When I first started freelancing full time, it was just me, my 14-year-old cat, the ticking clock, and the occasional phone interview during the day. In other words, very little human interaction and some very welcome silence.
And for a while, that was just fine with me. I’ve always been a bit of a lone wolf. And having grown up as an only child, I’ve never minded my alone time. In fact, sometimes my family and my closest friends argue that I seem to enjoy my alone time a little too much. So for the first few months of freelancing, I …read more

So I’m on the mend. I don’t ache any more and any fever is long gone. My nose is stuffy and I have a nasty cough that seems to be loosening up. I still, however, feel fuzzy this morning. Which means I don’t really have a good idea for “da d**n blog.”
So I’ll take the easy way out and present some oldie but goodies from way back when:

Getting Started in Freelance Writing with Community Newspapers
Reading Is So Much A Part Of Writing

After Rejection
When In Doubt, Just Start
Writing Clients Come and Go

Hmmmm, that’s five which is probably more than enough …read more

Yeah, I know. I know. I can just hear the medical doctors clucking saying “she should know a flu shot can’t make her sick.” Yeah, right.
Well maybe. My medical doctor talked me into a flu shot sometime mid-Wednesday afternoon, along with a tetanus shot and some blood drawing for standard tests. I was pleased for several reasons, mostly because her scale matched mine in saying I’d lost about four pounds. I mean how often does that happen?
Thursday mid-day I noticed my neck and shoulders were feeling stiff and sore – but I’d been grinding at the computer more …read more

Yesterday I posted a video about Blog Action Day. If you missed it, it’s worth a look.
Today is the day. I work to make the goal of a world that works for everyone (the vision of The United Church of Religious Science). Part of what I’ve learned is that I haven’t got a clue about how to end poverty or create a world that works for everyone. Instead, I now ask “how can I help?” and then try to listen closely.
I contribute to Heifer because they listen and they do more than just give. They work to help the …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Seth Godin has a wonderful post called Is effort a myth?. (Thanks to Your Book Publishing Coach for the pointer.)
It’s a wonderful and helpful essay, complete with the suggestion to find 120 minutes each day and commit to something positive. He lists a number of things that can be done with that time, plus makes some other suggestions I like.
If I had to choose just one it would be: Only spend money, for one year, on things you absolutely need to get by. Save the rest, relentlessly. In fact, I’m going to do that and so commit to you, …read more

Oh my goodness, Google is celebrating its 10 year birthday!
What has this got to do with freelance writing? I don’t know. What’ I am sure of though is that google has become an integral part of my writing life and the rest of my life. I use it to:

check my spelling
research facts for my ghostwriting
find appropriate quotes for my ghostwriting and my own writing
find a restaurant for my master mind group
locate stores
locate bookstores
find my way and give others directions with google maps

There’s more, but you get the idea.
What tickles me though, is there time line – after all, I was …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
I don’t know why I haven’t blogged every anniversary about 911 – it may be that the resulting attacks on our Constitution and our Bill of Rights have discouraged me from it. I did, however, post in 2006
As it happens today I’m actually writing a bit about Martin Seligman who developed the theory of Learned Helplessness. He found that how we are in the world as individuals has much more to do with the way we explain things to ourselves, particularly negative things, than you might expect. We are also influenced by how others explain those same things to …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Yesterday I was, for a bit, convinced I’d never finish what I was calling the final pass on the book I’m working on. My goal was to finish my proofreading so I could turn it over to a copy editor.
It’s a book for an upcoming teleclass called How To Get Your Book Written With Vision And Spirit. But I wanted the book to also work for people who want to get a book written but who don’t want to take the teleclass. I think I’ve accomplished that.
I’ve been working to finish it over the last month, and this last …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
I am so not a copy editor, and I am so appreciative of the good ones I know!
I’m doing the final pass on my book about how to write a book. I call it a pass, rather than an edit because I know I’m missing things. I always do! I am not one of those people who is good with tiny details.
If you looked at my cottage, you’d see what I mean. At first glance it looks pretty good, but I haven’t made my bed in days! And I’ll bet there are dust bunnies, maybe full grown dust rabbits …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Most of you who follow this blog are probably vaguely aware I’m writing a book about getting your book written. It’s designed to go with a class I’ll be teaching and I’m getting close to the end. I’ve figured out what’s wrong with the exercises and I know how I want to fix them although I haven’t done it yet.
After some soul searching I decided I have to include a chapter on marketing books, even though I don’t feel like I know much about getting books sold. So I drafted a chapter a month or two ago. Yech! I just …read more