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.

Recently, Linda Formichelli over at The Renegate Writer posted "3 Excuses That Are Keeping You from a Successful Freelance Writing Career" and then asked "What’s Your Excuse?" I decided to answer her question, since I seem to fit her criteria. I have a full time job, writing on the side, earning not much.

Here's why I'm keeping my full time job, why I don't bid on jobs, why I don't send in query letters to big publications, why I write for sites like Helium and Suite101, which pay for page views to my articles and ad-click and require a huge amount of articles to actually turn a good profit:


1. SCHOOL
I'm still pursuing my degree. With a high tuition, I cannot afford a month or two with lower income. Till I graduate, I have to have the safety net that is a steady income from my full time job. To add to that, I'm currently writing my thesis (or... trying, most of the time), that and the regular exams and classes take up a lot of my attention. Attention I cannot afford to give other things at the moment.

It's very possible that once I graduate (and decide not to continue my academic career), I will reevaluate my stance and change the ways I do things right now.

2. PASSIVE INCOME
I have to admit. I am fascinated by the concept of passive income. Even more, I'm completely in love with it. When I had long periods of time when I hadn't written anything and Helium still paid me, I was so high with happiness, it's difficult to describe. And as an extracurricular activity, it's perfect for me.

3. LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY
I'm not going to hide this. Writing short informative articles are easy. I'm writing them mostly from my own experience. It's quick and easy and after a long day at work, the last time I need is stress over deadlines (I have enough of that on my fiction projects)

4. SHORT STORIES, NOVELS
Apart from non-fiction articles and projects, I also write fiction. Short stories, a novella a year for my Fandom bigbang. Sometimes I need to put everything on the side and spend an entire day finishing my story, because OMG there's a deadline! Sometimes I simply need to ignore everything else and put my fiction projects before everything else.
If I had big clients (or any clients at all, in fact), I wouldn't be able to do it. I would have to deliver first to those that trusted me with their projects and paid me obsene amounts of money for my services. I dont deal well with guilt.

5. I ACTUALLY LOVE MY JOB
Yeah. You read that right. I actually love my full time job. And I enjoy it. A lot. Not only that, I know there is still so much I can learn about International Education. I just don't want to miss out on that.

6. NON-US CITIZEN
This means two things. Some writing jobs are out of my reach becaue I cannot fill in the W9 and those other American tax related forms. And due to exchange rates, what may seem like a small payout for American writers is actually a nice one for me. Yes, I recognize that this argument also means that a nice and big payouts for Americans would mean huge ones for me.

FINAL NOTE
I realize that Freelance Writing is not a career for me right now. But it's not a hobby either. I think, in my mind, it's more of a side project. I still want to succeed in it. I still want to develop my skills in various areas and meet people. But I don't live and breathe Freelance Writing yet. There is this one point, my graduation, when I'll be seriously rethinking my approach to life and my future career.

Right now, I have so many plans, writing projects, novels, ebooks, articles etc.
Hopefully, I can achieve at least some of them while still working and being at school.

Discovering Suite101 - First Impressions

I already posted about Associated Content politely telling Non-US writers they don't want us there. I basically spent the day before yesterday trying to figure out where I'm standing and where I want to go.

Since I'm currently freelancing only part-time, I prefer to write more for sites that can offer me some passive income, so I can build up on my portfolio and not stress about having to write something or I won't be able to pay the bills.

Still, I don't like putting all my eggs in one basket. That was the only reason while, even though I'm writing for Helium, and I quite enjoy it, I started to write for Associated Content. I didn't want to get all my revenue from one place, in case something happened. Well guess what, something happened. Just not with Helium.

Since AC gave me a choice to keep writing for free until I can apply for their Feature Writer possition, or I can move on.

I decided to move on.

Suite101 is a website I ran across back in 2008 when I was just starting writing articles for the Internet. It was a bit scary, required me to submit two writing samples and threatened with editors and weird submission policies. Back then I went with Helium, which seemed much more newbie friendly.

But two years later, with numerous clips and a lot of experience, I decided to see if Suite101 would make for a good home. I revised their hiring policy, and how one could actually earn with them. Because, let's be honest, I might love writing, but this I do for money.

