Las Vegas, Alana has a varied background. \u201cI spent 15 years or so as a professional musician, then I dabbled in culinary school and worked in restaurants as a server, corporate trainer, and sommelier.\u201d (that\u2019s a wine snob – I had to look it up). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a life-changing car accident kept her at home, she began freelancing full time in 2013, and it \u201cbasically saved her life,\u201d she says. She doesn\u2019t quite remember how she stumbled upon Crowd Content (it was four years ago, and I can\u2019t remember what I did two weekends ago, so we\u2019ll let it slide), but she thinks she may have migrated here with a group of other writers who left another platform because\u2026 well, we\u2019re just better. That\u2019s not a quote, but I\u2019m going with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alana\u2019s preferred type of content is \u201canything with a little voice to it. I specialize in bringing personality to sales pages and web content,\u201d she says, \u201cbut my main passion is food and wine writing.\u201d She writes at home after her children are in bed and sometimes moves the workspace out to the porch but not too often because \u201cwe have Las Vegas heat to contend with. And also coyotes.\u201d Yikes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not one to shy away from the hard-hitting questions, I dug deep to get a true feel for who Alana really is. Enjoy the spoils of my investigative reporting:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have any hobbies or unusual interests?<\/strong> \u201cI have two young children. My hobbies are cleaning crayon off of walls and sleep typing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is your favorite author? What\u2019s your favorite book?<\/strong> \u201cPoe. Dorothy Parker. I also really like short stories, so I read anthologies more often than not but I also have a deep love of nonfiction \u2014 biographies, anything about travel. I read cookbooks like they\u2019re novels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you been published by any notable sites or organizations (digital or traditional)?<\/strong> \u201cA bunch, many as a ghostwriter though. My favorite \u2018notable\u2019 project is a profile I wrote about legendary winemaker Mike Grgich. It was published online; his staff saw it, and they said he loved it so much that he had a bunch of copies printed and handed out to guests at his (mega big deal) 93rd birthday party\/book release. Meant a great deal to me as a writer and as a wino.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s your favorite restaurant or meal?<\/strong> \u201cI will never turn down a good sandwich. My life is pretty much sponsored by Boar\u2019s Head and Jersey Mike\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s your favorite TV show or movie?<\/strong> \u201cThe Princess Bride, forever and always. As for TV shows, I frequently rewatch Friends, The Office, and 30 Rock. But Fleabag is an absolute masterpiece. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is the kind of surprising, authentic, comedically brilliant writer I inspire to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Complete this sentence: When I\u2019m not working, I…<\/strong> \u201clove to play with my kids and sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the five worst words in the English language?<\/strong> \u201cWe\u2019re out of Diet Coke.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s get to the good stuff before Alana resumes her Diet-Coke-and-wine-drinking, crayon-cleaning, sleep-typing days. What can you gain from Alana\u2019s experience, and can we get some unsolicited compliments about our platform? (ok, maybe not completely unsolicited).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think sets Crowd Content apart from other content platforms?<\/strong> \u201cThe staff. The platform is great (and about to get better); the clients are solid and delightfully varied, and the interface is fairly intuitive, but the PMs and other admins are why I stick around. I had pretty high status on another well-known content platform but I couldn\u2019t stand how the staff treated the majority of writers \u2014 like they\u2019re disposable. CC listens to and appreciates laptop monkeys like little ole me and that respect goes a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you could change one thing about our platform, what would it be?<\/strong> \u201cI abhor the TAT system and think rewarding speed while expecting accuracy\/quality is the exact wrong approach. Sorry(not sorry)!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have any advice for new writers?<\/strong> \u201cDon\u2019t ever disqualify yourself from a project unless you\u2019ve already tried it and know for sure it\u2019s not a good fit. I\u2019m totally self-taught, and I\u2019ve advanced because I\u2019m willing to learn on the go. Mastering a new niche while writing requires dedication (and lots of sandwiches), but it\u2019s totally possible and will vastly expand your professional potential. Also, use a thesaurus. Repetitive content is the pits.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you find most challenging about writing content?<\/strong> \u201cCreativity on demand. Sometimes the muse just doesn\u2019t want to play and having to come up with all the werdz when you really just want to watch Love is Blind and dream of pudding is really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know about you, but I get the impression that Alana is hungry. Go grab yourself a sandwich and big bowl of pudding \u2014 and maybe some wine; you\u2019ve earned it. We appreciate all you do, Alana. Keep up the great work! Join us next month for a peek into the mysterious and glamorous life of another Crowd Content writer. Maybe it\u2019ll be you. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite the zombie apocalypse known as COVID-19, Crowd Content\u2019s long-running Writer Spotlight forges on with its second installment. This week, we ask you to take a socially distanced break from hand washing, news watching, homeschooling and, of course, writing to learn a little bit about Crowd Content writer Carrie McCarthy, aka Alana.  One of Crowd […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":27685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWriter Spotlight: Carrie McCarthy \u2014 A Story of Wine, Crayons and Coyotes - Crowd Content - Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our writer spotlight series profiles some of the top freelance writers in the world. 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