Tag Archives: article

editorial

My Pet Peeves As A Writer

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Freelance-Zone Editor, Catherine L. Tully
Freelance-Zone Editor, Catherine L. Tully

by Catherine L. Tully

Everyone has them, but they aren’t all the same.

Pet peeves are those little quirks that drive you up the wall as a writer. Not the typical fare–such as getting paid late or having a client that changes their mind all the time. I consider those normal.

It’s the other stuff I’m talking about here…

And I’m going to list a few of mine for you. Yep. Right here in the open. And I hope when you finish reading, you’ll share one or two of your own…

Here we go:

Pet peeve #1: No response after sending an invoice.

I love editors that shoot back a “thanks” or a “got it” when I send an invoice out. Otherwise I keep wondering if they did indeed receive it. Now I know it’s a quirk, but what can I say–I’m paranoid. And I like to get paid.

Pet peeve #2: The rush job panic.

I get that sometimes a writing project may need to be a “rush job”. What I don’t like is when the client still wants to get a deal in terms of price, or when they keep checking in to see the progress. If you want it more quickly, you should be prepared to pay a little extra. And if you keep e-mailing me or calling me, it’s less time I can spend getting the project done.

Pet peeve #3: Adding extras along the way.

I don’t mind scouting out photos for a piece, preparing a snappy sidebar to go along with an article or even sending in material for fact-checkers. What is hard is when those things are added at the last minute–and with a tight turnaround time. I’m happy to go the extra mile as long as I’m not expected to perform miracles.

Pet peeve #4: Silence.

It freaks me out when I have to get ahold of an editor and they don’t respond. If I have a question, I e-mail and ask it. When I don’t hear back, I hate having to follow up again and ask. I feel like a pest. I feel like I”m annoying the editor. I hate feeling like that! It’s even worse if I have to do it more than once…

So those are a few of mine–what are yours?

editorial

Crafting An Article

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DSC_5735by Catherine L. Tully

I’m curious…

When you have an article where you have to be creative…how do you come up with your direction? Are you the type of person who sits back and lets their mind drift until the idea hits you? Or are you someone who needs to do something more concrete, such as brainstorm a list of possibilities?

I’m a drifter. Sometimes I go to the swimming pool and do laps, letting my mind go. Other times I’ll just keep the ideas on simmer in the back of my head and daydream. Fortunately, this works for me. I’ve learned over time that my best work is done when I’m not at my desk.

With writing being such a solitary task, we often don’t know much about the process we each go through to get to that finished piece. So tell me…what’s your path to creating something that you are proud of?

I’d love to know.