And so, yesterday, I created a profile, and wrote my very first article for Suite101. Because I know a lot about studying aborad, that is exactly what my article was about. I wrote about finding good study abroad programs. We'll see how it will go.

According to Suite101 rules, I have to write 10 articles every three months, more if I'd like to become a Feature Writer. What's new for me, is the fact that I'm being paid a percentage of the ad-click revenue. Meaning the page views aren't as important. It's people clicking on ads on my articles that will be bringing me money. I don't know how I feel about it. I know I won't be earning huge amounts right away, I've read both incredible earning stories and those more depressing ones.

For now, I'm a bit shy about this new place, I want to try it out, see what works there and what doesn't. I'll definitely keep you updated.

New AssociatedContent Policy regarding Non-US writers

While I was deep at work finishing the story with the May 1st deadline, I got a surprising email on my inbox.

AssociatedContent was messaging me to inform me of their new and improved policy regarding Non-US writers.

See, I don't hide the fact that I am from Europe. I know that in the online job market the fact that I don't have a Social Security number does mean I miss on some of the opportunities available to my US writing counterparts.

When I decided to check AssociatedContent to see if the site worked for me, I knew that as a European I wouldn't be eligible for their Upfront Payment. But the passive income was still available to me. Meaning I would still get paid for my work.

Well, according to the email I received, that will no longer be the case:

After evaluating our payment policies in regard to international Contributors, our legal team has determined that Associated Content must immediately start withholding a portion of all international Performance Payments pursuant to U.S. tax laws. Due to the cost involved in this process, we can only offer continued Performance Payments to international Contributors enrolled in Associated Content’s Featured Contributors program.

Contributors who are not enrolled as a Featured Contributor, or are not accepted into this program, will no longer be able to earn Performance Payments from Associated Content as of May 1, 2010. If this applies to you, you will receive a final Performance Payment on May 12, 2010 for your page views through April 30, 2010 (if your balance exceeds the current $1.50 payment threshold).

If you are not currently enrolled as a Featured Contributor, we encourage you to apply now. Please note that the program requires you to have top-notch writing skills, and a strong body of work in one of our featured topic areas. You can read all the details and apply to one of the programs here. Note: There is no deadline for applying to the program, but you will not be able to earn further payment until/unless you are accepted.

If you are accepted into the program, you will be asked to submit a United States W-8BEN tax form, enabling Associated Content to withhold earnings on Performance Payments pursuant to U.S. tax laws. In addition, your earning threshold will increase from $1.50 to $100, meaning Associated Content will only process Performance Payments when the total payment balance passes $100. The good news: As a Featured Contributor, you will receive high value assignme nts every month, and will continue earning Performance Payments on all content published.

What that means for me, is that I basically need to continue to write for them, for free, to build up a portfolio in one of their categories to be able to apply for this Feature Contributor possition. And then, I may or may not be accepted. If I am, they will start paying me only for the pageviews, but I won't see the money unless I reach $100...

And they will take away portions of the money I earn.

To be honest, I don't really know how to proceed now. The articles I already published there will no longer bring me any money, unless I decide to tie myself down to the site that doesn't offer me all that many options. I can't delete my content from the site. I don't know if I want to even apply for the Feature Contributor position.

It's basically a weird situation where I can't decide what should be my nesxt step. So, basically, if you have any ideas, please share them.

Defining sick leave

Boy, I think I redefined sick leave. If this was a regular 9 to 5 job I would most likely get fired by now. But after the rather difficult flu, I hit a complete writer's block.

To be perfectly honest I'm still trying to cope as far as my fiction writing goes (the problem is it's not going at all...). And with a deadline just 10 days away, I'm slowly starting to panic. I have to finish this story because it's a big part of my fiction writing plan this year. If I fail,I'll probably won't find the strenght to finish the story at all...

So that's that.

I'm also a bit (a lot) behind on my thesis writing. Again, the deadlines are a bit hectic and I should really turn in *something* just so that my supervisor doesn't get mad. One would think with writing about what I do, the thesis would be easy.
No, not really.

