I bet you're surprised to see an update on this blog. After all, it's been uiet in these parts for a year now.
BUT!
I can finally tell you the reason behind the silence.
I spent a lot of time studying and researching and working on the side so that I could save up enough money for a hosting server and my very own domain. (I've been also dealing with some family problems for a bit there during 2011)
You guys have been with me for a very long time and you've been incredibly supporting. So I'm pleased to announce that I'm moving homes. You'll be able to find me at Writing4Rent now. It's a website that I wanted to open ever since I started this blog. I hope it will grow to be one of the best sources for beginning writers out there.
Also: if any of you want to share your stories, advice and experience there, please let me know by commenting or emailing me.
16 January 2012
14 January 2011
Unplugged
A few days ago, I spent a truly scary amount of time staring aimlessly at the screen of my laptop.
I could blame it on several factors, but it wouldn’t change the facts.
I could blame it on several factors, but it wouldn’t change the facts.
This aimlessness caused me to miss some self-imposed deadlines (self-imposed, yes; but still important) and fall behind on my writing goals. In fact, when reporting my word count today at FindYourWords, I was 500 words short of my writing goal for the week.
In an act of desperation, since even reading my RSS Feed felt like too much work, I decided to steal a resolution out of Joanna Penn’s New Year’s Resolutions. I unplugged.
I turned off my laptop, instead of just closing it and letting it hibernate (which felt symbolic and made me feel stronger), I took my notebook and went to bed.
And I started to write. Something I couldn’t accomplish with my laptop on, apparently.
It’s hard to call those days of aimless staring a writer’s block. My creativity was there. I just didn’t feel like making an effort.
Maybe I was just burned out? I wouldn’t be able to tell for sure as it was the first time I felt like that.
Since the next three months are going to be very intense, because I have a lot of stuff on my plate that I just *have to* complete, I will have to learn how to pace myself.
Or I will have to learn how to do it better. I guess I really can’t keep the same writing speed I had during holidays. Not with a regular 8 hour work day on top of that.
It’s a learning experience, figuring out everything connected to writing and earning money.
Here’s hoping I’ll manage to get everything settled soon.
8 January 2011
About that Writing Schedule thing
I’m not going to tell you that keeping a strict writing schedule helps you avoid the writer’s block and develop a writing habit. It’s been said before over and over and over again. Instead, I’m going to tell you how I go about it.
Writing comes first
Yes, the first thing I do after starting up my laptop is checking my email, RSS feed and my Twitter for any interesting links people I follow might’ve shared over night. But after that, writing takes priority. I set a goal for myself saying that my first action after catching up on all the feeds is to write something. It doesn’t matter if it’s a story, a part of a story, an outline, a blog post, an article for a content site or writing for a client.
And I don’t do anything until I finish that first writing piece. Sometimes it’s just a slash fiction, maybe even just two points in my outline. But it’s somehow sets a mood for the rest of my day.
Day doesn’t end until I’ve written something
While this might seem like a silly rule (especially when put right after “writing something first thing in the morning), it actually helps me a lot.
See, I made a word count goal for 2011. That goal translates into writing at least 2000 words a week and 290 words a day. It might not seem like much, but in this word count, I don’t count outlines, my academic work or the brainstorming I do for one of the clients. So sometimes, after a whole day of writing in various projects, it might turn out I didn’t add to my official word count at all.
I don’t deny, sometimes it sounds rough (and it is), but I don’t go to sleep until the daily word count is reached. Last year I sometimes ignored that rule, but this year I’m much more motivated (and hoping this motivation won’t go away.)
Make plans for at least a week
Last year when it came to writing, I just “went with it”. I wrote when I felt like it and ended up not writing much most days. This year, I’m planning all my big fiction projects and all my nonfiction writing. I plan deadlines, milestones and word count goals for all my fiction projects. I also plan who I’m writing for each day, when it comes to my nonfiction.
I was hesitant about it at first, but a second week in and I’m focused, I keep having inspiration for my nonfiction writing and all my fiction projects are steadily moving forward. It really is something.
Reporting on my progress
Every week I report my word count to FindYourWords community. You can report it on Twitter (even using the hash tag #wordcount) or to your writing group. You can report it on your blog, as your Facebook status or just texting your regular writing partner.
Just tell somebody how much you’ve written in the past day/week. You don’t even have to report your word count. Did you finish your story, that revision you were slaving off with? Did you sell an article? The positive feedback you’ll receive to your successes will be the best motivation, believe me.
That Writing Schedule Thing
I don’t make plans to write every day from 5pm to 7pm. mostly because my days and plans are so irregular that I would fail to do so within the first week and I would lose interest in trying soon after that. This would really hurt my writing.
Setting a firm schedule doesn’t work for me, it might work for you. Just like the little tricks I shared here are working great for me, but might not work for you. That said; I’ll be very interested to hear what your tricks to write regularly are. Feel free to share them!
6 January 2011
5 ways to turn your website into a passive income source
Having a website (especially one with a blog) takes a lot of effort. But websites are still one of the most common and most reliable sources of passive income. As a first part of my “Passive Income for Freelance Writers” series I’m giving you 5 ways of earning passive income with a website.
Advertising
Incorporating ads into your website is still one of the most popular choices when it comes to monetizing your website or blog. The most common tool is Google AdSense (or Chitika, popularized by Darren from ProBlogger.net). But it’s worth remembering that once the website is popular and has a lot of readers, you can always cut out the middle man and start looking for advertisers directly.
Many popular websites and blogs use their sidebars to display “sponsors”. Many of those websites are direct clients paying monthly for the exposure. You can also use the advertising spots on your website to display banners from your affiliates about more on that later.) The key to a successful ad is to make sure it fits into the general topic of the website. The ads will bring profit only if they are of interest to your readers.
Affiliate marketing
By promoting other people’s projects, you are earning a percentage of the profits from each sale. Your partners usually provide you with great promotional materials that you can use to promote their work.
If you’re wondering where to find the right affiliate programs, you’re not looking right. Your first choice should always be products and programs you have personal experience with. It’s the ultimate truth – it’s easier to promote something you know and something you believe in.
When choosing the affiliate programs keep in mind what it is that your readers are looking for. And try to provide it not only with your content, but with the products you promote as well. Even if you choose to work with Amazon Affiliates, you should select the products that can benefit your readers.
Self-made products
You either build a website around a product you wish to sell, or you promote a product on a site you already have. Either way a website has an enormous potential of helping you sell those products and, once again, it allows you to cut out the middle man and earn a bigger profit (when you don’t have to pay commission to anyone else.)
Freelance writers usually decide to create eBooks or online courses and tele-classes and share their knowledge with the world. But those are not the only products that can be sold and/or promoted with a website.
Membership sites
Majority of the websites offer some sort of content to the readers. If they are product pages, they offer information on the product. If they are websites of companies or people, they offer information about that. There are sites that have been created and published and are updated rarely, but there are also websites that are updated every other day.
Websites like that can be turned into membership sites, charging readers a monthly fee, providing them with exclusive content (either in a way of a premium newsletter, special blog posts, eBook reports etc.) that they are interested in. Obviously, the details all depend on the niche, but the general idea remains the same.
But what you need to remember is that nowadays, with all the free content you can imagine, you need to be offering something spectacular and amazing to convince people to join the website. You might consider teaming up with somebody else: a graphic designer, or a programmer; where you provide content and all the written material and they add the extra content.
Launching platform for other projects
Sometimes, you don’t have to earn the passive income directly from the website. But if your website is good and provides great content, attracting a lot of readers, it can become a valuable platform from which you can launch your other projects (especially if the projects are in the same niche, or your website is a personal one.)
