Writers Unbound

I was recently blessed to come into contact with Leo Babauta, who runs a very successful blog, Zen Habits. He started up a new writers blog, Write to Done, and allowed me a guest post. I also interviewed him for About Freelance Writing.

In a recent post at Write To Done, Babauta suggests that one copy the style of other freelancers. He advocates reading great copy (stories, whatever) and then making it your own.

I was also able to get a review copy of Christina Katz’s Writer Mama, which I will also cover at About Freelance Writing shortly (I’m on the last chapter). Christina echoes Leo’s suggestion. She advises those who are looking to get into magazine print to break down the articles of your target publications. For example: how many subheads are standard? Does the author use humour or is the copy completely serious? Does the word count seems standardized across issues, features and departments, or is there some give and take? You are then to use your investigation in crafting your submission.

Finally, I’m thrown back to my undergraduate years, when one of my favorite professors lectured on Ben Franklin and assigned his autobiography. It happens that Franklin taught himself to write by carefully dissecting great works, studying their pieces, and then attempting to reconstruct the text as the original author had. Talk about self taught! Sure enough, Franklin’s autobiography is a piece of precise writing that accomplishes its purpose without self-aggrandizement.

Study the masters. Choose a muse and find out what it is that draws you to that muse. Take the pieces that you will from them, and make those pieces into your own work and styling. Now, go write!  

Good morning readers and writers. It’s Writers Work Wednesday. Let’s get some dollars going.

• Avalon sure is friendly to potential authors. Their ”want list” is almost always updated. They’re currently putting the call out for a guide on travel to Honduras.
• Are you new to blogging? You may want to see if you can get on board with the Families.com blog network.
• Veteran writers based in San Francisco may want to check out this posting.
• Tech and custom car blogger needed. Be sure to bookmark this board, it’s great because it tells you how long ago the job was posted.
• Here’s a magazine I would read: Mexico Xpatz is seeking freelance writers. I’m burned out on writing about Mexico right now, so I won’t compete with you! (I’ll just subscribe and read you later!)
• Habitat Magazine is looking for journalists.
• Novelists: Twelfth Planet Press has put out a call for novellas numbering between 20,000 and 40,00 words.

 Another thing I want to bring up this Writer’s Work Wednesday is this wonderful book I’m reading that WILL get you motivated to query magazines and GET ASSIGNMENTS. I’m not even done with it, yet I CANNOT wait to recommend it to you: Writer Mama by Christina Katz.

Christina takes you through the process of becoming a writer for magazines, from beginning to end (and beyond). One book has never generated so many ideas for me before. I am reviewing it for About.com Freelance Writing, and carefully crafting my review. But don’t wait, get it today! 

Hello, is it Wednesday? See, I wouldn’t know, because I am actually dripping these posts ahead of time in an effort to be a more efficient freelance writer.

Either way, it’s time for some writing work for you!

• Copywriter needed at a company with a really cool name. This is a virtual position.
• If you’re in Chicago, you may want to check out this op from Mintel.
• Poetry Coach needed. Must have a college degree.
• WRG is hiring hiring again. This is a virtual position.
• A POD Publisher needs production help.
• If you have a creative mind, you can make some extra money with Sandbox International.
• Got a niche you that you know a little something about? About.com is looking for Guides for many of its niche sites. Minimum pay is $725 a month.
• McFrank needs an advertising copywriter.
• A Tech Writer is needed by a software company. This one requires a degree.
• Eh. I don’t like this one so much, but I will put it out there for you to check thoroughly.
• Here’s a short term opportunity for writers in North Caroline. I wouldn’t mind having Wake Forest on my resume! I’ve been called an education snob though. Hmm, on second look, I’m not positive this is for the University though.
• Several positions are listed this week at Editors Only classifieds. Don’t let the name throw you off- I saw several postings seeking freelance writers.

As always, I wish you the best of luck! (And I do so sincerely, as there are literally thousands of writing positions out there, and I am willing to share! : }  )

Ok, so I actually cleaned out the mailbag when I did FAQ Friday last week. However, I did have a fellow writer ask me an interesting question regarding my personal blog post showing a picture of my office. I thought those who write at home may find the answer somewhat interesting.