And finally, the area where I actually HAVE written something.
My non-fiction writing seems to be... going is such a strong word... crawling forward. The goal of 40 articles by the end of the year is still there.

I wrote a review of Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day and a list of 10 movies worth watching with your Mom during Mother's Day.

Additionally, I have several ideas for more articles, but I'm not certain if I shouldn't wait with them and concentrate on the story and (maybe :-P) my thesis first...

Wish me luck

Freelancer on sick leave

For the last two weeks I've been battling the flu. Not the swine flu or anything, but the regular, nasty kind. You know, the usual: fever, headache, feeling as if you'll cough out your lungs... I'm all better now, thank you.

My point isn't what type of flu I had. It's more the fact that during those two weeks I have written... nothing. Zilch, Zero, Nul. Exactly 0 words in two weeks. No progress on my short stories, nothing new on the bigger project. No research done, no articles published.

I basically disappeared from the face of the Earth and am still recovering and trying to wrap my head around all the things that didn't get done during my "sick leave".

And while I recover it's unlikely I'll start writing with the previous speed right away. To be perfectly honest it's unlikely I'll write anything before February starts. And that means that the only money I earned was at the very beginning of the month and whatever passive income I made off of Helium and AssociatedContent.

Which, in turn, made me wonder, how would it all look like if I didn't have the full time job and income from that to fall on. It made me wonder about all those deadlines I would have to meet despite the high fever that made thinking seem like a superhuman ability. The image that appeared in my mind was quite scary, to be honest.

I don't get seriously ill too often. It's basically once a year, twice if I'm really stressed and tired. So it's between two and four weeks out of the entire year when I wouldn't be able to earn any money, not counting the passive income. Not factoring in the fact that I would work a lot more with actual clients, if I was pursuing the freelance career full-time, it means that four weeks in a year I would risk deadlines, disappointed clients and any future income they could've bring me.

All this paints a rather depressing image of what could happen to me and my career if I dare to have a flu while working fulltime as a freelancer. It does not encurage me in any way to quit my office job and switch completely to freelancing.

Are there ways to ensure that if you get sick your career won't fall into pieces? What failsafes one can instal into the business model to give oneself time to recover?

Anyone?

Write what you know and how I had

If you start reading various sites that are designed to help writers, sooner or later all of them will mention one thing.

That you should write what you know.

Which is also exactly what I tell people when they are looking for inspiration for an article or a blog post (If they need help with fiction, I send them to the Almost Totally Random Prompt Generator). And I also followed that advice, always picking the article topics I knew something about. Mostly because it required less research from me, and we all know time is money.

After I gave it some thought, at the very beginning of my freelance adventure, I decided to write about something I know and what other people are no doubt interested in. Writing.

You can see my interest in that topic from the numerous posts at Scribophile (when I was still writing for them) and from my various articles at Helium and AssociatedContent.

But recently I decided to start sharing my knowledge about another topic I'm quite familiar with. Studying Abroad.
Apart from being a freelancer, I have a full time job at the University where I work with international students and help students of our University apply for different student exchange programs. That means I not only have the know-how, but I also know quite well what the students are most interested in.

So just to see what would happen, I wrote the first article in December (How important is studying abroad for your career?). I was surprised to see it become one of my top earning articles. So to continue with the experiment, I wrote three more articles (yes, an article a day. It happened without me realizing it):

Determining if studying abroad is right for you
Advice to people thinking of studying abroad
Studying abroad without blowing your budget

Each of them turned out to be among my most popular articles. I am THRILLED.

And just because I didn't want to slow down when I'm on the roll, I did something about one of my New Year's Resolutions and I created a Helium Zone connected to, you guessed right, studying abroad.

You can easily say that three days into the 2010 I'm rediscovering how awesome it is to track my statistics.

So when next time you read how you should write what you know, BELIEVE IT.

First steps into the new 2010

I hope your holidays were relaxing and enjoyable. I know mine were. And even though I gave in to the general laziness and haven't written a word, I managed to actually sit down and think about where I want to take my writing in the upcoming year.

