About Me — Sheldon Clay. Sometimes I think each of us is a soul…
By: Sheldon Clay
Tags: Introduction, Life, About Me, Creativity, Writing

It took me awhile to figure out what to do with my life. I always knew it would involve words.

After graduating from journalism school at the University of Minnesota, I got a job writing mail order catalogs. Each item had to neatly fit the space the designer had arranged on the page. My brain still tends to automatically calculate the character count when I write.

Eventually I traded up to a job at a big ad agency, and landed on the Harley-Davidson account. Porsche saw the work we were doing for Harley and hired us as well. I remember spending days writing Porsche ads, then spending the night shift working on Harley.

The intensity was perfect for honing the writing craft. Writing about iconic motorcycles and sports cars gave me a lot of opportunities to experiment with symbolism and imagery. Because there was never even a microsecond for writers block I learned all the tricks to keep the creativity flowing. Mostly that involved being in motion. Going for a walk. Going for a run. Going to a coffee shop. Going to a bar. Getting on a motorcycle and hitting the road.

An old ad from my Harley days. It was written from experience.

Minneapolis in those days was famous in creative circles for producing clever, beautifully art-directed print ads and I had a load of fun working at the center of it. In the years since print has died out as an art form. Now I mostly write TV ads and internet films. I miss the smell of ink.

More recently I started wondering what other kinds of writer I might have in me. I started working on a screenplay during the hours spent on airplanes and in hotel rooms while traveling for TV production.

And I started writing on Medium, which I love because the writing can be anything. I’ve tried my hand at essays, adventure, religion, short fiction, business, politics, family, philosopohy.

Just in case you might be wondering, the favorite thing I’ve written is a series of satirical short stories. Here’s a link to Part One. It shouldn’t be too hard to find the remainder of the series.

It’s not because of any particular biting satire or brilliant insight that I’d recommend this series. It’s the characters that grew on me and for a while became a part of my life. A washed-up PR guy. A mysterious former stripper turned trapeze artist. An interesting assortment of clowns. By the time I was wrapping up the series I knew I would miss them. So I left the end of the story a bit unraveled, just in case I want to go find them again.

As I mentioned earlier, writing and motion are tightly linked for me. For that reason I love to travel, and write about it. Here’s the account of a road trip across the western U.S. with my son:

So, that’s me. If you’ve read this far I’m glad we’ve become at least somewhat acquainted. Leave a thought or two in the “reply” section and we’ll know one another that much better.

I’m writing this a few days short of Christmas, at the end of one of the strangest years on memory. Because of the pandemic I’ll be spending the holidays much as I’ve spent the past nine months. With my wife, our aging dog, and a zoom link for everything else. I’ll leave you with a piece I wrote during an earlier Christmas. It too was filled with uncertainty, but it also reminds me of the hope of once again being able to surround ourselves with the people we love. Take care.