I don’t believe in perfection. Just two things in this world come close: Music and math. They’re the only two truly universal languages. One can solve almost any problem. The other can touch any soul. And a world without either is one I can’t bear to imagine. Today I’d like to talk about math. I can already sense some of you cringing. But bear with
This will be a long one, and we’re going to get personal today. Consider yourself warned. Recently, fellow writer Sudesna Ghosh shared an article on Twitter. That article centered around body shaming of young women, a pet topic of hers and something she’s written extensively about. I could relate to the story Sue shared. And knowing how important this topic has been to both of our
Creative work is unlike any other job you could take on. When you create, you leave a piece of yourself behind for the world to see. There’s a certain amount of vulnerability involved. That vulnerability can make it difficult to separate you, the artist, from your art. And that can lead to paralyzing fear of sharing your work. If you’ve ever dreaded sharing a creative project for
If you set yearly writing goals or new year’s resolutions last month, how’s that working out for you? Whether you’ve made a lot of progress or you’ve already forgotten about them, now is a great time to give your plans a second look. So go dig up your list. I’ll wait… Got it? Good. Why Evaluate Writing Goals in February? Normally I’d tell you to focus
I love my job. I set my own hours. I get long weekends every week. I can turn down any project that doesn’t interest me. I mean, for the most part, I do what I want to do, when I want to do it, and I get paid to essentially act like a bit of a brat. What’s not to love? That’s not to say
Goals. Resolutions. Planning. Organization. To-do lists. Every time a new year rolls in, the focus is on change — often drastic. And these are some of the tools we use in seeking that change. Some (like me) love that. It can be fun. It can be exciting. We thrive on the challenge. But for other writers, New Year’s resolutions do little more than add stress and
I don’t know about you, but I am so done with 2016. One more week of work for me, and then I’m off until January. When I come back from my holiday vacation, I like to hit the ground running with my work. Everything is planned, organized and ready to go before that clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve. Because of that early planning and prep
Having a client-focused blog on your freelance writer website is a great idea. That’s especially true if you’re new to freelancing and need a boost in search engine and social media visibility. But what kind of blog should you run on your professional site? Should you share tutorials? Advice? News? Or should you take a more personal approach with storytelling? That’s what Meghan Coughlin wanted to know
This was my fourth year taking part in NaNoWriMo. And it was the first year I failed to hit the 50k word target. I’m surprised. And I’m kind of not surprised. I mean, I did get a late start on NaNo this year. After getting a few thousand words into a new romance, I decided that wasn’t a genre I wanted to think about all month. So
Earlier this month, we caught up with two writers who used to be regular contributors to this blog — LaToya Irby and Rebecca Garland. Today an old reader favorite makes her return. Yolander (Yo) Prinzel is a freelance finance and insurance writer who specializes in ghostwriting now. She’s also one of my “go-to gals,” meaning she puts up with more of my rants and ridiculousness
In our last Monday Motivation post I wrote about self-motivation and what a struggle it can sometimes be. In that post, I also mentioned we’d be talking more about gamification in the future as a way to keep yourself motivated to write. Today we’re going to start by looking at one example of gamification for writers: setting writing challenges for yourself. I don’t know about
Sharon Hurley Hall joins me for the latest episode of the All Freelance Writing Podcast. We chat about a wide range of issues related to freelance blogging. For example, you’ll learn: The difference between business blogging and niche / publication blogging (and benefits of each); The difference between blogging for small businesses and larger corporate clients; How much you can really earn as a freelance blogger (if
Not even a month in, and I find myself wondering why I chose to start a motivational series of blog posts on Mondays. Perhaps I just liked the alliteration of a “Monday Motivation” series (probably). Today I find myself struggling to find the motivation to write, or do much of anything other than curl up with a good book. If the series’ posts came later
In the latest All Freelance Writing Podcast, I’m joined by UK freelance journalist, Philippa Willitts. Philippa and I discuss “insta-experts” and the dangers of building a false sense of authority instead of legitimate expertise in your writing niche or industry. This is a follow-up to my previous post and podcast episode, An Open Letter on Trust, “Experts,” and Blogging. (Be forewarned, the older post contains quite