Resolutions for 2010:

- Write enough Reviews to finally get paid at ReviewStream.com
It's embarassing to say, but I completely ignored that site in favour of other revenue sources. But it feels like wasting the money I already earned there. So this year (hopefully sooner than later), I resolve to write enough reviews of pretty much everything to qualify for payment. The minimum payout is $50, which is the highest among all the sites I write for.

- Experiment and create a Zone at Helium
Zones are a feature that has been introduced at Helium this year and I have to say,I've been a little unsure as to what to do with them. But recently I got an idea for a zone that could not only work, but remain within my area of expertise and interest. I'll need to research the topic of zones a bit more before doing something, but it's definitely worth checking out.

- Publish an e-book
A few months ago I got an idea for a non-fiction e-book for newbie freelance writers with extra information for freelancers not located in the US. I then set myself a goal of finishing it by June 2010. But with writing my thesis, it appears it would be safer to assume August 2010 for the first draft and October 2010 for publication. Nonetheless, the idea isn't lostand will very much happen.

- Write at least 40 new articles
Last year, I've written 34 articles. With other writing projects (the e-book and fiction that I write) I think it's a very realistic goal. For full time freelancers this is of course not nearly enough to be able to support yourself on your writing, but if adding the passive income I have from articles already written, it should be a nice additional income.

I also reviewed the year 2009 using an article I've written in December 2008. 6 New Year's Resolutions for Freelancers. I was pleased to see that I managed to do most of what I invited other people to try.

And on that happy note, I hope your New Year's resolutions will come true. Good luck in the New Year 2010!!

Creativity, productivity and December in general

Half way through December and I don't feel like slowing down at all. It might be the fact that Christmas are closer and closer and I will finally have some time off before I have to go back to work, or maybe simply seeing the results of my work makes me all warm and fuzzy inside...

Chris, over at Chrisblogging, posted an interesting question, whether or not Freelance writers need a business plan. That post made me think, because it's an interesting dillemma.

By all means, a writer needs a business plan like a fence needs a hole; which is: not much. But once said writer decides to go freelance, decides to earn money with his or her writing, a business plan should be among the first things they write.

See, in my opinion, once you decide to make money with your writing, you need to start thinking about your writing as a business. And treat it as such. Numerous pro bloggers and freelance writers agree on this one. If you don't treat your writing as a business, it won't bring you much money.

I wrote a business plan for myself, when I decided to start freelancing. I took into the account the fact that I have a rather limited writing time, at the moment, that I work fulltime and I don't want to quit my job just yet, and I had to remember that I study on the weekends, so I can use that time to move my writing forward.

To be honest, I completely forgot about my little business plan untill that question, Chris posted. It also promtem me to join in on the fun and I wrote a small article on how writers can create a business plan. I hope those of you who haven't yet attempted a business plan will find it useful. It's definitely good to set up long-term and short-term goals and set up some sort of a road to success.

To move to other topics I wanted to cover.

While I already told you how nice it was to see that despite my complete lack of activity anywhere I earned money at Helium anyway. The truth is both Helium and AssociatedContent earned me money, but only Helium saw such a nice increase in the revenue. But in no way, I want to just sit around and hope for the best during December.

I already wrote four new articles and I'm in no way done for the month.

Practical guide to visiting Madrid, Spain
Creating writer's business plan
How to choose a blog name
How important is studying abroad for your career?

I also have several ideas for other articles, only hoping I'll have enough time to write them all.

I'm also thinking about reevaluating the business plan I wrote, adapt it to my current situation and the goals that changed a bit since the first time I decided to make money with my writing.

If it so happens that I don't post again before Christmas, I want to wish you all Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and good luck in the New Year.

Residual income vs upfront payment

I did mention in my previous post the big dicussion about content mills that's been making its rounds around the freelance community. I've also expressed my opinion in various places, which is that I have nothing against content mills, I quite enjoy them in fact. I can understand writers who are strongly against, quoting low, "insufficient" pay, hourly rates or pay-per-word. It all valid arguments.