Allena, I saw the gorgeous picture of your office at this link. I am working on starting up my freelance writing business, and wondered how much such a set-up set you back? I mean, I know it’s completely deductible, but do you feel that it is worth it for a writer to set up a home office?

Well, I’ll start at the end. I do think it’s “worth it” as far as the deduction goes. My writing business really didn’t make all that much profit last year, my first official “full time” year, but I still made enough of a profit to have to pay taxes. Which I didn’t like much, I may add. Had I been able to write off this office, it would have helped me out alot.

You read that right- I don’t get to write off my office. It’s not used exclusively for my business. My husband’s office is also in here, along with a treadmill and a storage closet. I wish I could write it off. I want to write it off. I just can’t. I’ve looked into some rearranging of the rooms in my house, but have not yet come up with a solution for this.

Meanwhile, I just enjoy my office as is, treadmill, tv and all.

Thanks for the mail! Keep sending Q’s here or to gwpublications@gmail.com.

Hi Readers & Writers,

Short n sweet today because I got stuck in the Big Apple this week for longer than I intended, and my work is inexcusably behind. So some quick tips from my New York City trip:

• When you meet other writers, authors and editors, pick their brains. It’s amazing to me how many people use different resources. On the net, almost every writer I run into knows most or some of the same sites and resources I use. However, when I met my colleagues in NYC, we all got some new perspectives.
• People watching on the subway is excellent practice in characterization.

Here’s an honest Thursday Thirteen.

If you’re anything like me, …..?…….., you care about books. I mean, seriously care. I notice what people are checking out at the library, what people are reading on planes, and what books bloggers write about. I adore books.

So, it’s hard for me to do this Thursday 13 honestly, because I truly don’t know what’s lying around right now. Guess we’ll see.

13 Books In My Office:

1) Premium Green Markets Ebook. Ahh, that’s a mystery to ya, huh? Guess you’ll have to visit Women on Writing to see what the heck I’m talking about.

2) The 2006 Writers Market. Yes, 2006. Yikes.

3) 100 Banned Books by Karolides. LOVE it.

4) 100 Years of Solitude by Marquez. The English version. The Spanish one is in my living room.

5) They Take Our Jobs and 20 Other Myths About Immigration. 

6) Aura by Fuentes. Another excellent selection

7) Raising Nuestros Ninos by Rodriguez.

The 5 Love Languages by Chapman. A little too religious for my taste, but not bad.

9) The Essential 55 Workbook. Haven’t read it yet.

10)Writer Mama by Katz. Cannot WAIT to get to this one, looks promising.

11) Make Money Reading Books by Fife. Bought this the day I graduated with my English degree. Hasn’t failed me yet.

12) Great Jobs for English Majors. See above.

13) Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer by Allen. Read in one delightful weekend a year ago. Perfection.

That’s it for today’s Thursday 13. Someone pulled all the books off the topshelf of my library, and now I have to go put them back. Grrr.

Alo!

Well, like I said last week, the only problem I can foresee with Writer’s Work Wednesday is that it isn’t drip-able. As you read this particular entry, I’m wining and dining with clients in NYC.

Ok maybe not wining.  Is that a word?

Since I’m dripping this post on a Thursday night (directly after Lost, which I find to be both the most interesting and the most frustrating show ever made), I’ve decided to give you a taste of my 88 freelance writing job lists. Yes, 88. Now you know why I am rarely looking for jobs….going through half my list tends to fill me up for 2-3 weeks.

On to some Writer’s Work Wednesday leads: 

ACES Editorial Jobs: Ok so they’re editorial, but the bonus on this particular list is that they come directly to your inbox. Always nice.

No Agencies Please: Has all freelance jobs, not just writing.

Freelance venue has a few here and there.

This site says “Writing Well Is The Best Revenge.” Ah, yes, yes it is. I’m going to have to agree, but add “having a decent bank balance” in the mix.

All Freelance Writing Jobs seems to be updated pretty often.

I tend to get at least one or two solid leads from WriterFind.

