SELECTED WRITING SAMPLES

First, a confession. Because I have such a wide range of writing styles in my diverse portfolio, it has always been difficult for me to select, or send, only "three writing samples" when applying for a job. Whether you call it writer's insecurity, or pride of authorship, in my case it seems to come down to one thing: I'm never quite sure what a potential employer needs to read in order to be convinced that I can write. I suppose that's why I've developed this on-line portfolio web site. It's a cost-efficient way for me to give clients an unfettered opportunity to examine my work in as much detail as they need. If you spend enough time exploring my site, I figure you're bound to find something you like and give me a chance to learn something new and prove myself a good communicator yet again.

However, I also know that people tend to feel overwhelmed when presented with too much information. (I can tell by the way their eyes glaze over when I haul my portfolio samples in for local interviews.) Accordingly, on this page I have provided only a few links to a small selection of the samples contained on this site. Hopefully this will make your evaluation of my skills less tedious, but just as productive. If you don't find something that matches your needs from this shortened list, you can always gain access to the complete set of samples from my resume page. My resume page organizes my writing samples in a boring, reverse chronological order, but this table presents a few samples of my work in more of a topical, or stylistical, fashion, regardless of when I crafted them. I hope this guide is useful to you.

Type, or Style, of Writing Sample

Sample(s)

Client/Employer Link in Resume

Technical CopyWriting
— employee training manual — compliance procedures, company history, legal issues of mail order tobacco business
Call Center Compliance Training Manual

CTG
(Computer Task Group)

Technical Writing
— software manual, users' guide

Reciprocal Packager

Technical CopyWriting
— video game software manual

Atari Football 5200

Atari Space Dungeon

Video Script Writing
— video brochure: marketing a computer network

H-P AdvanceNet

Video Script Writing
— training a national sales force

Xerox Documenter

Humorous, Technical Copywriting
— web-based, on-line help system for a popular games-for-prizes site.

iwin.com FAQ system

Educational Copywriting
— short articles for "Columbus: Discovery and Beyond," an innovative, interactive product for schools.

• Pay Now, Sin Later

• Indulgences Buy Time Off

• Mapping the World—Earth's Point-of-View

• [List of all "Columbus" articles.]

Film Documentary Script Writing
— tuberculosis in Malaysia

Watch That Cough

Advertising Copywriting
— marketing brochures

GE-Calma 2-D Draftstation

Rich Stadium

Audio Script Writing
— using a radio drama format to train a national sales force

The Trial of the Maintenance Manager

Film Dramatic Screenplay (treatment only)
— the life and work of a controversial, visionary scientist

The Wilhelm Reich Story

Report Writing
— collating technical information and statistics into a smooth-reading report.

Public Health in Los Angeles: An Endangered Species?

Speech
— introducing a guest speaker

Speech for Ed Rutkowski
Rich Advertising, Buffalo, NY
Journalism; News Reporting
—clever, humorous word play in a short news clip written for a TV station's web site. This piece demonstrates that I can even have fun writing news articles, when the opportunity allows room for some creativity in story-telling.
Bees Say "No" to Yes at Art Park concert
WKBW-TV, Buffalo, NY
Editorial. Personal Opinion Piece
—my personal comments and perspective on the president, Congress, and the Iraq War, as published in the "Everybody's Column" of the Buffalo News on 2/25/2007, following a Congressional debate on the war.
Congress stands firm in declaring nothing
Published in the Buffalo News editorial pages on 2/25/2007.
(Will be archived beginning around 3/7/2007.)
     

 

John-Michael Battaglia

Buffalo, NY 14214
(716) 316-4447
GalileoII@aol.com
jmbattaglia@roadrunner.com