Me? I enjoy the fact that Helium paid me in November, even though I hadn't written a word. I like to know I can write on any subject that strikes my fancy for AssociatedContent and still have those article bring me a penny or two. And I fully intend to post articles I'll be writing formy ebook online, before gathering them all in one nicely done pdf file.

Passive income is definitely something I will be pursuing even after I move to bigger projects. Simply because I know that while I'm not getting paid immediately after writing the article, those articles will be earning money for me over and over again, even years into the future.

Obviously, another revenue stream I considered is upfront payment. The lack of it available for non-US citizens such as myself made me ignore AssociatedContent for a long time. I did get a taste of being paid for my articles when I soldmy article at Helium Marketplace and when I was writing Press Releases for one of the online SEOs companies. It was an interesting experience. I certainly learned about bidding for jobs, applying and selecting samples.

The rejection is still something I'm not entirely sure how to deal with, but it is a part of a freelance life. And since upfront payments are something I want to explore further and soon, it's something I need to familiarize myself with. Though, hopefully, I won't have to (yes, I'm staying possitive).

Nonetheless, I decided to look for something long term (as I prefer to stick to one place... It's in my nature, you might say) and I applied to Lovetoknow.com.
Now, most of the writers out there would probably call that site a "content mill" and they would probably be right. The site pays $20 per article of min. 650 words. It's not the highest price for an article, though it is one of the highest upfront payments on content mills I've seen. They also require a lot of commitment, but I applied for "Study Abroad" section and "Travel"; categories I have a lot of experience in and I love them dearly. I'll keep you updated, of course (hopefully they both will like my application and hire non-US writers).

Recovering from November - update

As expected, I was completely quiet in November. And while I did great at the very beginning of the month, getting to an impressive 15k in the first week, unfortunately I succubed to flu and spent the rest of the month trying to recover. Because unlike one of my best friends, I am completely incapable of writing while on meds.

In case you're still wondering: no, I didn't manage to writng 50 000 words in one month.

There's still next year, right?

In other news, I was pleasantly surprised to see that while I haven't written any new articles or stories, I still got some passive income coming my way. The biggest shock was the fact that my earnings at Helium tripled and I earned in November three times the amount I got in October.

In a way, I think it's a direct result of my activity on social media, especially Twitter. Now, intelectually and from some minor past experience, I knew that Twitter and other social media help to market your writing, Helium provided me with actual, hard evidence (that is much more pleasant than the google analytics I had so far).

I wrote in the past about how to get more readers and promote yourself on the Internet:
Why Having a Blog Can Improve Your Earnings
Promoting your writing on the Internet

But I'm thinking about writing some more detailed pieces on that, because while not every writer who has an online presence has to think about marketing their work, it's certainly something worth knowing.

And the last thing I want to mention in this update is this whole "rates" discussion that has been going on recently on most of the blogs and websites for writers that I follow. The general consensus is that the rates are low and "content mills" are paying poorly, which affects the quality and the ability of writers to negotiate better rates.
Now, I don't want to add to this already heated discussion is a simple link to a guest post over at About Freelance Writing. You should also read the articles linked within that particular post. As the writer nicely points out. The only thing that stands between you and success is you. If you're earning poorly, you're the only person you can blame.

For example. I don't earn as much money with my writing as I could be. But I know that I'm the only one to blame here. I have a full time job, I study to get a degree, I RolePlay, I write fanfics instead of original stories I could publish and earn from them, I spend hours simply watching TV. And while I welcome all the income, I don't actively pursue the freelancing. If I did, I would no doubt pay more attention, I would limit the procrastination and my earnings would be much, much better.

Because no matter what are my rates, the only thing thast stands between me and success is ME.

Things before NaNo: Articles and Helium Marketplace

Before I move to the actual point I have some articles to share.

New articles:

- Is donating blood good for you? which is an article I wrote for Helium Marketplace but it didn't get purchased.

- Everything You Need to Know About Helium Marketplace published at AssociatedContent.

Now, this second article needs some disclaimer. I've written three articles for Helium Marketplace. First one, about Tattoo Removal techniques was purchased. The other two weren't. One was about effects catnip has on cats and the other (linked in this post) about donating blood.

