| Writing for the World |
| Lisa Oliver Monroe Founder, Writing for the World |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Welcome to Writing for the World. The start of Writing for the
World fulfills a long-time goal of mine, and I'm very optimistic
about its official launch with this Web site in January 2009.
Writing for the World is a new business which I'm starting
following a lengthy career in journalism, and years of experience
working as a freelance writer and newspaper reporter and editor,
among other roles. The business offers a broad range of
services listed on the site's Services page; however, my specialty
and what I am most passionate about is telling the stories of
others, and this is what makes Writing for the World unique. If
you think you have a story worth telling or would like a story
written about your life, the life of a family member, your
business, or even your worthy organization, I would be the ideal
candidate to tell it, whether it is for publication or simply to pass
on to employees or family.
I have more than 20 years of experience as a published writer,
and my work has been featured in a number of publications
including: Virginia Living, WorkMagazine, Greater Richmond
GRID, Boomer, Urge, SBQ, Advance for Nurses (D.C., Maryland,
Virginia, and Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey editions), The
Far West End Press, The Henrico County Leader, The
Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal and The Captain's Log
(CNU).
I also am a self-taught VPA-award winning photographer, an
experienced graphic designer, and I hold a bachelor's degree in
English with a journalism minor from Christopher Newport
University, as well as a Virginia teaching license.
I began my career and spent many years covering local news in
my hometown of Gloucester County, Va., for The
Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal under the leadership of
editor Elsa Cooke Verbyla and her late father and publisher, John
Warren Cooke, a well-known politician in Virginia who served for
many years as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.
During my time there, I gained a strong background in covering
all types of stories from murder trials and crime news, to articles
profiling the lives of real people. I interviewed a few famous
people along the way such as former Virginia Gov. Douglas L.
Wilder, while on the campaign trail for office back in 1988, and
country music legend Kitty Wells while sitting inside her tour bus
with her and her husband.
But it was the stories of the ordinary, yet in some cases
extraordinary, people I encountered over the years that most
deeply touched my life, and inspired me to tell their stories to
others in newspapers and beyond. Occasionally on this site, I will
share some of these special stories so check back in the future.
During the process of interviewing hundreds of people, from an
elderly black woman whose father was born into slavery to a
waterman struggling while the seafood that has long been his
livelihood diminishes around him, I realized somewhere along the
way that one is in a unique and powerful position when another
person agrees to share their story, sometimes their life story,
and trusts you to convey that story through your own words.
For some, it will live on as the only public record, beyond an
obituary, documenting their lives when they are no longer here.
And that is a responsibility I do not take lightly.
If you have an interesting story, whether you have an outlet in
mind or whether you'd like for me to help you find one, please
don't hesitate to contact me at lisa@writingfortheworld.net.
World fulfills a long-time goal of mine, and I'm very optimistic
about its official launch with this Web site in January 2009.
Writing for the World is a new business which I'm starting
following a lengthy career in journalism, and years of experience
working as a freelance writer and newspaper reporter and editor,
among other roles. The business offers a broad range of
services listed on the site's Services page; however, my specialty
and what I am most passionate about is telling the stories of
others, and this is what makes Writing for the World unique. If
you think you have a story worth telling or would like a story
written about your life, the life of a family member, your
business, or even your worthy organization, I would be the ideal
candidate to tell it, whether it is for publication or simply to pass
on to employees or family.
I have more than 20 years of experience as a published writer,
and my work has been featured in a number of publications
including: Virginia Living, WorkMagazine, Greater Richmond
GRID, Boomer, Urge, SBQ, Advance for Nurses (D.C., Maryland,
Virginia, and Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey editions), The
Far West End Press, The Henrico County Leader, The
Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal and The Captain's Log
(CNU).
I also am a self-taught VPA-award winning photographer, an
experienced graphic designer, and I hold a bachelor's degree in
English with a journalism minor from Christopher Newport
University, as well as a Virginia teaching license.
I began my career and spent many years covering local news in
my hometown of Gloucester County, Va., for The
Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal under the leadership of
editor Elsa Cooke Verbyla and her late father and publisher, John
Warren Cooke, a well-known politician in Virginia who served for
many years as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.
During my time there, I gained a strong background in covering
all types of stories from murder trials and crime news, to articles
profiling the lives of real people. I interviewed a few famous
people along the way such as former Virginia Gov. Douglas L.
Wilder, while on the campaign trail for office back in 1988, and
country music legend Kitty Wells while sitting inside her tour bus
with her and her husband.
But it was the stories of the ordinary, yet in some cases
extraordinary, people I encountered over the years that most
deeply touched my life, and inspired me to tell their stories to
others in newspapers and beyond. Occasionally on this site, I will
share some of these special stories so check back in the future.
During the process of interviewing hundreds of people, from an
elderly black woman whose father was born into slavery to a
waterman struggling while the seafood that has long been his
livelihood diminishes around him, I realized somewhere along the
way that one is in a unique and powerful position when another
person agrees to share their story, sometimes their life story,
and trusts you to convey that story through your own words.
For some, it will live on as the only public record, beyond an
obituary, documenting their lives when they are no longer here.
And that is a responsibility I do not take lightly.
If you have an interesting story, whether you have an outlet in
mind or whether you'd like for me to help you find one, please
don't hesitate to contact me at lisa@writingfortheworld.net.