All Entries Tagged With: "Writing"
Thoughts on Freelance Writing Advice
As a freelance writer, if you’re looking for writing advice you’re certain to find it at every turn these days. There are literally hundreds of writing sites available and many of these are in a blog format, providing updated content on a weekly or even daily basis. For me, my email fills up nearly every [...]
Can Freelance Writing Be Taught?
(Here’s a sensible blog from me. Make the most of it – it won’t last.) This probably seems like a silly question. To a certain extent, all subjects can be taught. However, by the time a person decides that freelance writing is a career they wish to pursue, the formal education necessary to concrete in [...]
Social Notworking
Listen, peeps, I know social networking is important to freelance writers as a form of publicity, but if I spent all the time required to keep on top of it, I would effectively reduce my lifespan to one measurable in dog years. At the moment, I really can’t open the door to it all. Maybe [...]
Is This The Way To Unemployment? Blogging’s Made Me Sound Like A Right …
Apologies to Tony Christie for the title. Tumblemoose’s last post was pretty awesome in the slap in the face it gave me. I know (think) he wasn’t writing about me, or even including me, but, if I haven’t fallen right in, I think I am certainly skating all around that career-freezing ice hole identified by [...]
Firefox Up Your Productivity
I wrote a blog last year called The Enemy Within about the huge drain that Norton Internet Security places on your computer, causing it to run slowly and sometimes crash. For a freelance writer who needs flow in their work, that’s not good. I advised then that a new security suite called Vipre was my [...]
Out of the Pens of Brats
I wonder what the future holds for freelance writing. Tumblemoose did a blog last year on the wonderfully creative writing talent that can be found in the oh-so-young. Whilst such occurrences are undoubtedly widespread and should indeed be lauded, those of you who know my posts will appreciate I sometimes look at the darker side [...]
Want To Be, But Not
I want to be able to fly a helicopter but I don’t go around telling people I’m a helicopter pilot. There’s a good reason for that: I can’t fly a helicopter. I know what you’re thinking: I’m just being hard on myself; I probably can fly a helicopter, but just not as well as I’d [...]
All Aboard the World’s Last Bandwagon
Apparently, the world is going to end on December 21st next year. Bummer, eh? I had some plans into 2013. Breathing was one of them. Alas, it is not to be. The Mayans with their pesky Long Count calendar predicted the world will end late on December 21st 2012, so that’s it. Come off that [...]
I Got The Power
It is said that with great power comes great responsibility. Most of us freelance writer types don’t really have to worry about that, right? Most of us aren’t engaged in projects that are likely to change the world. We’re not speech-writing for President Obama. (I sometimes don’t think anyone is, but that’s another story.) We’re [...]
How Writing A Novel In 30 Days Helped My Freelance Writing
Each November, thousands of writers simultaneously have a little mini-stroke and sign up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The challenge is to write a (albeit short) novel of 50,000 words in 30 days. This November, I was one of those pitiful hacks. I managed to meet the challenge and do it 4 days ahead [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Mr Prolific
This is a hats-off to Tumblemoose. I think regular readers will have noticed that Alaskan George posts his blogs the same time every week, month in month out. All are very well-written, entertaining, informative, and concern topics highly relevant to both the aspiring and established writer. This man is prolific. Especially when you consider he [...]
Writing Taboos
Is there anything you won’t write about? Name a topic, and there will be numerous websites dedicated to it. Many aren’t exactly mainstream. Of course, some will be written by amateurs, but there will be many others that employ the skills of a professional writer. Would you, for example, write articles about how anorexics can [...]
See Me
When I was at school in the seventies, spelling was important. If you presented poor quality work to the teacher, you would receive a note in red at the foot of the page, simply saying “See Me!” It was terrifying. I wanted to send a note back saying: “Yes, I can, and you look really [...]
Learning From the Masters
Writing is hard work. Few of us are born to it, gifted with a silver pen. Learning the craft takes time patience and perseverance. This is true no matter your writing skill level. If you have consistent feedback from folks telling you that your writing is superb, then good on you. Still, it’s no excuse [...]
Informal or Formal Writing
As a freelance writer I write a lot of things for other people. In most cases I’ve been hired because someone came across my web site and liked what they saw in terms of my writing and writing style. People who subscribe to my site and folks who come to visit here know that my [...]
WUI
People often ask me: Mark, they say, Mark me old mucker, is it a good idea to drink alcohol when you’re writing? I mean, you being a top novelist, and all that. What do you think, Mark? Actually, no one has ever asked me that. In fact, no one has ever sought my advice on [...]