Like I've written in the article about Helium Marketplace, I still want to write articles there, but I don't think it's a perfect place nor that it's for everybody.

Next, because it's the end of the month,l I wanted to do a little of statistics.

Top earning articles at Helium:

- Experience with ReviewStream.com
- How young is too young to wear makeup?
- Which is better for writers: Finding a print or online publisher?

It's fun to see the top articles being from different categories and still performing well.

Unfortunately, I won't get paid from Helium this month. I find their minimum ($25) a bit too much to achieve in one month given my amount of involvement (which isn't much, and could be more). I won't probably be able to do much in November, with NaNo on my mind. But hopefully December will prove to be a lot more profitable than October.

Top earning articles at AssociatedContent:

- Get Paid to Write Reviews with ReviewStreamCom
- 6 New Years Resolutions for Freelancers
- How My Blog Earned Google Page Rank in Just Two Months


Now, I made a decision to be more topic specific at AC and so far I stuck to the freelancing, but it's very possible that I'll branch out a little. Either in December or next year. I also expect that the New Year Resolutions for Freelancers will have it's peek in December/January. For obvious reasons. I'll also get paid from AC, but it's not that difficult to achieve as the minimum payout is only $1,50

Now, you can see that the most popular article on both sites is the one about ReviewStream. And it's understandable, because it's an interesting concept and I still write for that site. Though, I have to admit, the minimum you have to reach is a bit overwhelming and not as easy to achive as on those others sites.

Alright. That's all for statistics. I just want to warn you that I won't be posting much during NaNo as I want to save up all my wordcount for fiction.

Please wish me luck :)

Planning for the future and Links

With NanoWriMo coming up in just two weeks I should probably be at least outlining those three stories that I want to do during the November extravaganza. But instead, I'm slowly getting my writing up to speed. Meaning I'm trying to train myself to write those 1670 words a day and not get a writer's burn-out.

Which probably explains why the first article I published after the long break is Preparing for NaNoWriMo: 5 Things to Do Before November.
I've written about NaNo before, but it's the first time I actually offered some tips. I hope you will find them useful.

On a related news, Joanna Penn at CreativePenn posted a great article: On Efficiency, Or How To Get Everything Done As A Multi-Tasking Writer which I found extremely useful. Especially since I'm doing a lot of multitasking nowadays.

Apart from being busy with training myself before NaNo, I've done a lot of thinking about how I want my freelance career to look like. And what I decided on was to create an e-book. A guide for aspiring freelance writers who are not necessary based in the US. Non-US writers face different problems, have to go around things in a slightly different ways. Some venues are more friendly for Non-US writers and others are completely closed for them.
That said, I don't want to alienate US writers completely and I feel they would find that ebook useful as well.

It won't be ready this year, of that I am sure of. However, I want to have a first draft ready before June 2010. I know! I know! It's not a very immediate deadline, but there is a lot of research I need to do. And I need to keep in mind that I already have writing projects on my plate: NaNo and then a story due to May 2010. Not to mention the article writing for Helium and AssociatedContent. And I want to write up some reviews to reach payout at ReviewStream.

See? A lot of work.

In the meantime:
My Helium Portfolio
My AssociatedContent portfolio

Projects worth considering

Let's start with the obvious one, at least for those of you who write stories and novels or really want to.

It's October, and therefore it's time to sign up to NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo is an annual online event. Every year since 1999, November become the month when all over the world, people are writing their novels.

I haven't participated in the event since 2007 and I decided that since 2009 is a year of great changes in my life, with the job, with finishing a bigger story for the first time and with my first actual income from my writing; it might as well be the first year when I manage to write 50 000 words in a month. I did a little math, it means writing 1670 words a day. Do you think you can pull this off? I suggest you at least check out the main NaNo website, and the forums.

I already signed up and if you want to add me to your buddy list, just leave me a comment with your ID at NaNo and I'll add you.

***

Another project I decided to take on is the new contest over at Writer's Digest. I have never entered in a competition before but I think I could actually pull this off. Even in a recession, $15 entry fee doesn't seem like much. And hell, from where I'm standing it's going to be not only a good writing experience, but also a great adventure.

