Freelance Projects

Freelance Projects

Paula has writ­ten more than 1,000 fea­ture stor­ies and in­vest­ig­at­ive re­ports cov­er­ing everything from teen de­pres­sion to lady bugs, get­ting fit and con artists.

She’s also provided text for web­sites, news­let­ters, bro­chures and an­nu­al re­ports. One pro­ject in­volved pre­par­ing mul­ti­me­dia re­search pack­ages on Sointula and the BC Central Coast to be used to cre­ate dis­plays in the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

Some of her taped in­ter­views for Sointula Island Utopia are held in the BC Records and Archives Services in Victoria aur­al his­tory col­lec­tion. And, the sum­mer of 2010, Paula ghost-wrote the auto­bi­o­graphy of a wo­man who was turn­ing 100.

Editors’ comments

We love your con­ver­sa­tion­al style.”
Kelly Vail, Alberta Lung Association.

High qual­ity and so very readable.”
Karen Morrison, Editor Western People.

An awe­some, well-re­searched, in­form­at­ive read.”
Alison Northy, Editor BC Woman Magazine.

Always on-time, on budget, ac­cur­ate, ima­gin­at­ive and an easy edit.” Bruce Winfield, Editor Comox Valley Record.

Some sample projects:

On the Edge

A col­lab­or­a­tion between writer Paula Wild and pho­to­graph­er Barry Peterson, On the Edge is a pho­to­journ­al­ism pro­ject de­signed to put a per­son­al face on the home­less and those at risk of be­com­ing so. Each framed and mat­ted piece in­cludes a black and white por­trait and a one page syn­op­sis of the person’s life.

Photo by Barry Peterson

Participants se­lec­ted the pho­tos, ap­proved the text and were paid for their time with gro­cery gift cards. The ex­hib­it has been shown in a vari­ety of ven­ues in­clud­ing non-profit so­ci­et­ies and schools. Paula and Barry have also presen­ted On the Edge slide shows and talks to vari­ous organizations.

Click here: Ruby’s Story to read an excerpt.

The Grease Project

Randy Edgar forks oo­ligans into a washtub as Don Hans looks on.
Photo by Paula Wild

While re­search­ing One River, Two Cultures, A History of the Bella Coola Valley, Paula re­ceived a Canada Council grant to study the Nuxalk meth­od of mak­ing “grease.”

This cen­tur­ies old First Nation’s tra­di­tion in­volves let­ting small, smelt-like fish fer­ment for a week or longer, then gently sim­mer­ing them to re­lease the vit­am­in-rich oil.

Click here: The Grease Project to read an excerpt.

Beautiful British Columbia
“Sointula’s free-love utopia”

Formed by Finnish ideal­ists at the end of the 19th cen­tury, the uto­pi­an com­mune of Sointula was based on the prom­ise of equal­ity for all. But carving a com­munity out of the wil­der­ness was chal­len­ging and fin­an­cial re­sources were scarce. And when ru­mours that free love was be­ing prac­ticed reached the out­side world, ten­sions with­in the com­mune escalated.

Click here: Sointula Free Love Utopia to read an excerpt.

BC Woman Magazine “Smooth Operators”

The best way to beat a scam is to re­cog­nize it be­fore it hap­pens. If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.

A con artists’ fa­vour­ite vic­tim? The eld­erly and women.

Click here: BC Woman Magazine to read an excerpt.

 

Western People
“Life Amid the Trees, The Life and Times of Bus Griffiths”

Bus Griffiths
Photo by Rick James

Although he’s been called a “liv­ing na­tion­al treas­ure,” Bus Griffiths was a mod­est man with a pen­chant for a good story.

The re­tired hand-log­ger lived in Fanny Bay on the east coast of Vancouver Island and also claimed the titles of artist, au­thor, log­ging his­tor­i­an and com­ic-strip il­lus­trat­or. Apart from his fam­ily, log­ging was closest to his heart.

Click here: Western People to read an excerpt

The Beaver, Canada’s History Magazine
“Weena: Thomas McIlwraith among the Bella Coola”

When pi­on­eer an­thro­po­lo­gist Thomas McIlwraith went to the re­mote Bella Coola Valley in 1922, he did more than ob­serve. He made friends with his sub­jects and par­ti­cip­ated in an­cient dances and rituals…even when it meant break­ing the law.

Click here: Thomas McIlwraith to read an excerpt.

 

 

 

 

 

Banner photo: Mystery Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Kayenta, Arizona. Photo by Doug Tracey