Whatever your next project is a CafePress shop, another website covering your niche from a different angle, a book deal or a class you can plug it on your website and some of the readers will follow.
Final notes
No matter how you decide to turn your website into a passive income source, there’s one thing you need to remember. No passive income will earn you money if you just set it up and forget about it. It will only bring in profits if you promote it, offer great content and supervise it regularly.
For the entire series on Passive Income click here.
4 January 2011
How Somebody Who Hated Change Decided to Become a Freelance Writer
If you ask anyone, who knows me, they will tell you that I don’t deal well with changes. It’s a God honest truth: I HATE changes. It doesn’t matter how big or how small the change, I will always try to resist and whine about how much I hate the new thing.
To give you an idea of how extreme my dislike for change is: I only eat one type of pizza (or no pizza at all), I dropped out of my studies because getting a degree and defending my thesis was too big of a change from my usual way of doing things (and it took me two years to go back to school), I don’t like meeting new people, because, well, they are new people and they don’t understand how OCD I am about the smallest things.
In fact, my entire writing career moves at a pace everybody else would consider “barely not moving backwards”.
It took me years and meeting very supportive people for me to start writing more seriously in the first place. It took an extremely enthusiastic writing cheerleader to talk me into writing my first novella. I hesitantly wrote what I thought would be a good story but didn’t like the results. But the feedback I got was encouraging, so I decided to try writing another novella the following year... It took two years, a support system and four big fiction projects for me to get comfortable with an idea of writing a novel.
My freelancing career went almost the same.
At the very beginning (back in, I think, May 2008) the idea of receiving payment for my writing seemed rather surreal. I didn’t treat it seriously, so when I stumbled on Helium, I looked around and set up an account, because it seemed harmless.
And I did nothing.
I sat on the brand new account for a few days before I decided to see what the whole thing was about. Because it’s just my luck, I had no idea what to write about, so I randomly searched for an Empty Title and wrote my very first advice article about treating painful periods. I did research on natural remedies to have the knowledge, but I winged everything else.
I knew nothing about a proper article structure for online content, I had no idea what a keyword was and why it was important. I just wrote an article to see what would happen.
Or rather, I was conflicted between wanting to see what would happen and being terribly afraid of what would happen. What if the article was terrible? What if people wouldn’t be interested in what it said? What if the article didn’t earn any money? Or worse, what if IT DID?
In the first week after publishing, the article earned one or two cents from pageviews. I found that idea absolutely terrifying and closed the browser. I didn’t touch Helium for another month after that.
I returned to the site in June and started to write simple opinion pieces on topics I knew from personal experience. Nothing I would have to do research on. The idea that anybody could take me for an expert was too scary.
By the time December rolled in, I was comfortable with an idea of getting paid for my writing, out of curiosity I was reading blogs about freelance writing and publishing articles from time to time.
All the blogs I’ve read seemed unconnected to what I was doing. They were all talking about setting up websites, blogs, pitching editors, being able to pay bills from money earned with writing... The idea of giving up my cozy and safe job to pursue something that earned me cents seemed ridiculous.
Then, by complete accident, I sold an article in Helium Marketplace. After the initial euphoria that somebody liked my article and wanted to pay for it (and after the panic that followed: “what if they change their mind and demand a refund? what if they clicked the wrong button and they really wanted the article next to mine?”) I realized that you can earn more from writing than just cents based on pageviews.
I filed that information away, because “why mess with something that’s working just fine?” But just to be sure, I did some additional research and found online marketplaces like oDesk, Guru and eLance. They all seemed really scary and confusing and there were some fees involved and I decided I really don’t like the idea of exchanging my Helium earnings for what seemed to be very stressful and demanding.
I kept writing for content sites (expanding outside of Helium was a nightmare, but I knew that keeping all my eggs in one basket would be unwise if a dreaded change decided to surprise me).
Nothing changed for a year in my writing career (which I considered to be a good thing, most specialists would never agree with me) but then I started to get bored with my day job. Long time ago I learned to recognize boredom as a first symptom of change and I did what I’ve always done when I felt change coming. I started to make plans how to make that damn change as painless as possible.
Which brings us to six months ago and my new year’s resolution to switch to full time free end of this year.
It’s worth stating that I admire people who can quit their day job and become freelancers in a day. People who take risks are amazing, but I’m not one of them. If there’s a way to avoid the change, I’ll take it. If I need to go through a change, I will hate every moment of the transition.
I need numerous support systems, safety nets, cheerleaders and people who understand that I need to have complete control over the process or my stress levels reach catastrophic very quickly.
At the same time, I love writing. I get huge satisfaction from it and I love looking at the finished product and knowing it’s worth something (I feel even better when other people say the same thing). I want to keep doing it!
And yes, for some, the pace in which my freelance career is moving, might seem unwise, or time-wasting. To some, my choice to keep writing for content sites while I pursue other freelancing options, might seem counterproductive. But the truth is I like the passive income. And another change (in addition to all the changes that will happen to me this year) might be too much for my poor little heart.
I’m optimistic though. I have a plan, which includes several safety nets and contingency plans (and contingency plans to my contingency plans) and for a first time in a very long time I think I might be able to handle the change. That I might even like what it’s going to bring.
Still, I’m not going to jump head first. I’ll keep poking at the idea, moving forward slowly. It’s going to take some time to get where I want to be. But it’s okay.
To give you an idea of how extreme my dislike for change is: I only eat one type of pizza (or no pizza at all), I dropped out of my studies because getting a degree and defending my thesis was too big of a change from my usual way of doing things (and it took me two years to go back to school), I don’t like meeting new people, because, well, they are new people and they don’t understand how OCD I am about the smallest things.
In fact, my entire writing career moves at a pace everybody else would consider “barely not moving backwards”.
It took me years and meeting very supportive people for me to start writing more seriously in the first place. It took an extremely enthusiastic writing cheerleader to talk me into writing my first novella. I hesitantly wrote what I thought would be a good story but didn’t like the results. But the feedback I got was encouraging, so I decided to try writing another novella the following year... It took two years, a support system and four big fiction projects for me to get comfortable with an idea of writing a novel.
My freelancing career went almost the same.
At the very beginning (back in, I think, May 2008) the idea of receiving payment for my writing seemed rather surreal. I didn’t treat it seriously, so when I stumbled on Helium, I looked around and set up an account, because it seemed harmless.
And I did nothing.
I sat on the brand new account for a few days before I decided to see what the whole thing was about. Because it’s just my luck, I had no idea what to write about, so I randomly searched for an Empty Title and wrote my very first advice article about treating painful periods. I did research on natural remedies to have the knowledge, but I winged everything else.
I knew nothing about a proper article structure for online content, I had no idea what a keyword was and why it was important. I just wrote an article to see what would happen.
Or rather, I was conflicted between wanting to see what would happen and being terribly afraid of what would happen. What if the article was terrible? What if people wouldn’t be interested in what it said? What if the article didn’t earn any money? Or worse, what if IT DID?
In the first week after publishing, the article earned one or two cents from pageviews. I found that idea absolutely terrifying and closed the browser. I didn’t touch Helium for another month after that.
I returned to the site in June and started to write simple opinion pieces on topics I knew from personal experience. Nothing I would have to do research on. The idea that anybody could take me for an expert was too scary.
By the time December rolled in, I was comfortable with an idea of getting paid for my writing, out of curiosity I was reading blogs about freelance writing and publishing articles from time to time.
