By Ruhi Jiwani
After six seasons and two movies, who isn’t familiar with Sex and the City? Originally a book by Candace Bushnell, Sex and the City was written largely in the form of short articles, almost blog-like in their chattiness. The book was blasé and urban. But at the same time, it recognized the innate vulnerability of human beings. The Carrie of the books wasn’t quite as riveting as the Carrie of the TV show, but she was still out there, looking for true love.
Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte
In the TV series, the four characters crystallized. We had the ubersexual Samantha, the tomboy Miranda, the virginal Charlotte and, of course, the fashionable, talented, girl-next-door in designer outfits, Carrie. Carrie was the protagonist of the show, but she was incomplete without her girlfriends. She defined herself in contrast with them, and they helped make her who she was.
Carrie’s Beauty Package
Another part of Carrie’s appeal was that she wasn’t technically good-looking. Short with a hooked nose, she had her shortcomings. But with designer clothes, a team of talented hairdressers, and a lot of help from the NYC ballet workout, she was turned into Cinderella.
Carrie as a Writer
What was great about Carrie was that she drew inspiration from everything happening in her life, whether it was good or bad, and she wrote about it. Her writing was mostly in the form of magazine articles for women, but we can learn a lot about writing in general from this ultra-glamorous yet somehow still down-to-earth character. So if you’re considering taking up writing for BlogMutt, which is a legitimate opportunity to work from home, here are some things you can learn from Carrie:
- You don’t have to have a very exciting life to find things to write about. People do generally say that you should write what you know. But you can take what you know and make it interesting and useful to those who read it. You can also just research something that you don’t know about and write about it. As time goes on, you’ll find that you gravitate towards certain fields or certain types of articles and blog posts.
- You should have a life outside of writing. Although Carrie works from home like many other BlogMutt writers, she does take the time to go out with her friends — and on dates. Of course, you’re going to need time alone to write, but this doesn’t mean that you should stay cooped up all the time. You need to strike a balance between the two.
- You need to have interests besides writing. Carrie’s interests are fashion and people. She loves to comment on people — her friends, the men she dates, and other people she meets. It’s the fact that she notices people and observes them that makes her a good commentator and writer.
- You need a space to write. If you’re thinking of taking up writing, you’ll need a space to yourself. In the beginning, you might be able to make do with a small nook in the house or any place where you won’t be disturbed. But later on, you might need more than that. In the Sex and the City movie, Carrie gets married, but she often goes back to her old apartment so that she can have the time and space to write.
- You just have to keep putting in the hours. There’s no “get rich quick” writing scheme. It’s always possible that you will be extremely successful with the first thing you write. But it’s much more likely that you’ll start humbly and move on to greater things. In the beginning, Carrie’s only writing magazine articles, but by the end of the second movie, she has also written books.
So if you’re thinking about taking up blogging as a profession, these are some things you can learn from Carrie Bradshaw. Contact us for more information about how you can start blogging for small businesses.
Editor’s Note: This blog is an example of the kind of writing you can get for your blog. The only thing that’s different is that it has the name of the writer. For your blog, you can say you wrote it. That’s fine with us. We’re happy mutts. Click here for more explanation of this series of posts.