Being Productive on the Clock—20 Tips to Timed Writing
I know a lot of writers who excel when pressured by the clock. There’s something about crunching a deadline that spurs the creative juices.
Engaged Observation: How It Will Change Your Writing
The best writing transports us to another world, another life, another experience. The only way to reach this level of writing is to change the way you interact with the existing world.
So often we go through life focused on facts, our phones and our to-do lists and not the moments as they pass. We’re too busy looking ahead or behind to see what is. The sad fact is few of us are truly engaged in our lives. It’s one reason we are so often surprised by how quickly time has passed. Where did the summer go? It’s Christmas already?
Top 10 Tips for Writing Scripts
Writing scripts is not like writing for the page. It takes a different set of skills. Here are my top tips if you want to write scripts for a living:
Writing Scripts for a Living—How to Begin
The writing I contract the most is scriptwriting. I love the combination of writing with moving images and sound. Film and video expands what I am able to do on the page. Besides it’s fun to collaborate with a production team.
The challenge with writing scripts is that it requires a different approach than writing for the page. Sometimes formal grammar has to go out the window. This is writing for the ear, not the eye, which means you can get away with more. There are also challenges working with footage and designing a script that can be filmed in budget.
Write Stronger: Cutting Weasel Words
Strong writing requires strong verbs. That’s nothing new. It’s far better to say enraged than angry and exhausted rather than very tired. There are tons of articles about that on the net. What isn’t talked about as often is the ways we soften language.
How to Create a Working Editorial Calendar for Your Blog
Blogging is fun. I love writing my blog. But it is more than that. It’s a commitment to my readers and my industry. It’s a commitment I take seriously.
Writing a blog takes discipline. You owe your readers consistently good content that can be found on a regular basis. As a working writer, it’s not always easy to honor that commitment. Life gets in the way, which is why discipline matters. It helps to be organized too.
Blogging: A Writer’s Perspective
Writers write. It’s what we do. These days the easiest way to do that is to write a blog. Most writers have one. Some use it to post news and updates on their work. Others write about their families and lives. Then there are those, like me, who write about writing, which makes sense since writing is my passion. It’s also a great way to give back to the industry and share what I know while meeting other writers and writers in training.
Things You Should Never Do As a Writer
There aren’t rules for being a writer. No requirements to get the job. No employer or client requires a certification, test or degree. But there are things every writer should avoid in order to be successful. Most of them are common sense, or perhaps common business sense. Others are industry specific.
Here are some of the top things you should never do as a professional writer.
Top 15 Tips for Running a Successful Writing Business
No matter what you write, earning money from your writing means you are running a business. If you want to be serious about having a writing career, one that will allow you to pay your mortgage and eat, then you need to know what you are getting into and plan accordingly. Here are 15 tips for setting up a professional freelance writing business.
Freelancing Is Business
Through the years, I’ve known a lot of people who were freelance writers. Some of them did it on the side and others wrote for a living. The big difference between the two groups was how they approached the work. The ones looking at it as extra money, typically didn’t approach it like a business. It was just a part-time gig that brought in a bit of extra cash. It was not how they paid the mortgage or put food on the table.
Top 15 Tips for Working with Editors
Working with an editor is like any other business relationship. It requires professionalism and courtesy. Never forget that writing is a business. Just as you would hire a lawyer to negotiate your contracts, you need an editor to publish your work. They are there to partner with you to create something better.
Freelancing Is More Than Magazines: 26 Other Markets to Try
The traditional view of a freelance writer is someone who spends her day querying magazines and writing articles and many do. But the majority of independent writers earn their money through client work. It’s more consistent and offers more opportunity than the magazine market.