All the blogs I’ve read seemed unconnected to what I was doing. They were all talking about setting up websites, blogs, pitching editors, being able to pay bills from money earned with writing... The idea of giving up my cozy and safe job to pursue something that earned me cents seemed ridiculous.
Then, by complete accident, I sold an article in Helium Marketplace. After the initial euphoria that somebody liked my article and wanted to pay for it (and after the panic that followed: “what if they change their mind and demand a refund? what if they clicked the wrong button and they really wanted the article next to mine?”) I realized that you can earn more from writing than just cents based on pageviews.
I filed that information away, because “why mess with something that’s working just fine?” But just to be sure, I did some additional research and found online marketplaces like oDesk, Guru and eLance. They all seemed really scary and confusing and there were some fees involved and I decided I really don’t like the idea of exchanging my Helium earnings for what seemed to be very stressful and demanding.
I kept writing for content sites (expanding outside of Helium was a nightmare, but I knew that keeping all my eggs in one basket would be unwise if a dreaded change decided to surprise me).
Nothing changed for a year in my writing career (which I considered to be a good thing, most specialists would never agree with me) but then I started to get bored with my day job. Long time ago I learned to recognize boredom as a first symptom of change and I did what I’ve always done when I felt change coming. I started to make plans how to make that damn change as painless as possible.
Which brings us to six months ago and my new year’s resolution to switch to full time free end of this year.
It’s worth stating that I admire people who can quit their day job and become freelancers in a day. People who take risks are amazing, but I’m not one of them. If there’s a way to avoid the change, I’ll take it. If I need to go through a change, I will hate every moment of the transition.
I need numerous support systems, safety nets, cheerleaders and people who understand that I need to have complete control over the process or my stress levels reach catastrophic very quickly.
At the same time, I love writing. I get huge satisfaction from it and I love looking at the finished product and knowing it’s worth something (I feel even better when other people say the same thing). I want to keep doing it!
And yes, for some, the pace in which my freelance career is moving, might seem unwise, or time-wasting. To some, my choice to keep writing for content sites while I pursue other freelancing options, might seem counterproductive. But the truth is I like the passive income. And another change (in addition to all the changes that will happen to me this year) might be too much for my poor little heart.
I’m optimistic though. I have a plan, which includes several safety nets and contingency plans (and contingency plans to my contingency plans) and for a first time in a very long time I think I might be able to handle the change. That I might even like what it’s going to bring.
Still, I’m not going to jump head first. I’ll keep poking at the idea, moving forward slowly. It’s going to take some time to get where I want to be. But it’s okay.
2 January 2011
Passive Income for Freelance Writers
5 ways to turn your website into a passive income source
I hope you all had a very good start in the New Year. I kicked off 2011 by writing two articles (total over 1300 words) and it made me feel really good. I also decided that January will be a month of Passive Income here at WritingMakesRich.
I hope you all had a very good start in the New Year. I kicked off 2011 by writing two articles (total over 1300 words) and it made me feel really good. I also decided that January will be a month of Passive Income here at WritingMakesRich.
I consider passive income to be one of the more important revenue stream for freelancers. There are only that many hours you can work in a day and at the same time, raising your rates stops being enough at some point.
I’m not going to hide, this Passive Income series is going to serve mostly as my very own resource center as I learn more about passive income opportunities and try to find out which work best for me.
Freelance writers have a lot of options open to them, though most of them demand a lot of time and effort before they even start paying back.
I’m at the very beginning of my freelancing career. I don’t work non-stop and I don’t have a whole bunch of clients. Which means that I do have the time to invest into my future income. There are many things freelance writers can do when they don’t have enough work and while I keep applying for various jobs, I always preferred investing in myself.
Working an hour a day or so on a personal project that has the potential of bringing extra money in might seem like a big commitment, especially if the money isn’t anything impressive at the very beginning, but I believe in planning and considering all the options before actually taking the jump.
I will no doubt write about revenue streams that I’m not involved in personally. I will mention things that are great for writers, but take a lot of time, which is why I’m not tapping into their potential just yet. But they are nonetheless good opportunities and every writer should at least consider them.
It seems like it’s going to be a very productive and a very interesting January, and hopefully a year. Happy New Year everybody!
29 December 2010
Where Freelance Writers Can Find Work?
Because of my grand plan to become a freelance writer full time in 2011, I’ve been thinking about all the possible revenue streams that I could support myself with. And since I’m a nice person like that, I decided to share my conclusions on my blog.
oDesk
Right now, oDesk represents my biggest source of income. It’s a marketplace for online freelancers, not only for writers. Once you register, you big on projects along with others and the employers choose the person they want to work with. You can charge an hourly rate or a fixed rate and oDesk adds a fee to your quote (which is how they profit from the entire arrangement).
There are other marketplaces similar to oDesk: Guru, eLance, Freelancer.com. But I’ve registered to all of them, and I found that oDesk works best for me. If you’re looking for a good site, you should check out all the possibilities before settling for those that work best for you.
It’s worth saying that at the very beginning I was afraid that with my high rate, I wouldn’t be able to find any work – a fair concern since a lot of workers bidding on jobs are from the Philippines and their rates are often below $5 per hour. But I find work and I didn’t have to lower my rate, so it’s good to know that if you know your craft, you can find work no matter your rate.
Job Boards
A good place to find writing gigs is searching on various job boards. Personally, I prefer Job Board over at Problogger.net. But I also subscribe to Anne Wayman’s About Freelance Writing where she regularly posts a huge number of jobs available to freelancers that she found all over the Internet (including Craigslist).
If you, like me, have an account with Helium, it’s always worth checking out their Marketplace. The articles that don’t get purchased are turned into regular Helium articles and will bring passive income to the author.
Don’t look for jobs, create them yourself
And by that I mean creating sources of passive income of course. Things and assets that will earn money even after you stop working on them. The website/blog combination is the first idea that pops in mind, and it’s also a great tool for exposure. It makes it easier for future clients to find you and your work. And it can help with starting any future projects.
EBooks are also very popular when it comes to creating passive income sources, but freelance writers shouldn’t limit themselves to just eBooks, because the online world is full of possibilities and you can always think of something that will have the potential to bring in great revenue.
So here you are. Those are the ideas I got for bringing in various income sources. I will most likely brainstorm and come up with several others. And if you sit down and think about it, you will probably find something that will work best for you. Good luck!
27 December 2010
Make Plans for 2011
I hope you all had a very good Christmas. For me it was a time of procrastination when I did absolutely nothing productive and watched an obscene amount of Christmas movies. Although I did read the Unlimited Freelancer eBook and found it extremely useful for my plans for 2011.
Like every year during Christmas, I also started on my New Year Resolutions. In previous years my New Year’s Resolutions were more like wishful thinking of what I would love to do next year. This time, I decided to be more serious about it and make actual plans.
- Write 100 000 words in 2011
Every year I participate in the challenge over at FindYourWords. In 2010 I wrote over 85K and I plan on writing more actively next year. My three bigger commitments as far as fiction writing goes mean I will write at least 41K of fiction in 2011. The rest I plan to reach with my freelance assignments.
Every year I participate in the challenge over at FindYourWords. In 2010 I wrote over 85K and I plan on writing more actively next year. My three bigger commitments as far as fiction writing goes mean I will write at least 41K of fiction in 2011. The rest I plan to reach with my freelance assignments.
- Finish and defend my thesis
This goal has a very strict deadline because I need to finish it by the end of March and most of my time will be devoted to writing it.
This goal has a very strict deadline because I need to finish it by the end of March and most of my time will be devoted to writing it.
