All Freelance Writing - Forum: General Chat

Jennifer Mattern on Missing the Morning Commute

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 15:33:55 +0000

I occasionally miss singing along to the radio or a long morning NPR listening session. But I suppose I can always do those things in my home office too. I just need to convince myself that the neighbors can't hear me.

Samanta on Missing the Morning Commute

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:25:00 +0000

I loved commuting for plenty of free time I had on a road. I loved thinking. So many interesting thoughts and ideas were crossing my mind then. However, there are so many useful things to do during the time saved.

Samanta on How (or Why) Did You Get Into Freelancing?

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:23:00 +0000

My kids made me.=) I had to stay at home to keep an eye on them. I didn't want to wholly quit working, though. Thus, I decided to take up home-based freelancing which was perfect for my situation. Generally, I'm pleased now with state of things I have.

Samanta on Writing Voice

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:07:10 +0000

I guess that practice is essential for your development. You make mistakes, and on their basis learn how to avoid them, how to improve what you have.

Samanta on What's Your Favorite Type of Coffee?

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:05:34 +0000

Sometimes, it is impossible to stay 'alive' without coffee. My favourite one is black one with sugar. No milk! I've heard though, that white coffee is healthier, since coffee washes out calcium, and milk restores it.

Jennifer Mattern on Being Comfortable in Your Workspace

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:54:17 +0000

lol It sounds like you need blinders too Cathy. Then she can tap to her heart's content, and you wouldn't even notice.

I'm not sure what it is about bedrooms, but I can't get comfortable in them as offices either. I don't know why, but given the option, I prefer to work on the first floor. It might have something to do with the fact that when I rented, my bedroom was split between a bedroom and office. So now maybe I just like keeping relaxation and work areas as separate as possible.

millercathy on Being Comfortable in Your Workspace

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:48:47 +0000

If I had one wish, it would be a door on my office. We converted the living room into an office and I love it. When I am here alone, I am in hog heaven. I use headphones with music to block out noise, which work well - until Mom taps on my desk to get my attention.

I have a bedroom with a door available, but it's not my preferred place. And besides, Mom just opens the door anyway. Ha!

Jennifer Mattern on Being Comfortable in Your Workspace

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 10:49:40 +0000

Very true. Unfortunately I keep my office pretty dark, so not many things do well here, especially if I'm not in the office for a while (so there's no artificial light either). And my windows are on the north side, so they don't give much sun anyway. Bamboo and pachira tend to do pretty well, but unfortunately my last bamboo died over the holiday break due to overwatering. So I'll need to get some new houseplants in here. They do make a significant difference.

Samanta on How do you spend your downtime?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:46:53 +0000

A lot of my free time is taken by my children. I try to work out as much as possible, since constant sitting infront of computer influences badly on my figure.

Samanta on Being Comfortable in Your Workspace

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:43:11 +0000

I guess that house plants can substantially improve the working conditions. Beautiful ornament and air cleaner. Two in one!=)

Jennifer Mattern on Writing Voice

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 20:09:09 +0000

No problem Michael. I hope you'll come back and share your new blog with us when you launch it.

Michael Wilts on Writing Voice

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:49:54 +0000

Thanks Jennifer,

Once again I think I'm asking the questions I already know the answers to. I kind of figured I had to take the approach you mentioned.

The writing seems like more work than it should because I'm not writing about what I'm passionate about and my writing is a reflection of it too. Writing the square peg into the round hole would be my analogy.

I mentioned in my intro thread about me starting a second blog but now I think my proposed number two may become top dog. That's where passion truly lies.

Thanks again Jennifer for the great advice.

Jennifer Mattern on Writing Voice

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:09:38 +0000

I started out in a similar way. I was overly cautious in my writing because I didn't want to offend anyone and piss off clients. Then I remembered how much I hated working in the nonprofit / corporate world for similar reasons. You feel too constrained by often-stupid rules. So I figured to hell with that. I was going to write what I wanted to write.

I opened up much more. I did piss people off with some of my opinions. But do you know what? Clients loved it. Orders increased. Occasional clients became regulars. They liked knowing I would tell them what I really thought instead of playing the "yes man" role (I was also doing PR consulting at the time, so advice was more important). They liked that I could stir up conversations on their blogs by talking about controversial things. Basically I was afraid of a problem that didn't exist.

One way you can open yourself up is to write your own blog. Do it under a pen name at first if you're more comfortable experimenting that way. Let loose. If you already have a blog and readers are used to you doing things a certain way, consider starting a fresh one about a topic you're passionate about. When you're passionate about what you're writing about, it's much easier for your voice to come through. You just need to figure out what's holding you back and decide to kick those thoughts to the curb.

Just my $.02.

Jenn

Michael Wilts on Writing Voice

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:48:36 +0000

Hey all,

I thought I would start a new thread because I'm having issues.

I'm having issues finding my "writing voice". I know it's there but I'm having difficulty trusting it and allowing it to develop on it's own.

Does anyone else have this problem? How can you find it, nurture it, trust it and let it grow organically?

I find most of what I am writing lacks personality. It lacks creativity. It lacks opinion. It lacks soul. My writing is reading a tad stale for my liking and seems to be a little too "formal".

Do I "just write" and not think so much about what I'm writing about and let it come or is there something I can do to harvest it?

" Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope" - Princess Leia

Seriously though, is there anything I can do to help me find my writing voice?

Cheers,

Michael

alexa_ on Being Comfortable in Your Workspace

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 16:23:33 +0000

It seems to me that the working conditions shoud suit a person really well. Otherwise, some inconveniences, harmless at first glance, can turn out to be huge problems. Now I'm speaking about the proper light, position of the working place (in our case, it's desk), distance to the computer monitor, etc.