The clues that these blog posts were by posers instead of professionals were there for all to see. The writers showed an obvious lack of knowledge about what they were talking about, the advice was the same as advice I’d read elsewhere (a lot of it here on AFW), and the posts were a sudden departure from the regular advice and nature of the blogs in question.

As a blogger for All Freelance Writing, I may be biased, but this is one of the few freelance writing sites I’ve visited in which all the information, tips, advice and stories are from the actual experience of the writers who write them. Each of them writes about something they are doing, have done, have tried, or do practice and they aren’t just repeating what others have already said–chances are that’s the reason you keep coming back for more.  They aren’t writing posts to win friends or influence people, but to share their experience with the freelance writing community. Some other blogs I’d include on that short list are Anne Wayman’s About Freelance Writing, About.com’s Freelance Writing blog, Lori Widmer’s Words on the Page, and Lorraine Thompson’s MarketCopywriter Blog. There are many more I should probably add to this list, but I’m tired and lazy.

Each of these blogs, and many more that are going unlisted, have long, insightful, useful posts. The bloggers who write them don’t pretend to have all the answers; they share their mistakes and what they learned from them, give credit where credit is due and don’t try to turn their spots into stripes depending on whichever way the wind happens to be blowing.

This kind of writing gives us more value as a “community.” Instead of all fighting to be experts, gurus, thought leaders, and figureheads we become a group of people that inspires each other. A group that shares original thoughts and ideas (something that writers in particular should strive for and pride themselves on), interacts and is beautifully honest and open.

I don’t know about you, but that sure is something that I would value.

• The Top 5 Myths on Freelance Writing
• Maximizing Your Freelance Writing Income
• Using Blogging to Promote Your Copywriting Service
• Where Will it All End? Develop a Real Writing Career, NOW
• Who’s Hurting Freelance Writing & Why Don’t We Talk About Them?
• On Lazy Writers
• On Writing for Peanuts
• Micropayments — A Piece of the Freelance Writing Puzzle
• “What’s the Current State of Freelancing?” is a Bogus Question
• 3 Steps to Help You Choose a Topic for an E-book
• Is Freelance Writing Still Fun for You?
• 5 Surprising Things About Being a Freelance Writer
• Types of Evergreen Articles in Freelance Writing and Blogging

When I do have time to sit down and do some reading (of writing blogs), I generally try to take a peek at ChrisBlogging (Hi Chris!) and About Freelance Writing (Howdy Anne!). Then if I have more time I take a peek at some of the recent comments here at AFW and try to visit some of my readers’ blogs (so be sure to comment!). :)

There are a few others that I don’t visit religiously but that I make a conscious effort to visit – like Lillie Ammann’s blog (Hi Lillie!).

There are also a few (popular) writing blogs that I very rarely visit, because I just can’t get into them–I’ll be nice and not name names though.

Those are probably my most-visited writing blogs, even if I don’t visit them nearly enough. What about you? What writing blogs do you just have to read each day? Don’t just tell us what they are–tell us why you love them! :)

And it’s time for another Freelance Friday collection of blog posts for freelance writers! Yay for the end of the work week! Let’s go meet some new faces and say hello to some of our favorite bloggers. Here’s what’s going on lately in the blogosphere on freelance writing:

• Freelance Writing: Becoming a Commentary Writer
• New Ways to Earn More Money as a Writer
• How to Start Blogging for Money
• The 5 Habits of Highly Successful Freelancers
• 4 Steps to Create a Great Pitch and Sell Your Writing
• How Batch Processing Made Me 10 Times More Productive
• The Cost of Starting a Freelance Writing Career
• Social Media, Karma, and Coffee Breaks in the Business of Freelance Writing
• Freelance Writing: Sales Letters
• The Mistake a Web Content Writer Should Never Make
• How to Get Blog Jobs: You Need a Plan
• What Makes a Successful Blogger Successful?
• Tough Decisions in Freelance Writing
• What Can Writers Do in a Down Economy?
• Here is How Most Authors Approach Publicity
• How do You Tell People You’re a Writer?
• 100 Useful Web Tools for Writers
• Interview with Self Publishing Guru Peter Bowerman
• Want to be a Freelance Writer? Get Ready for Business!
• Magazine ‘Lead Times’
• Free Report: The Great Copywriting Conspiracy
• Get Your Headline Mojo Moving: 52 Idea Starters, No Excuses

It’s been quite some time since I’ve done a Freelance Friday post for you, highlighting posts on freelance writing in the blogosphere, freelance writing resources, etc. So today let’s do a somewhat bigger list than usual, and see what kind of freelance writing buzz has been circulating lately (meaning over the last several weeks):

• Setting Up a Freelance Writing Office
• Idea Seeds for Successful Articles and Posts
• Writing Clients – Keeping Your Sanity
• How to Increase Your Blog’s Traffic with Link Bait Articles
• Going it Along – The Freelancing Fear
• How I Launched My Freelance Writing Career
• Freelance Writing Commandment #3 – Know Your Worth
• The Inside Scoop on Finding Freelance Writing Jobs
• Freelance Writing Guide for New Freelancers
• 9 Essential Tools for Practical Freelance Writing
• 5 Tips for Marketing Your Freelance Writing Business
• Why a Recession is a Great Time to Start a Freelance Writing Career
• How Freelance Writing is Like Selling Cars
• Writing Contracts
• 5 Free Training Resources for Freelance Writers
• Internet Freelance Writing Scams and How to Avoid Them
• How to Price Freelance Writing – It’s All About Value
• 18 Ways to Find Freelance Writing Work
• How to Snag that Freelance Writing Job
• How to Effectively Use Blogging to Build Your Freelance Writing Credentials
• Five Tips to Help You to Write Faster and Write More
• Learn How to Write a Book to Position Yourself as a Subject Area Expert