Archive for November, 2010
Raising the Stakes
Most creative writers spend their lives searching for the concept that will take the world by storm. If you’re attempting to write a novel and you’re not thinking this way, I would say your chances of making it are on a par with Iran’s chances of not getting bombed into oblivion by Israel if it [...]
Sticky Freelance Writing
I’ve been freelance writing for a little over two years now. When I first started, I’m not certain that I had any particular intention or goal of being a freelance writer, at least not in the sense that I’ve come to know the term. Good, bad or indifferent, being a freelance writer is not what [...]
The Kind in Kindle
I have never used Kindle, but I cannot wait for the time when that is the only way to read. Destroying the Amazon rain forests to produce the endless crap that makes up 99% of your average bookshop/newsagents is a sin of unforgivable proportions. If only the Amazon Indians really knew why their homeland was [...]
Has It All Been Said?
In the last week, two different writing blogs that I follow and respect have posed ranting soliloquys lamenting the fact that nearly everything that could be said about writing has been said. In some ways I agree. I mean, there are only so many writing tips. In honest reflection, I don’t think I’ve seen anything [...]
Respected Sir
For the freelance writer, the internet is a blessing. For the freelance writer, the internet is a curse. These sounds like the sort of essay titles you would be asked to “Discuss” in an English exam at school (or probably at post-graduate level nowadays, since 21 year-olds today are about as bright as the 14 [...]
The Ethical Freelance Writer
I think it’s time for this worthy writing topic to rise to the surface. Here is a list of ethical considerations for the freelance writer: Charge your clients what is fair and decent – not what you think you can get away with. Yes, we all make our living from writing and these days every [...]
Free Speech?
I might get in trouble with this one. Freedom of speech. How truly free is it? As writers, we shouldn’t be afraid to speak our minds. Of course none of us decent people want to read inflammatory remarks in print from racists and other assorted sickos – and there are laws to stop such things [...]
The Bad Info War
I’ll bet most of you freelance writers have seen this one before. You sign with a client who has a specific project that requires some writing and a little more, say some publishing or marketing. You describe the appropriate strategy and method and get to work. About half way through, the client emails and tells [...]