So if you don't plan on entering, keep your fingers crossed for me.
And if you do enter. Good luck!

***

I think taht's all when it comes to an update on me and my writing projects. Other than the fact that ReviewStream finally set up a Control Panel for its writers and I can finally track my submissions. If you write for them, it's definitely worth checking out.

Of Updates and Noteworthy

I decided to change one or two things about this blog.

First of all, I changed the layout, this one is much more clear and easier to use. And let's face it. Usability is something very important on the Internet.

Another thing you might notice is the Twitter feed in the sidebar. I've been using Twitter for a long time now, though admittedly I use it more ever since I got a Twitter desktop client (I'm not a big fan of staying logged on the site, it distracts me like nothing else).

Why the Twitter feed?

Because apart from random, RL tweets, I'm posting links to my articles almost immediately after they're published. I've written about it before, but it is worth repeating. Twitter is great when it comes to promoting your work.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter, but don't worry if you don't. I will keep posting links to my articles in my blog posts.

Another thing is a recommendation.


279 Days to Overnight Success, a free manifesto by Chris Guillebeau. It's a great ebook telling a story of how Chris became a full-time writer in less than a year. More importantly: how he is now capable of supporting himself purely on his writing. It's good to see that while Chris' website isn't huge, he still manages to earn enough money to pay the bills AND travel the world.

And while at first the idea of creating a successful business in under a year was a bit surreal, I quickly remembered that all you need is the right approach and everything is possible. After all, I did manage to get a Google Page Rank for this blog in just two months...

Visit my Helium profile
Visit my AssociatedContent profile

Big Come Back!

I know, I know. I've been silent for what seems like ages. All is to be blamed on school. I had to face the finals which made me unable to write as much as I would want to.
I of course did write a piece for Scribophile every week and in between studying I wrote following articles there:

Learning (about) your characters
What type of McWriter are you?
Antiheroes: when good vs evil isn't enough
Challenges, contests and Writing Olympics: why do we participate?

It's all targeted at fiction writers, but mayne those of you who concentrate on other types of writing will find at least some of those interesting and helpful.

My piece about getting a page rank in two months got published at AssociatedContent, so head there if you're interested in how I did it.

In other words, I decided to return to fiction for a while. Mostly because I missed writing plot. Don't get me wrong, writing non-fiction articles and press releases and SEO posts is fun, but nothing is as satisfying as writing a good novel and having people comment with feedback.
I signed up to a chalenge that requires me to write 80K of fiction this year, including 20K long story by May.

Considering that last year I barely wrote 10K of fiction, I was concerned about my mental health, but even with finals, I managed to get over 8K of words in the last two months (almost 6K is one long story). So I'm thinking I'll be able to pull this off.
Keep your fingers crossed. I might manage to get some fiction published this year. And that would be awesome.

On the other hand, my non-fiction writing will definitely suffer, as apart from Scribophile articles I won't be writingany non-fiction until I finish the big project.

Good luck with your writing!

Blogging

I started Inspired to test a theory (I start things just to test a theory all the time. My recent experiment with ReviewStream a fine example. It's going alright by the way).

I wanted to find out if I can actually get money for blogging. But the key was whether or not the money would still be coming if I didn't advertise the blog or do anything to get the page rank or anything (meaning not doing all the things I've done for WritingMakesRich). Mostly because I have a short attenton span and I didn't wanted to distract myself from working on WritingMakesRich.

So basically the only effort I put into Inspired is putting the content in. And I'm not even doing it religiously. When I get an idea or when I get inspired by something, I make a post on the blog. So basically not much (if you think about it in the contemporary problogging way).

I started the blog in December. It has eight posts (including two entries I made in January). At the beginning of January I got a notification that my blog ranked #34 and I got paid.
Not much, mind you. Cents. But for 6 (then) posts? I think it's a promising start.