- Set up a website
I actually have plans for two websites in two different niches, but I want to be realistic which means that I want to end the year with a fully functioning website with an incorporated blog, capable of bringing me revenue (either with passive income, or with actual clients)
I actually have plans for two websites in two different niches, but I want to be realistic which means that I want to end the year with a fully functioning website with an incorporated blog, capable of bringing me revenue (either with passive income, or with actual clients)
- Switch to freelancing full time by the end of the year
I wrote on numerous occasions how I’m not ready to become a full time freelancer. I already thought it through when I wrote the 5 step guide to becoming a freelance writer. And when I graduate in 2011, I will no longer have major expenses and I’ll be able to save up for a safety net and switch to full time freelancing by the end of the year.
I wrote on numerous occasions how I’m not ready to become a full time freelancer. I already thought it through when I wrote the 5 step guide to becoming a freelance writer. And when I graduate in 2011, I will no longer have major expenses and I’ll be able to save up for a safety net and switch to full time freelancing by the end of the year.
Those are four major goals I want to reach in 2011. They are big and require lots of smaller sub-goals and a lot of planning. But this year I’m determined to make them happen.
And what are your goals for 2011?
19 December 2010
Part-Time Writer, Full-Time Dreamer
It feels like a voice beyond a grave. My life was so crazy these past months that I honestly didn’t know what to put my hands into. During that time I struggled with a major Writer’s Block, a general bad mood and school.
Make no mistakes, I’m still struggling with school, I have three months to finish my thesis, and absolutely no time to actually sit down and do what’s required of me. I still need to write one research paper for my University to even consider accepting my thesis (once it’s written).
On top of it all, I’m seriously considering not extending my contract when it ends at the end of March.
So I’m working on the side, to have as much savings as possible. Having a safety net will definitely help while I’ll be reevaluating my future.
I’ve done at least an outline of what I need to consider back when I’ve written 5 Steps to becoming a freelance writer.
Because I need a lot of savings, I’ve put the passive income sites on the backburner and instead decided to try higher paying gigs. Because right now, I don’t really have time to look all over the internet for writing jobs, I reactivated my account at oDesk. I’ve applied for some jobs and I am now steadily working. My social life suffers from this multitasking and I have very little time for friends, but some sacrifices must be made.
To paraphrase a certain character from a certain movie about dreams: I’m not afraid to dream a little bigger. Keep your fingers crossed.
Make no mistakes, I’m still struggling with school, I have three months to finish my thesis, and absolutely no time to actually sit down and do what’s required of me. I still need to write one research paper for my University to even consider accepting my thesis (once it’s written).
On top of it all, I’m seriously considering not extending my contract when it ends at the end of March.
So I’m working on the side, to have as much savings as possible. Having a safety net will definitely help while I’ll be reevaluating my future.
I’ve done at least an outline of what I need to consider back when I’ve written 5 Steps to becoming a freelance writer.
Because I need a lot of savings, I’ve put the passive income sites on the backburner and instead decided to try higher paying gigs. Because right now, I don’t really have time to look all over the internet for writing jobs, I reactivated my account at oDesk. I’ve applied for some jobs and I am now steadily working. My social life suffers from this multitasking and I have very little time for friends, but some sacrifices must be made.
To paraphrase a certain character from a certain movie about dreams: I’m not afraid to dream a little bigger. Keep your fingers crossed.
18 June 2010
Last-Minute Writing
Remember when I posted about writing ahead of time? Yeah. It doesn't work out all the time.
Case in question: this very post.
Due to unhealthy amount of studying,my brain had been in overload and I've been struggling with a terrible case of Writer's Block. Not only that, I've also practically disappeared from Twitter, stayed away from my RSS and generally spent time studying and watching summer programming on TV.
But as the deadline to post on this blog approached, I started to stress more and more. Sure, this deadline is self imposed, but still. My brain registered the routine I've developed and the deadline became real. And so, I'm doing some last-minute writing.
I don't know about you, but in my case, that last minute writing is never as good as it could've been. I don't have time to edit properly, rearrange sentences, para-phrase or fix pacing. It all feels rushed and I always worry the reader notices all the flaws as well. I always obsess that the reader feels the idea for the article was rushed and not thought out properly.
And it adds up to the stress.
Sure, sometimes last-minute writing can turn out into additional 5K of words on a novella. And those words might be brilliant.
But I always have to ask my editor afterwards to be especially hard on those last words, pay attention to pacing and word choices.
Not to mention the fact that I often get sidetracked and my writing shows it too...
I suppose the answer to this last-minute writing problem is proper time management. Finding time to write way before the deadline, brainstorming and being more organized. But it doesn't always help. Like in my case right now, sometimes life just throws stuff at you and then you find yourself staying up all night, because of the deadlines.
Then again... Every once in a while probably doesn't hurt much...
Case in question: this very post.
Due to unhealthy amount of studying,my brain had been in overload and I've been struggling with a terrible case of Writer's Block. Not only that, I've also practically disappeared from Twitter, stayed away from my RSS and generally spent time studying and watching summer programming on TV.
But as the deadline to post on this blog approached, I started to stress more and more. Sure, this deadline is self imposed, but still. My brain registered the routine I've developed and the deadline became real. And so, I'm doing some last-minute writing.
I don't know about you, but in my case, that last minute writing is never as good as it could've been. I don't have time to edit properly, rearrange sentences, para-phrase or fix pacing. It all feels rushed and I always worry the reader notices all the flaws as well. I always obsess that the reader feels the idea for the article was rushed and not thought out properly.
And it adds up to the stress.
Sure, sometimes last-minute writing can turn out into additional 5K of words on a novella. And those words might be brilliant.
But I always have to ask my editor afterwards to be especially hard on those last words, pay attention to pacing and word choices.
Not to mention the fact that I often get sidetracked and my writing shows it too...
I suppose the answer to this last-minute writing problem is proper time management. Finding time to write way before the deadline, brainstorming and being more organized. But it doesn't always help. Like in my case right now, sometimes life just throws stuff at you and then you find yourself staying up all night, because of the deadlines.
Then again... Every once in a while probably doesn't hurt much...
16 June 2010
Writer's Block
That's how I feel right now, staring at a blank page.
(Image made by me in Photoshop CS)
14 June 2010
Monday Update - What I've been up to
A lot happened lately in my writing life, so instead of a regular post, I decided to write an update.
Writing Interruptions
Unfortunately it's that time in the year and I have to study for the exams and write those papers. And maybe work on my thesis some more. Which makes it almost impossible to do any actual writing. I'm staying possitive, since I only have one semester left and then, I'll be defending my thesis. And I'll have a new, shiny degree.
Fiction Writing
Since my last update, most of my projects moved forward.
My editor finished correcting the first draft of my bigbang story, and right now I'm fixing the mistakes. It's a painful process, I admit, but I know that it will make my story even better. I need to finish the second draft and send it to another editor before the end of June, because I need to have the final story by the end of July. It's all very exciting, since the feedback so far was completely positive.
The Epic Collaboration Project kinda took over my life. In between what I've written and what my co-author added, we basically wrote almost the entire thing. We still have three chapters to write, with the big climax, and the dramatic reveal, but I'm estimating we should be done with the first draft in maybe two weeks. We already crossed the 30K in wordcount and I think we might reach 40K before we're done.
I completely change the concept of my third big project - the 20K story I need written by September. Mostly because the initial set-up, while dramatic, didn't work with the character development I wanted to have. The scenes I already planned out will probably still happen, and I'll try to rework them into a short story of maybe 5K, but I'll have to outline it to make sure it works.
I also signed up to a writing challenge called HC Bingo. Which is an interesting concept and definitely something of an inspiration. It'll be mostly short stories, but maybe one or two longer ones. We'll see where the muse takes me.
