Tracking Client Work
Tracking client work will save you time, money and frustration. Here is how I track my client work and clients.
Tracking Submissions—The Administrative Side of Writing
Like most writers, I love the research and writing parts of the job, but don’t care for the administrative tasks that come with the gig—doing the taxes, accounting, legal and tracking everything. It’s easy to let those things slide and I did when I first started out, until I learned better.
It is easier than you think to misplace vital information, lose track of invoices and payments, and forget to track what you send out into the publishing world. The only way to stay sane and solvent is to track everything. It will help your sanity too.
NaNoWriMo: What You Will Learn
Last week, I shared my reasons for joining the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Challenge to write a 50k book in 30 days. But I have more to say about the benefits of taking on such a large writing challenge.
Anytime you can set aside a chunk of time to write is a good thing, but dedicating an entire month to a huge goal allows you to be heroic about it.
NaNoWriMo: Why It’s a Good Idea
One month. Fifty thousand words. No problem, right? Right. Even with a major holiday involving family, stress, traveling and other distractions, you can do this. It’s November. So it’s time for NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month challenge of writing a 50k word book in the month of November.
Finding Time to Write
Time is the number one excuse given for not writing. People love excuses. They never end. I have a job. I have a family. I have a life. Where could they possibly find time to write a book? Where indeed?
My Writing Process: 20 Steps to Finished
Clients often ask me about my process, wanting to know how I am going to spend my time on their project. It’s not an easy answer. I approach every project differently depending on what I’m writing. A script is different than a speech, which is different from an article or blog. There is no one answer. But there are basic steps in common.
My Writing Process: The Top 7 Things I Need to Know Before I Begin
There are basic details I need before I start any project. They determine how I begin and how I set up the piece. It also sets up my process, which I will discuss next week.
These are the top seven things I need before the first word is written:
Let Us Read…Banned Books
Better yet, stop banning books altogether. The truth is the act of banning books is on the rise. According to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), the organization that compiles data on challenged and banned books and generates the Top Ten Challenged Books List, there was a 17% increase in book censorship complaints last year. In a typical year, 10% of books are banned and pulled from the shelves and it’s time for it to stop.
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.