Q: Where did the name Terrible Lizard come from?
A: In 1842, a big shot English zoologist Sir Richard Owen coined the term Dinosauria from the Greek word deinos, which means “fearfully-great” (but can be simplified as "terrible") and sauros "lizard.” Though dinosaurs were not all terrible and technically not even lizards. I’ve been a paleontology buff as far back as I can remember, so when thinking about a name for my freelance company, I chose Terrible Lizard Productions. I sent around a survey to friends, peers and family to get opinions on some proposed name possibilities, and Terrible Lizard got a lot of positive survey results, and not too many negatives. More than one person surveyed said it was a bad idea to use the word “Terrible.” I also thought about it having too many syllables for a good punchy name. But it abbreviates well to TLP. And I like it, so there.
Q: What kind of writing do you do?
A: All kinds, but I do have my strengths. My style is generally more conversational than formal, but I can dial up the drama or the formality depending on the situation. I’m a pretty quick study, and I’m good at understanding a client’s business quickly and seeing what their strengths, challenges and issues are. I also can write humor. But whatever the project is, the goal should be to make it interesting and meaningful for the reader, listener or viewer.
Q: What are your working principles:
A: They are -
- Nothing gets accomplished if no one is paying attention.
- Creativity can make up for the lack of a big budget, but a big budget can’t make up for a lack of creativity.
- Brevity.
- Results should be serious but work should be fun.
Q: What are my five “Cs” of writing:
A: They are -
- Comprehend – determine what your goal is and what success means
- Condense – distill your message to a simple, understandable form
- Connect – find out how to make your message resonate with your target audience
- Captivate – nothing gets done if no one is playing attention
- Compel – make sure your audience knows what to do and how easy it is to do it