Non-Fiction Writing
Unfortuantely I didn't work on my articles or ebook ideas, due to school and exams. I'm getting slightly worried, because I have to complete 7 more articles for Suite101 by the end of July, and I'd like to add to my articles on Helium as well. And it's not even that I don't know what to write about, it's the lack of time that interrupts with the writing.
Once I'm done with exams, I'll have to really get back into the non-fiction world.
On a plus side, even though I had little time, I managed to keep up with my blogging, which is a huge success. I definitely deserve a cookie. It becomes a part of my weekly routine, writing and posting to this blog. I suspect I'll soon be able to modify that routine to include writing and posting at other places.
Twitter
A mix of writing and networking, I've been active on Twitter, and it's been great fun. Apart from three days when I went offline to study.
I switched from TweetDeck to HooteSuite, because the latter offered me option to schedule my Tweets, which turned out to be extremely helpful since I share a lot of links to writing resources and blog posts. Plus I can keep it in the background and write or work, and it doesn't interrupt me with constant sound effects when somebody update's their account.
I also ventured into the world of Sponsored Tweets. It was more of an experiment, but it turned out to be a very interesting experience. It's not a big thing, nor it's extremely big revenue stream. But I can choose things I want to advertise, I can write the tweets to match my other content and all in all, I'm very pleased with that site. You can check it out for yourself here.
Writing Interruptions
Unfortunately it's that time in the year and I have to study for the exams and write those papers. And maybe work on my thesis some more. Which makes it almost impossible to do any actual writing. I'm staying possitive, since I only have one semester left and then, I'll be defending my thesis. And I'll have a new, shiny degree.
Fiction Writing
Since my last update, most of my projects moved forward.
My editor finished correcting the first draft of my bigbang story, and right now I'm fixing the mistakes. It's a painful process, I admit, but I know that it will make my story even better. I need to finish the second draft and send it to another editor before the end of June, because I need to have the final story by the end of July. It's all very exciting, since the feedback so far was completely positive.
The Epic Collaboration Project kinda took over my life. In between what I've written and what my co-author added, we basically wrote almost the entire thing. We still have three chapters to write, with the big climax, and the dramatic reveal, but I'm estimating we should be done with the first draft in maybe two weeks. We already crossed the 30K in wordcount and I think we might reach 40K before we're done.
I completely change the concept of my third big project - the 20K story I need written by September. Mostly because the initial set-up, while dramatic, didn't work with the character development I wanted to have. The scenes I already planned out will probably still happen, and I'll try to rework them into a short story of maybe 5K, but I'll have to outline it to make sure it works.
I also signed up to a writing challenge called HC Bingo. Which is an interesting concept and definitely something of an inspiration. It'll be mostly short stories, but maybe one or two longer ones. We'll see where the muse takes me.
Non-Fiction Writing
Unfortuantely I didn't work on my articles or ebook ideas, due to school and exams. I'm getting slightly worried, because I have to complete 7 more articles for Suite101 by the end of July, and I'd like to add to my articles on Helium as well. And it's not even that I don't know what to write about, it's the lack of time that interrupts with the writing.
Once I'm done with exams, I'll have to really get back into the non-fiction world.
On a plus side, even though I had little time, I managed to keep up with my blogging, which is a huge success. I definitely deserve a cookie. It becomes a part of my weekly routine, writing and posting to this blog. I suspect I'll soon be able to modify that routine to include writing and posting at other places.
A mix of writing and networking, I've been active on Twitter, and it's been great fun. Apart from three days when I went offline to study.
I switched from TweetDeck to HooteSuite, because the latter offered me option to schedule my Tweets, which turned out to be extremely helpful since I share a lot of links to writing resources and blog posts. Plus I can keep it in the background and write or work, and it doesn't interrupt me with constant sound effects when somebody update's their account.
I also ventured into the world of Sponsored Tweets. It was more of an experiment, but it turned out to be a very interesting experience. It's not a big thing, nor it's extremely big revenue stream. But I can choose things I want to advertise, I can write the tweets to match my other content and all in all, I'm very pleased with that site. You can check it out for yourself here.
11 June 2010
5 Steps to Becoming a Freelance Writer
Not so long ago, I wrote an article explaining why you don't need experience to be a freelance writer. I really believe it's true, after all I landed my first problogging job with no experience. Although, if I had a say in how the title was formed, I would rephrase it.
You don't need experience to become a freelance writer.
Whether you stay on the job or not, is a different matter.
There are two schools of becoming a freelance writer. One saying you have to risk it, because that risk will motivate you into pushing yourself and your business into success. SelfMadeChick is a proof that approach works.
There's also the less radical idea to first keep your day job and start freelancing part-time, building your brand, getting clients, finding out what works for you and what doesn't. Save up some money, to create a safety net, before transitioning to freelancing full-time. That's me.
I decided to share the Step-by-Step Guide to becoming a Freelance Writer, which is basically my To-Do list.
1. Answer important questions:
Do you want to be a freelance writer?
Why do you want to be a freelance writer?
What kind of writer do you want to be?
Do you have a niche you want to write in?
If yes, why this niche?
If yes, how competitive is this niche?
If no, why?
2. Make basic calculations:
How much money do you need to survive? Count the bills (rent, electricity, media, food etc.). That's what you need to survive. Not counting the holidays, fancy dinners, parties and sudden natural disasters.
Now add to that health insurance, additional expenses like paper, printer, other office supplies.
You got the minimum of what you need to earn every month. Now, you should probably add at least 50% of what you calculated, to actually have some profit.
It's not a good business if there's no profit.
3. Research:
No, seriously. RESEARCH. Before you jump in and do any actual freelancing. Research the field. Research the markets. Watch, read and learn. There are number of great, informative websites out there designed to help freelancers to build and develop their freelance business. There's FreelanceSwitch, FreelanceFolder, Problogger, About Freelance Writing, All Freelance Writing, The Creative Penn, The Renegate Writer and WriteItSideways. And that's not even half of my RSS Feed. There's a lot of material out there, all you need is to learn from all the great people.
Research also helps you to learn about rates, invoicing, marketing, branding and the business side of writing. And while there are some good freelance writers out there, it's the actual business knowledge that can turn a good freelancer into a great one.
3a. Find out what works for you:
It could be considered a separate point, but for me, it's part of researching the business. It's about trying out different revenue streams and figuring out what works for you best. Is it blogging? Self-publishing? Writing novels? Writing online content? Writing for print magazines?
What are additional revenue streams you can pursue in addition to your main source of income? Teleclasses? Affiliate marketing? Adsense? Passive income? Anything else?
The reason why I put it in the research step is because I strongly suggest trying out every road. Try querying to magazines, maybe bid on a blogging job or two. See what works for you, makes you more comfortable. What's most fun/better paid/better for you? Sure, you could just read up on the subject, but I strongly believe that you don't really know what works, until you try it out on yourself.
Sure there can be missteps and false starts. But in the end, you'll truly know what fits you and your working style best.
4. Get a website:
This step is actually one of the crucial ones. Nowadays, a professional doesn't exist if he or she doesn't have a website. Today, a person's first instinct is always to look up something (or somebody) online. Which means that to be found, and most importantly, to be hired, you need a website.
4a. Get a blog:
If you decided to write in a particular niche, blog about that subject. Not only it will show off your knowledge, but blog posts (if you use proper SEO - what's SEO? Go back to step 3!) will help your website's Google ranking. And a higher Google ranking will make it easier for clients to find you. Additionally, blog is one of the best ways to connect to other people in your niche. And while being a freelancer is fun, it's much better when you have people to share the experience with. So go, and make friends.
