Let’s face it–one of the biggest things most people tackle in the New Year is organization, right? Well here’s a resource for you…WorkFlowy.
A well-0rganized “to do” list is key when it comes to getting things done, and that is basically what this tool gives you. The company puts a short series of video overviews up for you so you can get acquainted with how the site works, and then off you go! Everything is customizable and easily adjusted, so you can re-arrange your day if need be–or carry tasks over if they didn’t get done.
Fans of the written list will find this useful, as it’s the same idea, just modernized.
The French have an expression—fauxes amis, or false friends—that refers to words in different languages or dialects that look similar but have different meanings. For example, the French word blesser might look like it is related to the English bless, but in fact, blesser means “to wound.”
Even within English, however, there are words that act like false friends. This often occurs because English has words from so many languages, but it also often happens because words can have more than one meaning. They are distantly related, so they behave like false friends, even though they are more like cousins.
The outcome of this is that people sometimes use a word that means something quite different from what they intended simply because it sounds like a word that does reflect the intended meaning.
One example is enormity. This word has begun to crop up with increasing frequency in places where the desired meaning is largeness or scope, because it sounds a lot like enormous. One might read about some executive where the “enormity of his job” is being described. Oops. Actually, enormity means “great wickedness; an outrageous or immoral act; monstrous.” It is appropriately used when describing a crime or bad behavior: “The public was shocked by the enormity of the crime.” That said, it can also be used to describe something that is really terrible. In Tortilla Flat, John Steinbeck wrote of a family waking in the forest and remembering that their house and everything they owned had just burned to the ground: “…the enormity of their situation burst upon them. ‘How did the fire start?’ asked Pablo.”
The original Latin word from which both enormity and enormous come to us—enormis— means “out of the norm,” or “out of rule.” As languages developed from Latin, they often picked up differences in interpretation. The French énormité, from which we get enormity, meant “atrocity, heinous sin.” Definitely “out of the norm.” As English evolved words from Latin, it picked up on the idea of being huge and vast, and in the 1530s, “enormous” emerged as being stuff that was outside the norm by way of size. Continue reading Words And Reason: False Friends and Close Cousins→
I can’t write things that are long right out of the box. Whenever I write, it comes out brief and to the point. I tend to be concise and omit what I see as needless words and phrases.
Other writers (like Joe), have no difficulty whatsoever turning out lengthy prose. For them it is as difficult to edit down as it is for me to add detail.
Neither style is better than the other, but they both have distinct advantages and disadvantages when it comes to a writing career. So now let me ask…
Which type of writer are you?
Most of us fall heavily on one side or the other, and this can actually help you when it comes to getting work and being happy in your career as a writer. For example–my style of writing is well-suited to the web, since long paragraphs and in-depth pieces are less reader-friendly online. Writers that produce a lot of material would probably do very well trying to pitch magazines that do features as many of them are several pages long. Continue reading The Long & Short Of It – What Type Of Writer Are You?→
Some days you sit down to write and the words just won’t come. Other days you find inspiration. Today was a day for the latter.
You see, today is a thank you post. I started to think about what I wanted to write and got going on a tangent of the history behind Freelance-Zone.com. I was remembering Joe and I founding it in 2002 as a resource for fellow writers. We wanted so badly to share our experiences and help people avoid some of the pitfalls we had been through.
As time passed, we began to also share our successes and give insider information on how to do things right. How to succeed in this tough business. We focused in on how to make more money and work smarter (thus our tagline). We wanted other writers to do well. To see some of the good times (and good money) that we were able to achieve.
Now, Freelance-Zone.com has grown to include a host of other voices–each with their own stories to tell and advice to give. We have hand-picked our contributors over the years and are just delighted to have them with us here on the blog. That’s what it’s all about – from writers – to writers.
So today, I’d just like to offer up a humble thank you to all of our readers out there. You’ve truly made this site what it is today. Without you–there is no Freelance-Zone.com. We hope we’re serving you well.
This week, I want to share a commencement address. This is one of those things that should be passed around on the Internet until EVERYBODY has read it. Or at least until every writer has read it. It’s intended as advice for young people who are just graduating from school, but it’s full of wisdom for people of all ages. And it contains especially good advice for writers. Here’s a sample:
“It’s not the privilege of anyone, writer or not, to peak out or burn out or drop out before he or she has given back to this world. So I’ll say right now that you will not fulfill your life until you find out what it is you have to give to the people around you, and have given it, and they’ve accepted it in some way. It may take years to find out what you have to give, and more years to turn it into something acceptable, but if you’re making the lives of the people around you better and happier, you’re going in the right direction. If you’re making their lives worse and more miserable, stop and turn around.”
That’s a quote from a graduation speech that my friend, John Rember, delivered last year — and it’s just a sampling of the wisdom you’ll find in his commencement address. It’s one of the best pieces of writing I’ve read in recent years.
To read the whole speech, click HERE. After you read it, pass it on to a young person. Or to an old person. Or to anybody who is striving to live a meaningful life. They’ll thank you for it.
Mike O’Mary is founder of Dream of Things, a book publisher and online book store, and of the Note Project, a campaign to make the world a million times better by inspiring 1 million people to write notes of appreciation. (Photo courtesy of Knox College)
I’m a self-employed freelance writer. I often work weekends. So why should Monday matter to me even one bit?
I’m really not sure, to tell you the truth–but it does. I still hate this day more than any other. Perhaps it’s the ingrained history of my experiences with this day from when I worked a corporate job. Or maybe it’s the fact that I teach a class in the evening on Mondays. I’m not really sure why it is that I find this day so daunting, but I do.
My question is–am I alone in this? Or do other writers find Mondays at the bottom of their “favorite day” list as well? And if you are among the group of people who dislike this day–do you know why?
My favorite day of the week is probably Tuesday. Monday is over and a solid week away, and I have a habit of working light on this day for some reason. Probably because I’m a workhorse on the day before.
If I don’t like Mondays, at least I do get a lot accomplished. Since I already expect it to be a rough day, I don’t seem to mind putting in extra time and tackling tasks I hate. Funny how that works, isn’t it? I hate the day, but I’m productive as can be.
Now that I’m thinking about it…maybe Mondays aren’t all that bad after all. 🙂
What’s your least favorite day of the week? I’m totally curious now…
Catherine has been a full-time freelance writer since 2002 and is co-founder of Freelance-Zone.com. She is also the owner/editor and webmaster of 4dancers.org, co-founder of Pas de Trois at dancing3.com and owns the group Dance Writers on LinkedIn. You can reach her at info (at) catherineltully (dot) com.
Chicago-based content writing, editing, and social media. 1579 N. Milwaukee #220, Chicago Illinois 60622
Let’s face it–one of the biggest things most people tackle in the New Year is organization, right? Well here’s a resource for you…WorkFlowy.
by Mike O’Mary