Tweet 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, but it’s a rewarding one!” The same can be said about writing. In fact, in a recent No Reservations episode (can you tell I watch too much TV?), Anthony Bourdain said,…
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Tweet 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, “Medusa.” Boy was that hard to shake off! As an adult, my hair still gets in my way. When I’m working out it falls forward…
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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 It’s Day 4 of the 2010 WordCount Blogathon. Here’s a bit of info in case you haven’t heard of it. Reporter, writer, blogger, basically media/publishing entrepreneur, Michelle Rafter created a challenge for herself. In 2008, she blogged every day for the entire month of May. Asking others to join in the fun, she created the WordCount Blogathon to gather a community of bloggers with the mission to learn, write and have a great time doing it. I just joined this year and have been secretly blogging every day on this site as well as my other blogs (not2shabby and…
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Tweet Last year I sent out a flurry of queries and a couple completed manuscripts. I worked like crazy to reach that impossible, unattainable dream-to get published in a well-known magazine. And here’s what happened: No, I didn’t get into Glamour or O magazines. A prayer wasn’t answered. A miracle was yet to be seen. Instead, last year’s queries were answered by this year’s, “I’m sorry your idea doesn’t fit with the current needs of the magazine.” After listening to my heart shatter for a few minutes, I put myself back together like Humpty Dumpty. I realized that one rejecting…
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Tweet Something pulled me from my warm bed and hour of mindless magazine reading today. I was thinking about my last post. I was thinking about how Walt Disney encountered a lot of bad people in the biz and still waded in his way through the slime and got to the other side. In fact, not just in spite of the greedy people out there but because he had resilience. There are many traits important in having a successful freelance writing business and I definitely think resilience is one of them. Resilience helps you keep going. It’s what helped Olympic…
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Tweet A writer could learn a thing or two from Mr. Walt Disney. My husband and I attended the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio area of San Francisco this weekend. You can read my overall impression of the museum here. But if you’re a writer or author, stick around, this post is for you! I didn’t know much about Walt Disney except for the fact that he created 2 amazing amusement parks, one in California and the other where I got engaged in Florida. I also felt some kind of weird spiritual connection with the guy. In a…
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Tweet One thing I love about freelance writing, besides the writing itself, is how there are SO many opportunities for self-growth. Confronting our inner fears, for example, is one of them. And in every freelance writer’s bag, there is an array of fears to pick from. There’s the fear of rejection, for example. To the beginning writer, a letter of rejection sometimes feels like a Dear John letter. Our writing wasn’t good enough and in return we’re not good enough either. Fear of going broke. At times writing for a living feels like a lofty career. One that’s more for…
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Tweet Martha Stewart’s recent rant about FoodNetwork star and talk show host Raechel Ray got me thinking, “Is it better to be honest or keep your mouth shut?” As a freelance writer, sometimes you work with people who are unprofessional or difficult. Is it ever a good idea to state honestly how you feel about the working relationship or is it better to cut ties cleanly and quietly? What do you think? Better to be honest and state what’s not working (e.g. low pay, unreliable client) or end things without saying a word?