5. Work!
In previous steps you made some decisions about how you want your freelance career to look like. You tried various ways of earning money with your writing. You did your research.
All that's left is doing the actual work. And the actual earning money.
You don't need experience to become a freelance writer.
Whether you stay on the job or not, is a different matter.
There are two schools of becoming a freelance writer. One saying you have to risk it, because that risk will motivate you into pushing yourself and your business into success. SelfMadeChick is a proof that approach works.
There's also the less radical idea to first keep your day job and start freelancing part-time, building your brand, getting clients, finding out what works for you and what doesn't. Save up some money, to create a safety net, before transitioning to freelancing full-time. That's me.
I decided to share the Step-by-Step Guide to becoming a Freelance Writer, which is basically my To-Do list.
1. Answer important questions:
Do you want to be a freelance writer?
Why do you want to be a freelance writer?
What kind of writer do you want to be?
Do you have a niche you want to write in?
If yes, why this niche?
If yes, how competitive is this niche?
If no, why?
2. Make basic calculations:
How much money do you need to survive? Count the bills (rent, electricity, media, food etc.). That's what you need to survive. Not counting the holidays, fancy dinners, parties and sudden natural disasters.
Now add to that health insurance, additional expenses like paper, printer, other office supplies.
You got the minimum of what you need to earn every month. Now, you should probably add at least 50% of what you calculated, to actually have some profit.
It's not a good business if there's no profit.
3. Research:
No, seriously. RESEARCH. Before you jump in and do any actual freelancing. Research the field. Research the markets. Watch, read and learn. There are number of great, informative websites out there designed to help freelancers to build and develop their freelance business. There's FreelanceSwitch, FreelanceFolder, Problogger, About Freelance Writing, All Freelance Writing, The Creative Penn, The Renegate Writer and WriteItSideways. And that's not even half of my RSS Feed. There's a lot of material out there, all you need is to learn from all the great people.
Research also helps you to learn about rates, invoicing, marketing, branding and the business side of writing. And while there are some good freelance writers out there, it's the actual business knowledge that can turn a good freelancer into a great one.
3a. Find out what works for you:
It could be considered a separate point, but for me, it's part of researching the business. It's about trying out different revenue streams and figuring out what works for you best. Is it blogging? Self-publishing? Writing novels? Writing online content? Writing for print magazines?
What are additional revenue streams you can pursue in addition to your main source of income? Teleclasses? Affiliate marketing? Adsense? Passive income? Anything else?
The reason why I put it in the research step is because I strongly suggest trying out every road. Try querying to magazines, maybe bid on a blogging job or two. See what works for you, makes you more comfortable. What's most fun/better paid/better for you? Sure, you could just read up on the subject, but I strongly believe that you don't really know what works, until you try it out on yourself.
Sure there can be missteps and false starts. But in the end, you'll truly know what fits you and your working style best.
4. Get a website:
This step is actually one of the crucial ones. Nowadays, a professional doesn't exist if he or she doesn't have a website. Today, a person's first instinct is always to look up something (or somebody) online. Which means that to be found, and most importantly, to be hired, you need a website.
4a. Get a blog:
If you decided to write in a particular niche, blog about that subject. Not only it will show off your knowledge, but blog posts (if you use proper SEO - what's SEO? Go back to step 3!) will help your website's Google ranking. And a higher Google ranking will make it easier for clients to find you. Additionally, blog is one of the best ways to connect to other people in your niche. And while being a freelancer is fun, it's much better when you have people to share the experience with. So go, and make friends.
5. Work!
In previous steps you made some decisions about how you want your freelance career to look like. You tried various ways of earning money with your writing. You did your research.
All that's left is doing the actual work. And the actual earning money.
9 June 2010
Plot Bunny Farm - Handling the Ideas
Few hours ago I had an idea for a blog post. I know it was brilliant and it would sweep you of your feet. But I was busy at the time so I didn't immediately started writing.
Now I can't remember what that post was supposed to be about. There's very little chance I will ever get that particular (and no doubt awesome) idea back.
And it's not a problem with blog posts either. Ideas come tome (and to every writer, I imagine) every day, every moment. Sometimes it's like the scene in the "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" when the vampire bunny jumps and rips the poor knight's throat out. That's how I feel with my ideas. As if I'm surrounded by plot bunnies who want to be written nowNowNOW, and don'twant to wait patiently in line.
And in the creative chaos that is my brain, there are hundreds and hundreds of stories running around, articles that peak shyly from behind the shelves wondering if I could maybe, perhaps, write them. And there are blog posts, that come in front of the line, wave enthusiastically and if I ignore them for even a second, they run away, sulking and thinking I don't love them.
I lost a lot of ideas over the years, but something snapped in me today, after that one blog post idea. I don't know why, but today, I decided to change something and save at least some of those plot bunnies.
I set up three new Googledocs files, though I assume regular text files on my HDD would work as well, even a notebook (notebook seems like a popular choice, from what I can tell.) One for stories ideas, one for articles and one for blog posts. I'm determined to use those files to write down ideas, dialogues, snippets - anything that will come to me in moments when I don't have time to write the entire thing right away.
True, I'm not entirely sure how this will work for me. Maybe when I write down the ideas they will dissappear anyway. But I want to find out. Because if there's even a slight chance at this new system helping my productivity (especially in the non-fiction department), then I really want to try it.
Hopefully,it'll work out. If not, I'll move to something else. But I don't want to miss on any ideas.
Now I can't remember what that post was supposed to be about. There's very little chance I will ever get that particular (and no doubt awesome) idea back.
And it's not a problem with blog posts either. Ideas come tome (and to every writer, I imagine) every day, every moment. Sometimes it's like the scene in the "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" when the vampire bunny jumps and rips the poor knight's throat out. That's how I feel with my ideas. As if I'm surrounded by plot bunnies who want to be written nowNowNOW, and don'twant to wait patiently in line.
And in the creative chaos that is my brain, there are hundreds and hundreds of stories running around, articles that peak shyly from behind the shelves wondering if I could maybe, perhaps, write them. And there are blog posts, that come in front of the line, wave enthusiastically and if I ignore them for even a second, they run away, sulking and thinking I don't love them.
I lost a lot of ideas over the years, but something snapped in me today, after that one blog post idea. I don't know why, but today, I decided to change something and save at least some of those plot bunnies.
I set up three new Googledocs files, though I assume regular text files on my HDD would work as well, even a notebook (notebook seems like a popular choice, from what I can tell.) One for stories ideas, one for articles and one for blog posts. I'm determined to use those files to write down ideas, dialogues, snippets - anything that will come to me in moments when I don't have time to write the entire thing right away.
True, I'm not entirely sure how this will work for me. Maybe when I write down the ideas they will dissappear anyway. But I want to find out. Because if there's even a slight chance at this new system helping my productivity (especially in the non-fiction department), then I really want to try it.
Hopefully,it'll work out. If not, I'll move to something else. But I don't want to miss on any ideas.
7 June 2010
Fiction Writing Marathon - Pros and Cons
I spent the weekend at my friend's house (who's also my co-author on the Epic Collab Story I mentioned over and over again). During that time we wrote non-stop for hour, and the story is now over 22K (and it's not even half of it).
You could say that those three days were some kind of a Writing Retreat. Since apart from writing our story we also spend most evenings (and nights) brainstorming ideas for our next collaboration.
Yes, those brainstorming sessions weren't always productive, as too many of them included a variation of the "I'm Batman!" joke. But in the end we did come up with a very good idea that will most likely consist of two longer stories.
