All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Project Research
I recently took on a fairly hefty project for a client that required a bit of research in several key areas. When I took on the job, I knew there would be some research needed but I had no idea how “onionesque” this project would be. Onionesque = many layers, made me cry a little, [...]
You Gotta Have Faith
Ah, the immortal words of George Michael. Up there on a par with Ghandi and Martin Luther King. Freelance writers and anyone else engaged in an artistic endeavour which end is not guaranteed must have faith. You must have faith in two people. The first person is you. The second is that one as-yet unmet [...]
Free Samples? I Don’t Think So
I am amazed by the amount of potential clients that insist on getting a free sample before they will commit to hiring. I see this a lot on bidding sites specifically but I know it is every bit as rampant in the writer for hire community. I totally understand that someone wants to see what [...]
The Midlife Writer
I shall be 46 in less than a month. Holy crap. Now is about the time I should start to feel the stirrings of a midlife crisis. I’m not sure I’ll know it if it hits, though, because I’ve been in crisis since my twenties. And I’ve always wanted a Harley. I also think it’s [...]
Now Hear This!
In past posts, I’ve crowed about the advantages that can be had by embracing your local community. When you think about marketing to local folks you may think it’s all about canvassing the street with flyers and business cards. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that but I think there is an area [...]
Falling on Daft Ears
One of the many frustrations a freelance writer has to contend with is drumming up work out of thin air. It would seem that the internet is our oyster, but it’s not as simple as that. If you are surfing for websites that need a little literary TLC, there are still several problems once you [...]
Taking The Good With The Bad
I received an RSS unsubscribe notice on one of my blogs. No biggie, really. Happens all the time. Folks get busy, change their interests or what have you. Generally, I don’t take those things too personally. In this particular instance, the unsubscribe notice was timed with a comment from the person on the last post. [...]
The Chasm
Becoming a freelance writer is a leap of faith. Giving up regular employment to enter an overcrowded and competitive profession is a tough call. Even if you are talented, you will have to fight like merry hell to have anyone notice your brilliance. Oh, you thought it would shine like a beacon upon the world, [...]
I Think I’d Rather Be A Paidlance Writer
One of my favorite sites out there is Clients From Hell. If you’ve not been there, you really need to go have a look. Be prepared to laugh your fanny off. Oh, also be prepared to shake your head in horror, wonder and amazement. Here is the snippet that inspired me to write this post: [...]
LinkedOut?
Facebook on Wednesday announced its IPO. ‘Twas but a matter of time. Mark Zuckerberg is set to personally earn between $21 and $28 billion from it. Billion. Of course billion. He hasn’t spoken about mere millions in many a year. Million schmillion. It would be churlish to knock the guy. He took an idea (it [...]
Uuurgonomics
Someone I know – we’ll call her Miss X – told me a story a few days ago. This person’s best friend – we’ll call her Malingering Twat – has been swinging the lead on her job for years, claiming all manner of mysterious ailments that no medical practitioner can diagnose. She has been on [...]
Publish Or Perish
That old axiom that in the old days applied only to college professors could be applied to a lot more professions today. As you can imagine, I believe that freelance writing is one of them. In this instance we are talking about publishing an e-book most likely and not the dry research paper that the [...]
Desk Potato
Apparently, although I suspect it’s something of a contradiction in terms, I am a hard-working couch potato. Well, probably not a couch potato because I sit at my desk to work. So a desk-chair potato. This must be true because when it becomes my time to vacuum the house and my wife unsubtly rolls the [...]
The List of Writer’s Forums
In my post last week I mentioned that one of the support system components most valuable to a writer is a writing forum. I’ve put together this list and I hope it can help you to decide if belonging to a forum is something you want to do. They are not listed in any particular [...]
Write What You Know (You Can Get Away With)
So, just pop it into a preheated oven and cook at gas mark 7 for an hour. That’s what I’d do to cookery books. I appreciate that book-burning on such a grand scale is frowned upon in polite circles, but I don’t really move in polite circles so I’m not that bothered. The fascination with [...]
The Guilt of Freelance Writing
For someone who calls himself a freelance writer, I do precious little freelance writing these days. My other work and life in general gets in the way. I don’t feel too bad about that in terms of not being a jobbing freelance writer any more, because I’m still earning a wage, but I do sometimes [...]
Getting Back To Freelance Writing
For the past year or so, I’ve been on kind of a freelance writing hiatus. Not that I had given it up completely, I mean there were several writing projects that kept my attention through the year but for the most part I had taken down my freelance writing shingle. Well, things have recently changed. [...]
Is Freelance Writing a Career?
I guess it kind of depends on your definition of “career” doesn’t it? For me, when I think of a career I envision something that one does as their primary means of supporting themselves. In my mind, a career is a long term proposition that doesn’t include using the current job as a stepping stone [...]
