Darren Rowse is one of my favorite bloggers, as he writes about blogging itself. As someone who keeps his finger on the pulse of the blogging scene, he’s what I consider a trusted source. He’s also in the enviable position of being a writer’s writer. For those of us who are a bit further in the trenches in the word game, his perspective is quite interesting. I myself have to play catch-up with blogging trends in between gigs and try to keep up with the changing face of the industry. Rowse makes it his day to day business. Nice one, mate.
A recent entry by Rowse draws a comparison between bloggers and chess pieces. Rowse reposted a great piece by Nadeesha Cabral who says bloggers are pawns, with the playing field clogged with a great number of useless pieces at first. As the pawns drop out of the game, the remaining pieces become more valuable. The ones that make it to the end of the chess board naturally become incredibly valuable and can navigate the game in more powerful roles.
I’ve just finished watching a segment on WGN TV that’s pissed me off so badly I can’t see straight. WillItBlend.com is a gimmick marketing website for the Blendtec Total Blender. If you haven’t herd of this one, chances are you’ve been living in a cave as they seem to be everywhere lately. Will It Blend? features video clips of a variety of gadgets and household items being pulverized by the Total Blender. The videos are a YouTube hit, and a favorite of guy blogs such as GearCrave.com.
When the WillItBlend.com crew showed up on WGN’s morning news program today, I watched a cell phone blended to dust along with a coffee cup and a working flashlight.
Pretty harmless, right? Until you remember that cell phones, cell phone batteries and ordinary flashlight batteries have toxic chemicals and heavy metals in them. The WillItBlend demonstrators released toxic particulate matter from these blending stunts into the air when they unceremoniously dumped the results of the blending out onto the table in the WGN studios. Neither the host or the guys working the blender wore any kind of face mask to protect themselves from the toxic contents of cell phone and flashlight batteries. Continue reading How Ignorance Will Make You Sick→
Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby, offers great advice for musicians at his personal site. Most of his topics are aimed squarely at musicians, but I’ve found the benefit of his experience translates quite well into the world of freelance writing.
I’ve got two albums for sale on CD Baby, so I may be a bit biased–but his piece “Never Have a Limit on Your Income” has some great words of wisdom for writers. The major drawback to being a freelancer is that you are only one person and can only take on as much work as you are physically capable of handling in a day, a week, a month.
Seasoned writers know about the power of reprints to bring in what Derek Sivers calls “mailbox money”. Any additional income you don’t have to do additional work to get is an important source of income. New writers are at a serious disadvantage because they don’t have an archive of published clips they can submit as reprints, and the challenge of hanging on to your rights to sell them later can be daunting when you don’t understand the industry well. (We’ll cover THAT topic later).
Are reprints the only way to get mailbox money? Check out what Derek Sivers has to say and you’ll find some fascinating ideas. Not all of them are appropriate for freelance writing, but they can certainly inspire some notions of your own. He certainly has MY wheels turning this morning…
Why, yes, I am about to go on a screed here. Why does every writing site in the world (especially the crap ones) put stuff about writer’s block in a prominent place on their pages? It’s starting to annoy me no end. Maybe I haven’t had enough caffeine yet, but looking over some sites on today’s morning hunt for new and interesting things to write about. I see a massive collection of articles about writer’s block, every site I visit. You’d think it was an airborne disease.
Do people really worry about this stuff? Me, I worry more about whether the checks are coming in on time and how much is going to be held over til next month. I’m more worried about avoiding carpal tunnel syndrome. Where are all the articles on THAT? It’s far more of a REAL ISSUE than frickin’ so-called writer’s block. But it’s just too easy for people to write about, and so every wanna-be writing site in the entire world is crammed full of info on the dreaded WB. Nothing about that godawful recurring pain in your hands and wrists that makes it nearly impossible to use a keyboard without pain though.
When I’ve taken on too much work, I try to do a few things to keep myself from going completely nuts. Here’s a little handy list in no particular order:
Whittle Away the Pile–I take the projects that are due last and try to nibble away at them in between more pressing deadlines. I’ll hit a little research in the AM before launching into my main work, then do a bit more work after breaks or lunch–again, before getting into my main gig. That probably sounds crazy, but I’ve found that knocking out sections of busywork or writing chores that don’t require a lot of thinking time gives me a sense that I’m making progress on everything.
Knock Out the Easy Ones–When I have many things coming due at the same time, I try to hammer out a few of the easiest things first to make more time for the tougher writing.
I’ve been trying an experiment whenever I need to pick up some quick cash in the slow times. I try to find work in the most out of the way, unusual places. Just for laughs I have set up account at freelance sites I’d never otherwise bother with, like those places where you have to be the lowest bidder on work that pays peanuts to begin with? I’ve set up accounts on several for when the real work dries up.
Some of my fellow writers ask me why I bother doing this, and my reasoning is simple–I’m not in it for the work. I am actually looking for relationships with people who are willing to pay for writing. That first job offered on the bid-for-work sites may not pay you what you’re really worth, but when that client comes back to you again and again as a satisfied customer, that’s worth its weight in gold.