I'm sure it's not a secret that after an incredibly productive couple of days, every writer feels satisfied and accomplished. I did too.
But there's a problem with spending so many hours writing. For a few hours after returning home, I felt burnt out. It was as if no words that left my brain and appeared on my screen were good enough. I felt exhausted and I just wanted to sleep (and eat). Not to mention the fact that no posts and articles I wrote in between the writing sessions felt like they were up to my usual standards.
So, on one hand (huge Pro), I wrote an obscene amount of words during those two days. I moved the story along and followed the outline, including some really fun foreshadowing.
On the other hand (a huge con), it really feels like too much in too short period of time. My brain is used to creativity being spread over several days, due to my schedule and fitting the writing after my day-job.
I know I can do writing marathons, I did that in the past when I had a deadline to meet and I wrote over 5K in one day. But this weekend showed me I can't do such an intensive writing all the time. Maybe I could do it once every few months. Maybe even once a month.
Have you participated in Fiction Writing Marathons before? Do you have a routine for insane days when you just write and write and write? Any tips for when I do the writing marathon again?
You could say that those three days were some kind of a Writing Retreat. Since apart from writing our story we also spend most evenings (and nights) brainstorming ideas for our next collaboration.
Yes, those brainstorming sessions weren't always productive, as too many of them included a variation of the "I'm Batman!" joke. But in the end we did come up with a very good idea that will most likely consist of two longer stories.
I'm sure it's not a secret that after an incredibly productive couple of days, every writer feels satisfied and accomplished. I did too.
But there's a problem with spending so many hours writing. For a few hours after returning home, I felt burnt out. It was as if no words that left my brain and appeared on my screen were good enough. I felt exhausted and I just wanted to sleep (and eat). Not to mention the fact that no posts and articles I wrote in between the writing sessions felt like they were up to my usual standards.
So, on one hand (huge Pro), I wrote an obscene amount of words during those two days. I moved the story along and followed the outline, including some really fun foreshadowing.
On the other hand (a huge con), it really feels like too much in too short period of time. My brain is used to creativity being spread over several days, due to my schedule and fitting the writing after my day-job.
I know I can do writing marathons, I did that in the past when I had a deadline to meet and I wrote over 5K in one day. But this weekend showed me I can't do such an intensive writing all the time. Maybe I could do it once every few months. Maybe even once a month.
Have you participated in Fiction Writing Marathons before? Do you have a routine for insane days when you just write and write and write? Any tips for when I do the writing marathon again?
4 June 2010
Guest Posting?
Lately, I've been considering guest posting. It seems like an interesting thing to do, sharing my thoughts with a different audience, one that might not be familiar with my sense of humor or my writing/blogging style.
But I'm hesitant to pitch any sort of post to the blogs I read on a regular basis.
Mostly, it's because I have never pitched an article to a complete stranger. I either write articvles in response to an assignment or pick any topic I feel like.
And there's the matter of what to blog about. It can't be something I already covered here, it would feel too much like cheating. And coming up with something fresh and totally new? It's a huge challenge.
I'm also hesitant because of a byline. I would have to come up with something, linking somewhere (most likely to this blog?). What would my byline say, anyway? "Executive assistant by day, freelance writer by night" (like on my Twitter profile), or something completely new?
And besides, I'm by no mean an expert. I'm still discovering my way in this freelance world, not to mention my publishing credits aren't very impressive (though I'm very proud of them, it's nothing to write home about.)
I will most likely end up writing all the pros and cons on a piece of papers, trying to decide. Thankfully I have entire month of June for that, as one of the blogs I love just announced they will be accepting Guest Posts.
If and when I decide, I will let you know.
But I'm hesitant to pitch any sort of post to the blogs I read on a regular basis.
Mostly, it's because I have never pitched an article to a complete stranger. I either write articvles in response to an assignment or pick any topic I feel like.
And there's the matter of what to blog about. It can't be something I already covered here, it would feel too much like cheating. And coming up with something fresh and totally new? It's a huge challenge.
I'm also hesitant because of a byline. I would have to come up with something, linking somewhere (most likely to this blog?). What would my byline say, anyway? "Executive assistant by day, freelance writer by night" (like on my Twitter profile), or something completely new?
And besides, I'm by no mean an expert. I'm still discovering my way in this freelance world, not to mention my publishing credits aren't very impressive (though I'm very proud of them, it's nothing to write home about.)
I will most likely end up writing all the pros and cons on a piece of papers, trying to decide. Thankfully I have entire month of June for that, as one of the blogs I love just announced they will be accepting Guest Posts.
If and when I decide, I will let you know.
2 June 2010
Googledocs - perfect tool for writers
If you're following me on Twitter or read one of my previous posts, you probably know about my love affair with Googledocs. I promised to write a love letter to Googledocs, and here it is.
Why I love Googledocs?
Easy access
All files are stores online, so you can access your files from every computer connected to the Internet. You can work on your writing from your laptop, using a computer at a library, computer at work, or from anywhere else.
At the same time, you don't have to worry about saving the files on a USB drive. You don't have to carry that drive everywhere you go, and there's very little chance on ever losing any of your writing.
True, what is Googledocs' big advantage is also its flaw. You can't use it while offline, so when you want to write on an airport,while you're waiting for your flight, you need to buy Internet access.
Sharing option
That feature is a single most amazing thing about Googledocs. You can share your files with other people, giving them the ability to edit the file as well, or simply view it. I'm currently sharing my stories with my editors and I have to tell you revising the story based on the comments is far easier than sending the file back and forth allthe time.
Not to mention the fact that I'm also co-writing a really awesome story (also using Googledocs) and let me tell you. I know exactly when my co-author updates the file, and I don't even have to refresh the file as changes appear automatically as the new text is saved.
Interface
Googledocs look familiar. It has most of the options offered by the regular word processors like Word or OpenOffice. You can format the file before pasting it into your blog. If you use the Rich Text option on your blog, Googledocs will keep all the links and bold fonts and even different colors.
And did I mention the sharing option? Yeah, it's really awesome feature.
Just because I am completely in love with Googledocs doesn't mean I'm blind and can't appreciate any other great software perfect for writers. So if you use something different, please share!
Why I love Googledocs?
Easy access
All files are stores online, so you can access your files from every computer connected to the Internet. You can work on your writing from your laptop, using a computer at a library, computer at work, or from anywhere else.
At the same time, you don't have to worry about saving the files on a USB drive. You don't have to carry that drive everywhere you go, and there's very little chance on ever losing any of your writing.
True, what is Googledocs' big advantage is also its flaw. You can't use it while offline, so when you want to write on an airport,while you're waiting for your flight, you need to buy Internet access.
Sharing option
That feature is a single most amazing thing about Googledocs. You can share your files with other people, giving them the ability to edit the file as well, or simply view it. I'm currently sharing my stories with my editors and I have to tell you revising the story based on the comments is far easier than sending the file back and forth allthe time.
Not to mention the fact that I'm also co-writing a really awesome story (also using Googledocs) and let me tell you. I know exactly when my co-author updates the file, and I don't even have to refresh the file as changes appear automatically as the new text is saved.
Interface
Googledocs look familiar. It has most of the options offered by the regular word processors like Word or OpenOffice. You can format the file before pasting it into your blog. If you use the Rich Text option on your blog, Googledocs will keep all the links and bold fonts and even different colors.
And did I mention the sharing option? Yeah, it's really awesome feature.
Just because I am completely in love with Googledocs doesn't mean I'm blind and can't appreciate any other great software perfect for writers. So if you use something different, please share!
