Author Archive
Why Oh Why Can’t I Write Like That?
{photo credit} Ever read someone else's writing and cringe? Not because they did a hacked up job of writing and/or editing, but because they are SO good! They are so good that you are suddenly reduced to the insecurities of a teenager. And from out of nowhere you hear yourself saying (in a surprisingly high piercing nasally voice I [...]
Circuit Training for Your Brain: How to Do Everything as a Writer
Got too many plates up in the air? I hear you. Writing while you've got other things to tend too can be exhausting to say the least. But this is the problem: Those plates? They still need to get done. You're going to have to do all of them (marketing, editing, writing, transcribing, etc.) and still do them well too. So I'm going to let [...]
Doing the Yucky Writer Stuff
Were you ever a fan of Jon & Kate Plus 8? Before Jon left and made it a sad sounding Kate Plus 8? If you haven't a clue as to what I'm talking about. It's okay. I'll save you the TLC gory details. Anyway, there was one episode where Kate Gosselin, mother of 8 (twins and sextuplets) said something like, "Being a mom is not a glamorous job, [...]
The Little Annoyance Getting in the Way of Your Writing: You
I don't know if this is a girl thing. But my hair is my best friend and my worst enemy. I have a lot of hair! As a kid, I bemoaned the day I forgot to bring a rubber band. In swimming class, my hair floated around me. I was a body of hair with a tiny body attached. And it gave the boys extra ammunition to tease me that day and call me, [...]
How to Let Go and Let Good (Writing Happen)
You ever write and write, then write again. But you keep hitting a brick wall? Something's just not quite right and you can't put your finger on it? You may be suffering from the inability to let go. A frustrating writer's syndrome. Second to only writer's block. It happens when you've grown attached to your writing. You've spend weeks, [...]
Does Age Matter?
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I wonder, for example, if there is such a thing as age discrimination in writing. Does one get less respect the younger he or she is? I also think about whether your age or your perceived age makes you more or less marketable in the freelance writing biz. Why do I ponder these things at 9:51 in [...]
“I’m a writer and I have low self-esteem.”
"I'm a writer and I have low self-esteem." That's what I said on Penn & Teller's Showtime show Bullshit. It was part true, part Hollywood. But I think anyone would agree that writing for a living can break your heart at times, into itty-bitty tiny shattered pieces. And that's just on a good day. On a bad day, getting rejected or getting no [...]
Setting Yourself Apart from the Competition: Give it All You Got, Give it All You Got…
{photo credit} Remember that old 90's rap song by the Old School Players? I don't know what they were rapping out back then, but it's a good reminder of what we need to do today as better business men/women and in general freelancers. I saw the King and Queen of comedy Tina Fey and Steve Carell on the Oprah Winfrey show months ago. They were [...]
Class Review
Thinking about taking a class this summer? There's a whole slew of them to consider so why not? As I mentioned in a previous post, #2 to be exact, it's a great way to make use of your time, when business is slow. The choice to take a class is easy, choosing which one to take is the hard part. To help you along, here's my breakdown of writing [...]
To Blog or Not to Blog: Is That the Question?
Well I guess it is for some folks. In fact, I was just listening to J Freelancing 101: Get Your Questions Answered, a podcast from the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) 2009 conference. In it, a participant asked panel members about blogging. A few members gave a big thumbs down to blogging. Specifically they did not advocate [...]
