Tag Archives: writing

advice

Diversification Ideas For Writers

Let me ask you a question….

What can you do with your writing skills besides sell articles? Joe has been singing the “diversify” tune for some time now, and I just had to ring in on the subject from my point of view. Beginning writers may find diversification more challenging since they are just trying to get a foothold in the business. Still, it can be done. Think about what you might be able to offer to businesses or web designers; things that are outside your traditional circle of work. Don’t be afraid to take a flyer and see if you can fit somewhere…the worst that can happen is that it won’t work out. Nothing ventured…

Intermediate and advanced writers have many opportunities to diversify. For example-in April I am going to speak to a group of writers in another state. Joe is serving on a panel in New York later this month. There are ways to use what you have learned to make money and widen your net of experience at the same time. Joe and I are going to be teaching a class together on freelance writing in the area in which we live. Not only is this some good extra money, but it will raise our visibility as well.

So think about it…what can you do? Perhaps you want to try your hand at an e-book, or tutor a student in English? Some writers cross over into editing and find they enjoy that as well. There are opportunities all around you. Go ahead–re-invent yourself!

advice, editorial

FactCheck.Org

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I am a huge fan of my brand new Dish Network cable service, as it seems to be giving me infinite material for blog posts. Even as I write this, I’m watching a fascinating segment on Anderson Cooper 360 about how blog posts factor in to the race for the White House. According to the segment called The Truth About Sarah Palin, one blogger posted some joke quotes allegedly from Sarah Palin about “Satan lizards” in reference to dinosaurs. Somebody (I missed who) scooped up the quotes in the political frenzy over the Palin/McCain ticket, but failed to properly attribute the quotes or pay attention to the fact that they were completely fabricated.

The Aderson Cooper segment is attention getting all by itself; the site mentioned in the clip, FactCheck.org, is just as intriguing. This site calls both Obama and McCain on fact stretching, and watching the campaign is much more interesting with a daily reference back to FactCheck.org after listening to both sides. No matter who you plan on voting for, watching the candidates get their facts handed back to them with the editor’s red pencil treatment is quite amusing.

What does any of this have to do with freelance writing? Continue reading FactCheck.Org →

advice, editorial

Confessions of an Editor: The Terminator

Hey, new freelancers! I am going to tell you a secret near the end of this screed about the writing business. Nobody else will tell you what I’m going to share, or at the very least they won’t be as honest about it as I am. It’s blunt, it is not polite and it’s the whole truth. Read on…

I’ve had to discipline writers (and other creatives), I’ve had to dress them down, I’ve even had to roll their stupid hungover rear ends out of beds on at least one occasion to keep them from getting into a larger world of hurt up the editorial ladder. That last one was a mistake. I should have let that guy twist in the wind, but that was when I was a new editor and still a nice guy.

Hah.

The one thing I truly hate to do is fire people. A few years back, one unlucky gent tried to run game on me, but unfortunately for him, I myself had already run that game myself when I was a young punk. I gave him his shot to try and talk his way out of it without BSing me, but he didn’t take the opportunity. So I dumped him.

As an editor–and manager–you have to be very careful not to overreact when your people screw up, try to push your boundaries, test your limits and see how much they can get away with. It’s human nature to do all that, and a good editor will let somebody go up to a point because we ALL do it.

The day you, dear reader, find yourself in the editing chair, you have to learn your tolerance for all this stuff and decide what it is that you can’t take. Whatever your hot buttons are, learn them and sharpen your knives. You’re going to need them. Continue reading Confessions of an Editor: The Terminator →

resources

The Writer’s Journey: Useless Skills Learned Via Freelancing

L. Shepherd’s The Writer’s Journey made me laugh today with a list of useless skills learned from freelancing. Naturally this list made me think of my own goofy super powers attained because of my writing work. The best example I can think of has to be the time I fixed Catherine L. Tully’s broken toilet–not because have ANY skill that area whatsoever–but because I had recently finished a project that required extensive research on toilets and sinks.

I had never attempted such a feat, but just KNEW what the problem was because of all my research. Now, every time I have to send out my writing resume, I have to struggle over whether to include ‘toilet repairman” in my list of relevant skills.

advice, editorial

Confessions of an Editor: The Eternal Evil Of Adverbs & Adjectives

Before I start this screed, let me confess that I’m as guilty as anyone of using adverbs and adjectives. Usually when I am hyper-caffeinated, I find myself pouring them onto the page at a rate that would make you weep. So I don’t write this to say, “Be like me–I’m just as cool as they come!”. Rather, I write this to remind MYSELF not to do these things, and you too–one day you’ll send some copy my way and we’d both prefer to avoid the unpleasantness which is sure to come if your work is rife with adverbs and other nonsense.

To begin, let’s define adverbs and adjectives. The Capital Community College grammar page is most helpful here–refer to it often. I love the short-and-sweet definition found on that page. Adverbs are words that modify a verb, adjective or another adverb. Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns.

What the page doesn’t say is that in many cases, adverbs and adjectives are STUPID and POINTLESS. Consider that last line, for example. It may be informative to say adverbs are pointless, but STUPID? That’s me getting wordy again. It would be more accurate to say adverbs and adjectives are often needless words.

Clear, concise writing demands brevity. If you feel the need for more descriptive prose, consider this line from James Ellroy’s The Cold Six Thousand;

“He walked. He grabbed at the cell bars. He anchored himself.”

That pretty much says it all, doesn’t it? We don’t need to know what happened next. This line tells us everything. He’s trapped in jail and getting ready for something to happen. Now let’s read this as it would be submitted by some writers you probably know;

“He walked quickly and grabbed at the cell bars. He braced himself nervously.”

The power of the line vanishes. Let’s look at another one.

“Jimmy took a painful blow to the face. He staggered drunkenly down the corridor, arms flailing wildly.”

Now when we cut out all the crap: Continue reading Confessions of an Editor: The Eternal Evil Of Adverbs & Adjectives →

advice, editorial

Confessions of an Editor: I Hate Your Needless Words

Years ago when I first learned my trade, I remember wondering why my writing mentors railed so hard against passive voice writing. We’re all guilty of it, most people don’t see anything wrong with it, and passive voice is one of the dead giveaways to an editor that you aren’t quite the kick-ass writer you think you are. Your cover letter might be exciting, your query compelling, but once you include those needless words and break the number one Strunk and White commandment, you are DOOMED.

Unfortunately, getting rid of passive voice is not the whole answer. Your writing needs help if you still use garbage words and phrases. What do I consider a garbage word or phrase? Read on:

“The new Remington Rifle can often be used to hunt small animals, but its real purpose is to shoot down big game.” 

Tell me, just WHAT is the purpose of using the word “often” in that sentence? Never mind the rest of the errors for a moment, concentrate on that phrase “can often be used”. This is too much fat and not enough meat.

Try this on for size:

“Some use the new Remington Rifle to hunt small animals, but its real purpose is to shoot down big game.” 

Why does this sentence read better? Because it gets to the point and obeys Strunk and White by OMITTING NEEDLESS WORDS.  Now look at the rest of this sentence. “…but its real purpose is to shoot down big game.” Continue reading Confessions of an Editor: I Hate Your Needless Words →