Tweet 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, months, maybe even years on the same piece. But it’s just not where you want it to be. Yet, you remember all of the good times you had together. The state you were in when you wrote it. The feeling…
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Tweet 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 the evening? I wonder because I’ve been trolling the forums lately and have heard people concerned about being a late bloomer in the business. At the same time, I was discouraged by acquaintances when…
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Tweet “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 response, can feel worse than working at a job you hate, for a boss you dislike, in a cubicle that feels suffocating. It can feel like hell-a place where there’s no mercy. Why? Because as full-time work…
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Tweet {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 talking about their movie Date Night and were asked what they admired about one another. Fey said, “The kind of detail and specificity that he (Steve Carell) brings to his character Michael Scott of The…
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Tweet 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 courses that you may want to consider signing up for this summer:
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Tweet Well actually I don’t. And I don’t know what you’re doing this summer either. But I know what I’m doing. While lots of writers are taking off to go on vacation (and rightly they should for working their butts off all year!), I’m working harder than ever. Why? Because some businesses are still in business and need writers to fill in. Because downtime is a good excuse to get working on other areas of your business. While the mice are playing, the cats shall be working. So what should you be doing now?
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Tweet If I told you problogger’s Darren Rowse was a genius, you’d probably say, “Yeah so what else is new?” If you are super new to blogging and haven’t heard of him yet, I say, “What are you waiting for?” and get yourself to his site immediately. To prove just how helpful this blogging genius is (one of the few professional bloggers making six figures), in one short post, he’s taken me from FBML newbie to creating my own Facebook landing page. Talk about blogging genius! Rather than try to explain how to make one of your own, I’m going…
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Tweet Yes there’s baby blues and even shopping blues, but freelance writing blues? Yep, I think so. If you’re in the low right now, when your phone stops ringing, people stop emailing and your blog is as empty as an ice-cream shop in wintertime, then you know what I mean. You wonder if this is it, the last shebang, the final sign that you didn’t make it, that your just not that good of a writer and you’re ________ (mom, sister/brother, father, uncle/aunt, cousin) was right. But before you throw in the towel and raise that white flag, let’s see if…
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Tweet Confused about Twitter? I don’t blame you. Such a simple thing, yet, there’s so much to learn and so little time. Recently, I gathered up my Twitter wisdom from almost a year of use and gave an hour or so consultation with a new client. Since I believe in the power of educating others, I thought I’d share a bit of Twitter info to you. Lucky for you, this info is free! Want to create your own hashtag # on Twitter, but not sure if someone’s already got it covered? Go to http://search.twitter.com/ and double-check first. Speaking of hashtags,…
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Tweet Okay I know. I’m really, really late. Marvelous Michelle Rafter, creator of the Blogathon already posted what bloggers learned about blogging for 31 days straight. I know I missed the boat. I’m a horrible, undevoted blogger. But let me tell you what really happened: 31 days of blogging on not2shabby, 2inspired, guest posting and writing about writing got me blogged out! I went into a blog coma and stowed away to Hawaii where I did nothing for about 2 weeks. Well if I’m being honest, I did work and write for one of my clients, but I stored up…