31 May 2010
Feedback, the reason why I write online
At the very beginning of my freelancing adventure, I wrote an article explaining why I think online publishing is better for writers than print publishing. But there was one point I didn't cover in that article. A reason while online publishing is so amazing. It's feedback.
When you publish anything in print, the delay between the story going live and getting a response from your readers is huge. Especially by today's standards.
Meanwhile, when you publish something online, you often get your very first feedback the same day. If you post your stories on your blog, or in some sort of writing community, you hear from your readers almost immediately. And it's amazing.
For me, the almost instant feedback is what really motivates me to write more, write better. The response and the comments, telling me I'm doing something right (or, sometimes, I'm doing something wrong) mak me want to cater to that audience, provide them with new material.
The feedback, I get the same day I post something new is the reason why I'm writing another instalment in that cracky little universe I started while in Hague (I mentioned it in my previous post). It's why I post on a regular schedule here (as opposed to the way I posted in the past).
It's the ability to have a conversation with my readers, to improve based on the criticism provided by much more people than just my editor.
I trully believe online publishing is the future of writing.
When you publish anything in print, the delay between the story going live and getting a response from your readers is huge. Especially by today's standards.
Meanwhile, when you publish something online, you often get your very first feedback the same day. If you post your stories on your blog, or in some sort of writing community, you hear from your readers almost immediately. And it's amazing.
For me, the almost instant feedback is what really motivates me to write more, write better. The response and the comments, telling me I'm doing something right (or, sometimes, I'm doing something wrong) mak me want to cater to that audience, provide them with new material.
The feedback, I get the same day I post something new is the reason why I'm writing another instalment in that cracky little universe I started while in Hague (I mentioned it in my previous post). It's why I post on a regular schedule here (as opposed to the way I posted in the past).
It's the ability to have a conversation with my readers, to improve based on the criticism provided by much more people than just my editor.
I trully believe online publishing is the future of writing.
28 May 2010
Travelling and Writing - How Did It Work Out for Me
When I posted my Writer on the Move blog post, I didn't really know how this whole travelling and writing gig would work out. With so much things on my plate, I didn't want to have my expectations high. Let's face it, it's better for your ego is you get a nice surprise than when you're disappointing yourself.
What I did manage to accomplish:
I wrote a quick little article for Helium about successful blogging. I used both the advice I've read online (at various sources) and the stuff I know worked for me. The topic just pushed the right buttons, because the moment I saw the title available, I knew what and how to write it. And so, even though I wasn't planning on writing any non-fiction during this trip... There you go.
I also wrote a flashfic (barely above 1000 words) that came to me while I was exchanging story ideas via Twitter. It was an unapologetic fun story that could also be described as crack. But people who saw it seemed to like it (demanding another story in that universe - the highest compliment, I suppose). All in all, I had major fun with it.
I worked on my thesis as well. Not much, but I managed to accomplished what I planned during my stay in Hague. So that's a success - not getting too distracted by the new surroundings to forget what I had to do.
What I didn't do:
Not everything got done though. I promised myself to study for the exams... Yeah, not so much. The city was too interesting, the plot bunnies simply needed to be written down. Hopefully, I'll find time to do some studying at some point and pass those two exams.
The really awesome part:
What I'm really proud of is that I managed to keep the regular posting schedule here. Even though this post is being written from the airport as I'm waiting to check-in, it'll still go online on the day I planned. That's a huge victory for me, as establishing routines is usually a very painful process for me.
Have a good weekend everybody. I have a plane to catch :)
What I did manage to accomplish:
I wrote a quick little article for Helium about successful blogging. I used both the advice I've read online (at various sources) and the stuff I know worked for me. The topic just pushed the right buttons, because the moment I saw the title available, I knew what and how to write it. And so, even though I wasn't planning on writing any non-fiction during this trip... There you go.
I also wrote a flashfic (barely above 1000 words) that came to me while I was exchanging story ideas via Twitter. It was an unapologetic fun story that could also be described as crack. But people who saw it seemed to like it (demanding another story in that universe - the highest compliment, I suppose). All in all, I had major fun with it.
I worked on my thesis as well. Not much, but I managed to accomplished what I planned during my stay in Hague. So that's a success - not getting too distracted by the new surroundings to forget what I had to do.
What I didn't do:
Not everything got done though. I promised myself to study for the exams... Yeah, not so much. The city was too interesting, the plot bunnies simply needed to be written down. Hopefully, I'll find time to do some studying at some point and pass those two exams.
The really awesome part:
What I'm really proud of is that I managed to keep the regular posting schedule here. Even though this post is being written from the airport as I'm waiting to check-in, it'll still go online on the day I planned. That's a huge victory for me, as establishing routines is usually a very painful process for me.
Have a good weekend everybody. I have a plane to catch :)
26 May 2010
Writing Ahead of Time - Having Things Done Before the Deadline
You probably noticed I started to post more regularly to the blog. Yes, I amaze myself. But I came to a conclusion that if I blog more often, I will naturally develop a writing schedule, just to fit in the time to write blog posts into my day. And everybody knows that a writing schedule is one of the sure tools to prevent writer's block.
But let's not kid ourselves, simply setting up days in my calendar and saying "oh, I'll blog on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, it'll be fun", doesn't mean I will have time or the strength to sit down, write a post, find links that go with it, and edit it to make sure there aren't any embarrassing typos. Knowing life, and my luck, I would never have any actual time to write on those particular days.
And so, for the last week or so, I've been writing my blog posts ahead of time, saving them up in my Google docs (oh how I love thee, I will definitely write a love letter to Googledocs later on) and moving on to another task. And then, on my posting date I just log into my Blogger account, do some copy/paste magic and bam, the post is up.
It actually improves on the entire writing experience, to be honest. Because it gets rid of a lot of stress.
Sure, like any other freelancer, I do incredibly well under the stress, and with my deadlines mere hours away. I mean, when I was finishing my big bang, I wrote over 5 000 words on that last day. And I doubt there's much editing needed in that section of the story.
But at the same time, I remember when I was blogging for Scribophile last year. And at some point, due to some life issues, I had to write several posts on the deadline. The stress of it all took the fun away. And if you don't enjoy writing... it shows.
So for the month of June, I'm setting myself a goal, to do all my writing well before deadlines. Which also means meeting my personal word count goal well before Friday. We'll see how that goes.
But let's not kid ourselves, simply setting up days in my calendar and saying "oh, I'll blog on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, it'll be fun", doesn't mean I will have time or the strength to sit down, write a post, find links that go with it, and edit it to make sure there aren't any embarrassing typos. Knowing life, and my luck, I would never have any actual time to write on those particular days.
And so, for the last week or so, I've been writing my blog posts ahead of time, saving them up in my Google docs (oh how I love thee, I will definitely write a love letter to Googledocs later on) and moving on to another task. And then, on my posting date I just log into my Blogger account, do some copy/paste magic and bam, the post is up.
It actually improves on the entire writing experience, to be honest. Because it gets rid of a lot of stress.
Sure, like any other freelancer, I do incredibly well under the stress, and with my deadlines mere hours away. I mean, when I was finishing my big bang, I wrote over 5 000 words on that last day. And I doubt there's much editing needed in that section of the story.
But at the same time, I remember when I was blogging for Scribophile last year. And at some point, due to some life issues, I had to write several posts on the deadline. The stress of it all took the fun away. And if you don't enjoy writing... it shows.
So for the month of June, I'm setting myself a goal, to do all my writing well before deadlines. Which also means meeting my personal word count goal well before Friday. We'll see how that goes.
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