So check out Inspired. And if you decide to try the platform yourself do link me to it, so I can visit :)

Now if you excuse me. I have articles and press releases to write... *headdesk*

Good news, Better news and more news

Before anything, I have two published pieces I want to share. First one is my regular piece for Scribophile about putting new spins on old tales, it's mostly for fiction writers as that's who the Scribophile members are in majority. Second one is finally published article for AssociatedContent and it's 6 New Year's Resolutions for Freelancers. That's basically 6 steps to further your career. And at the same time my own plan of what to do this year.
I have to admit I'm quite proud of both of them, though both took a lot of editing.

Another thing for those not following me on Twitter. I found out today that WritingMakesRich has it's own pagerank. Those who speak Google know it's a very good news. Especially since it's 3/10. For a little blog of only two months it's not bad. Not bad at all :) I'm planning on writing an article on how I achieved that sometime during the weekend or the first free moment I have.

Which brings us to Better news.

I landed another writing assignment. This time to write Press Releases for a SEO company. It's not a big one, but because of the deadline being this Friday I won't be able to write much for my passive income sites. Which means it will have to wait for Sunday (after my weekend classes). With this additional work and busy time at the office (now I understand why they say being part-time freelancer is challenging) I will probably have to write my weekly material for Scribophile tommorow at least...

It's exhausting but I think I like being busy with work. At least I'm working towards my projected income for this year.

My AssociatedContent profile.

In between

So I earn money for my writing. Easy to say. Even easier to conclude that the more I write the more money I should be able to earn. Well that's technically true. But at the same time, no matter how much I want to write, it will never be the actual amount that ends up, from lack of a better word, existing. Some days it will be more, some days it will be less. Like every other writer, I am not a robot. I don't have subscription to creativity (even though I would very much love to).

In my recent post to Inspired, I write about what you could do in between creating. It's short and to the point, because my opinion on the subject is short and to the point. If you don't have it in you to create anything, learn how to be better at what you do.

As a freelancer of any kind, you get paid for your time. So every time you're not working, not creating, not writing, you're losing money. Or so they say in those various self-help blogs and articles...

I see how that might be the case. Though I have to admit that since I'm not doing freelance full-time, I'm not that obsessed with money yet. Or at all. Nonetheless, I don't really like wasting time when I know I could somehow forward my career. But even though I can sometimes write 4000 words for paying clients, there are days when I can't put together a simple sentence... And those are the days I tend to procrastinate more than usual.

Don't get me wrong. I tend to procrastinate more than your usual freelancer. Mostly because I don't have this shadow over my head created by unpaid bills and stuff. But there's only that much blog posts I can comment on, that much fanfic I can read before I feel like I should be doing so much more... By then I usually try to write something and fail miserably.

And then I go read some articles about freelancing, seo, marketing and such. I even bought a book by selfmadechick on how to start a freelance business for under $50. I learned a lot from that one. Just like this past month I learned a lot about SEO and how it can affect the pageviews. See, I believe that there's no such thing as knowing enough. There are always people who know more, or are better at what they do. And I could learn from them.

That's why on my RSS feed, next to job listings I have freelanceswitch, about freelance writing and other sites with lots of tips on how to improve myself

Writing Update

I've been doing a lot of writing lately. So I figured, right before Christmas, I could probably share with y'all (you know, since I can barely move after cleaning all day).

Scribophile, a really great site I'm blogging for, published two of my articles so far. "Writing Bootcamp: Writing Whenever, Wherever, Whatever" which is a nice little piece which I commited to ease myself into the job and get to know the audience. The second article is "Of Editing And Evolution: Why You Should Find The Perfect Editor" which is actually one of the articles I had a lot of fun writing. And I think it shows. I've written one more article for them but it will either be published after Christmas or at the beginning of the New Year.

I have to say, so far the site has been a blast and I'm looking forward to writing more for them. I actually have few ideas in my head and I'm wondering whether or not should I write them down... We'll see how much of actual free time I have during Christmas.

In other news, the article I've written for Helium Marketplace just transitioned to Helium regular title. It's about the effect catnip has on cats. I have to say, researching for that particular title was a blast. I now know more about drug using cats more than I wanted to.

I've also submitted another article to AssociatedContent about how freelancers can further their career in the new year. Again, it will probably take ages for AC to process the article, but I think it's worth the wait.