Last, but not least, let me say a few words about Elance and other bid sites. I know the rep they have out there, and honestly, sometimes I think I’m on a completley different planet than everyone else. I never bid under my set hourly rate, I’m always paid on time and fairly, and I usually get a new client out of the whole deal.

So if you finish up a project early, or find yourself with some billable hours to fill, I highly recommend poking around on elance.com. Be careful, bid your set rate, and fill up that bank account! :) 

Today’s tip is that grammar counts.

Crap.

Here’s the problem: I write all the time. It can burn a person out. Sometimes when I blog, or comment, or chat on forums, I really could care less about perfection. I get paid for perfection, and unless you’re paying me, I’m not much interested- not 100% of the time anyway. So, if you come across me online and Your wondering why I keep making Acceptions to grammar rules, now you know.

Do you know why people attack such things on message boards? Generally lack of anything better to say.

But, yes, grammar does count in paid writing situations.

Need to work on your grammar?

Here’s some fun grammar quizzes.

Sometimes English grammar takes on a new dimension when you learn a new language. I really didn’t catch grammar until I learned Spanish in high school. So if you’re still monolingual…there’s another impetus for you to cure that.

Of course, you could always kill two birds with one stone and invest in the 15th Edition Chicago Manual of Style. Freelancers and journalists will more than likely run across a need for this anyway, and it can answer many of your grammar questions. Granted, it’s quite an investment, but those who work through a business front can always deduct it!

Last, but certainly not least, Sentence Sence has a grammar textbook aimed specifically at writers.

On a side note, be sure to check out this guest post that I did for the kind ladies at Freelance Parent last week. I explore the question of asking for an extension from freelance clients. Is it ever ok? Be sure to leave your comments.

In order to make more money and work less hours, I’ll need to be more efficient. This past week has been an experiment as such for me, and so far so good! So, I’m going to share with you, dear reader!

• Check your email once or twice a day- no more. I’m addicted to my email, and I really like having a clean and clear email box. But, that means that I will follow up on things if I think I can do so quickly. However, those quick follow up almost always get drawn out. Turning off my email notification has solved that.
• Speaking of notifications, I’m addicted to my Crackberry. I”m kind of a geek about it. At anytime of the day, it’ll make a little noise telling me I’ve got a call, an email or a text message. I love it. I love the connection, I love being “in the know.” Guess what else I like? Quiet. It’s been working out!
• I have more issues. I can’t transition well. When I finish one project, I take too much time to move on. I get up and move around, check email, etc. One solution to this is to restrict “transition time.” Instead of getting up and walking about after one project or piece of a project, I require myself to complete two or more pieces, thus avoiding transition time wasters.
• Another way to ease the transition between projects is to compile a to-do list at the beginning of the work day. This may seem obvious, but it tends to get lost in the shuffle of early morning email and phone calls.

I got the Thursday Thirteen idea from my fellow 451 blogger “JM” at the Book Stacks and Write Anyway… or perhaps Thursday Thirteen is a common blogging thing… I don’t know for sure! Either way, on to my Thursday Thirteen!

Thirteen Writing Prompts For a First Person POV

1. You live one house down from railroad tracks, and…
2. Your a MySpace addict, even though you’re 46.
3. You meet the man of your dreams and find out he’s 15 years younger than you.
4. Every night you write a novel in your head, and every morning you’ve forgotten everything about it.
5. You go to Atlanta for a writing conference, and discover such freedom from your responsibilities that you…
6. Your family pet slowly turns from black to white over the course of one week, and…
7. You meet your childhood best friend on a listserv. You’re delighted, but she doesn’t remember you.
8. You’re running late. You decide to take your children to school in your pajamas. Surely you’ll have no reason to get out of the car, right?
9. You’re 39 with a happy family and two children. You find out you are quite accidentally pregnant. You…
10. With a sudden windfall of cash, you finally get that facelift you’ve always wanted. You’re astounded when your friends react by . . .
11. You realize you’re neighbor has been spying on you. You decide to get them back by. . .
12. You’re daughter develops a special bond with an elderly neighbor. One day she passes on, and. . .
13. Your son decides to join the military upon graduation. You’re a pacifist…