Here are some of my favorite posts from (gasp!) June of 2005:

Google Helps Me With Spelling
What Makes a “Real Writer”?
Commercial Writing Is a Lucrative Venue
When Life Interferes With Writing
Should You Write For Free?
Enjoy this blast from the past.
Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing – a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision – for those who want to get a book written.
Image from http://www.sxc.hu

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Sometimes I have to relearn lessons about my own successful freelance writing career. Way back in 2006 I wrote about tracking time… I even linked to a time tracking software that was, but is no longer, free.
Somewhere along the line, I stopped tracking my time. Since I tend to charge flat fees for projects, I don’t have the same motivation people who charge by the hour do to watch how much time I’m spending on what.
Last week I was talking with a fellow writer who does bill by the hour and as we talked I realized I would really …read more

Once again I’m rather surprised at how helpful reading my writing out loud is. I don’t do it with everything; maybe I should.
It’s embarrassing at first, but the truth is probably no one can hear me, and even if they could, it’s so valuable I’d just tell them what I’m doing.
There’s something that my ear will hear that my eye won’t see. Some of it is probably because I’m used to looking at what I write… I watch it appear on the screen or read it printed on paper. But I suspect something else is happening. When I read what …read more

I just came back from a two hour meeting with a client. We got a lot done and I’m now trying to get my notes worked into manuscript. The trouble is, and it isn’t really trouble, is that we didn’t talk in a nice, neat order.
Sure, we each had copy of the manuscript and we went through it page by page, but we didn’t totally stick to our agenda. Instead, we had a free-flowing exchange of ideas, including the start of a couple of new chapters and even a new book. So I’ve got notes in the manuscript, along the …read more

Even though sometimes I have trouble getting my own writing done, I am really good about getting the work done for my clients on time. The other day someone asked me how I was able to manage meeting multiple deadlines.
It’s really simple, or at least it seems that way to me. If you were to look at my daily calendar, you’d find my writing time is actually blocked in each day. Not only that, it’s blocked in by project. So, for example, today I have:

Blocked out the time between 7:30 and 9 for writing on my book – yes, more …read more

Over at copyblogger there’s another great guest article by Sonia Simone called: How to Supercharge Your Content With Concrete Details
I don’t know about you, but when I’m writing about something I know well, I often forget about the details that others don’t know. For example, I certainly know how to get blog entries done… which is a really ho-hum statement, isn’t it.
How about this instead? Knowing the electrician was getting ready to turn my power off, I rushed to my blog feeds and quickly picked a headline that made sense to me and sounded like it might be helpful to …read more

Angela Booth has posted Write for Money – Five Easy and Fun Steps for New Writers.
I don’t know if I’d call all of her five steps easy and fun, but they certainly are doable and by the time you finished all five you’d have a website and be in a good position, probably, to write articles for websites and, maybe, magazines.
That’s certainly a good start, but if you want to become a full time freelance writer earning a decent or more than decent income, it’s only a start.
What other tips for getting started in freelance writing would you …read more

As many of you know, book ending is one of my favorite tools or tricks for actually getting the writing done. Now I’m experimenting with a new-to-me tool.
For the balance of the week, a writer friend and I have agreed to be accountability partners. After I publish this blog I’ll give her a call and tell her I expect to spend just about an hour on a book of my own I’m writing. Except that’s been a problem. While I’m on target with the writing I’m doing for clients and mostly on target with blogging, I’m way behind on my …read more

Yesterday I posted a rant about keeping track of paper.
It was so easy to solve it was almost no fun at all. I ended up at a Staples because it was close to the car wash. (Do marketers have any idea of how we really make our shopping decisions?) There I found file jackets – a package of 10, two each in green, yellow, red, white and blue. I can slip a clients manuscript into one and carry it any where in our out of the house. Easy breezy.
I love a simple solution.
Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing – …read more

Oh good grief! It’s 10:30 and I seem to be exploring new heights of avoiding writing. I thought I’d share a few with you:

Drive around several blocks to see if the tire noise I heard yesterday is still happening – it isn’t.
Change the color cartridge in my printer – okay, this is legit since the email my client sent is in colors and long enough for me to print, read and contemplate.
Dig the carpet sweeper out of the car and sweep the new rug
Try to open two mysterious files from the client – okay, these need to be opened …read more