Writers Unbound

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…

I’ve got away from my life goal lately, which is to leave the world a better place than I found it. Some may say I’ve got pretty far away, and I’d have to concur.

The reason (excuse?) for this is that my writing business is booming, and I simply am treading water one day to the next. So, over the past weekend, I began to brainstorm ideas to combine my two worlds, and this is what I’ve come up with:

• Query articles that help the world. Examples would be travel articles that have a humanitarian slant, education-based articles aimed at segments of the population who may need some help in navigating the system, or inspirational articles such as first-generation college grads.
• Copywrite for humanitarian organizations. Everyone needs copy!
• Offer pro bono grant writing once or twice per year to targeted agencies.
• Start a blog to keep your humanitarian goals accounted for.

I’ve done a couple items on this list, and have written others into my 2008 goals.

By the way, as far as grant writing goes, the ladies at Freelance Parent wrote an exceptionally informative series on it last week.

Good luck and feel free to leave YOUR thoughts on writing and the world.

Do you get writer’s burn out? I guess I get mini-burnout- it’s usually solved by a short weekend. But I’ve read some tales of big time writer’s burn out, and I never want to go there. Here’s a round up of some ideas I found when researching writer’s burn out.

Errant Dreams has a particularly long list, including taking the requisite vacation, journaling and reading. I especially agree with the reading part- that always inspires me!

One of Mar Com Writer’s suggestions particularly hit me: Write in a different genre. I can see that. I recently switched my blogging jobs all to one day. By the end of that day I am so so tired of blogging!

The Urban Muse suggests a hard time to turn off the computer. (Wow, that sounds like a fantasty to me as I drip my week’s posts at 7 o’clock on a Sunday~~!) 

I am open to YOUR suggestions on burnout, although we do have a “comment eating monster” we’re working on here at 451. So, please, feel free to email me gwpublications at gmail dot com and I’ll take care of your comment myself!

I go back and forth every day about the pros and cons of running my own business versus working for someone else’s bottom line.

Now, I do realize that this Work At Home freedom is very much sought after by many people, and I’d be mistaken to not appreciate it. But, at the same time, there are some things I miss about past jobs.

I read about one freelancer who went to work for only one company, which seems like a near-perfect balance. But, I do find myself avoiding jobs that are “full time” (even if they are telecommutes) because I think I like the “newness” of my varied projects. I tend to have a short attention span, and this feeds right into that.

So, I’m doing a pros and cons to help me get a grip on my recent feelings of burnout.

PROS:

• Freedom. All sorts of freedom
• Always beginning a new job, a new subject 
• Pursuing my writing dreams
• Working for my own bottom line, not someone else’s
• Setting my own hours
• Setting my own rates (to a point, not including magazines)
• Being able to work when inspiration hits
• Being more available to my family

CONS:

• Added responsibility
• Always being “on”
• No set vacation days
• No set end time
• Beating the pavement for jobs
• Getting stiffed!

I know the vast majority of writers out there are hobbyists. Do you all think I’m crazy and looking a gift horse in the mouth? And for those that work as writers full time or freelance full time— have you ever wavered? 

Sorry readers, we’re going to have to go with short n sweet today…

I have a sick cat that needs to go to the vet ASAP, an overdue project, a plumber coming out to possibly replace our water heater, and a potential client meeting this afternoon. How crazy is that? How much work do you think I’ll get done today? Who wants to see me cry?

What’s keeping you from writing? Just know that you are not alone!

I used to be a work-at-home-mom, meaning my children were in house with me as I tried to write. After I took my freelancing business to the next level, I realized it was imperative that I got some quiet time. So I sent my 4 year old to preschool three times per week, and as my older child is in 2nd grade, I eagerly anticipated my quiet writing/business time.

Well, the dog blew that.

The dog drives me nuts every day. Behaviors like chasing phantom squirrels, demanding treats, and attempting to mate with the cats have all forced me to incorporate some creative solutions to selfishly guard my writing time.

So, without further ado, obvious and not-so-obvious things you may need in your writing space.

The obvious:

• Calendar
• Scrap paper- Except you may want to save trees and jot down idea on your computer. There is a desktop notepaper widget for those who have Vista.
• Calculator- Mostly a need of freelancers, but I can see some use for other writers, too.
• MP3 player- Even my kids’ cheapo $40 MP3 player comes with a voice recorder that you can use for interviews! 
• Snacks and a big ol’ glass of water- The less you get out of your seat, the less likely you are to get off track.
• Phone/cell phone- See above.

And the not so obvious, for those with challenges like mine:

• Treadmill: I have a treadmill in my office as a matter of space issues, but I adore getting on it and thinking.
• Dog whistle: For the barking, whining menace at my feet.
• Cat treats: To throw across the room when the cats attempt to lay on my keyboard.
• Child gate: Keeps your office free of dogs, cats and toddlers.

Little by little I have managed to keep my butt-in-chair hours growing! 

writing challenges

My novel is …crazy. It really is. It has the first chapter. And of course, that first chapter is near perfection. Then it has this medium sized middle. The problem is, the middle is allll out of order. And then I just wrote the end!

Now, I’m sure you can tell by the general subject matter of WritersUnbound that I tend to know the freelancing side of things better. Sigh. ‘Tis true. I work for a regional publication, and I freelance mostly as a biz-tech writer. So, these things I know. However, how do you learn something more? By doing it, of course!

But that doesn’t mean that I don’t need some direction in the midst of this rough draft. Here are the sources I turn to when things get all crazy. Like this morning.

• How To Write Your Novel in 100 Days: Ok, don’t write it off because of the average title. This is not an average article, course or post. This is pure inspiration. Written from the POV of a Peace Corps worker reaching out to other Corps volunteers with a tale to tell, this is as simple as three paragraphs a day to read with one short TO DO. It really works. If you are really serious about writing your novel, you must at least read the story about Sinclair Lewis on the front page. 
• About.com Guide To Fiction Writing. Yes, I work at About.com, and yes, that’s how I found this page- but this is not a personal plug! This page and the writer have some excellent tips and ideas, in addition to a great forum.
• How To Write Your Novel and Still Have Time For Sex. Really, do I need to say more? You know you’re going to click on this!

Happy “novelling”!

novels, write your book, goals