In the latest All Freelance Writing Podcast, I’m joined by fellow freelance writer and indie author, Dann Alexander. Dann and I pick up where Princess and I left off in Episode 19 on fear and confidence issues to discuss rejection and its impact on a writer’s confidence. Dann brings a unique perspective in that he has a very optimistic outlook on rejection as a writer, while being someone
It’s time to catch up with another former regular contributor (from this blog’s days as All Freelance Writing). This week’s guest is Rebecca Garland. Rebecca covered not only issues related to being a work at home parent, but also grammar and ESL topics thanks to her experience as a high school English teacher in her full-time job. Rebecca has been writing for clients for 11 years now. Even
Freelance writers would be wise to specialize. I’ve given this advice for years, and for good reason. Whether you choose to specialize in a niche or industry (or even type of writing or type of client base), you’ll generally earn more as a specialist. But there are other benefits too, as today’s guest points out. In my interview series talking to freelance writers about their
I’m just going to come right out and say it: 2016 sucked. Yes. Past tense. I refuse to let it take, destroy, or corrupt anything else I hold dear. I declare 2016 officially over. I’ve decided to spend the next several weeks living in some limbo-like state free from the confines of time and space. You are welcome to join me. Because I’ve decided to leave
When I first decided to go freelance I had no idea it would turn into a permanent life choice. At the time, I already had almost 20 years of solid journalism writing experience under my belt, but going online felt like an unfamiliar and slightly scary world. So I did what I do best: experimented till I found what worked. Looking back on it after
Before this site was re-branded in 2013 under the All Freelance Writing brand, it was known as All Freelance Writing. For a while, All Freelance Writing was a group blog with a handful of regular contributors. The site’s 10-year anniversary felt like a great time to reach out and reconnect with some of those writers. So, this month, four former contributors to the blog will
This post is the first in a new “Monday Motivation” series designed to encourage you to take risks with your writing and keep pushing forward despite the fear, doubts, and confidence issues that often creep into a writer’s mind. You’ll find a mix of personal stories, tips, exercises, reality checks, and motivational quotes and resources every Monday moving forward. Fear. Doubt. A lack of confidence
NaNoWriMo 2016 is well underway. Plotters have their stories outlined. Pantsers have hit the ground running. And aspiring and experienced novelists alike have that 50k word target in their sights. Today let’s talk about the NaNoWriMo writing process — what we’re working on, how we’ve scheduled our writing time during November, and what tools and resources we use to keep us on track. NaNoWriMo 2016:
The All Freelance Writing Podcast returns today with a very special episode. This is the first group episode of the show. I’m joined by my “go-to gals” — Yolander Prinzel, Cathy Miller, and Lori Widmer — for a round table style discussion about the changing freelance writing industry and what they’ve learned as veterans in their field. The ladies weigh in on several things including:
NaNoWriMo has barely started, and I’m already behind this year. I changed my novel idea at the last minute (I believe around 10:00 p.m. the night before). I still haven’t finished the scene-by-scene outline, though I hope to by tomorrow morning. And it’s now November 3rd and I haven’t even begun drafting my novel yet. That seems like a cause for concern, right? But I’m
All Freelance Writing has served the freelance writing community for ten years now. And what a journey it’s been! Not only has this site changed significantly, going through two re-brandings — from SixFigureWriters.com to AllFreelanceWriting.com to AllFreelanceWriting.com, but the industry itself has changed quite a bit in that time. Some of those changes are good. Some, not so much. And lately we’ve even seen trends
Freelance specialization is something I’ve been passionate about for years. I’ve said it before to new freelance writers, and I’ll probably say it countless times again, but: “Clients don’t pay top freelance writing rates because you can string sentences together; they pay the best rates when you bring valuable knowledge and insight to the table.” That’s why specialists often earn more. They have inside knowledge
In the most recent All Freelance Writing Podcast, Princess Jones stopped by again. This time we chatted about writers sharing personal information and stories online (or in books in some cases). Are there any benefits to opening up to your readers? What are the risks? And when does being open turn into oversharing? These are some of the questions Princess and I answered in Episode
Recently we’ve been looking at the issue of specialization for freelance writers. John Soares and I covered the issue on the podcast, and we kicked off a blog series where freelance writers talk about their own specialties, how they market themselves, and how new freelancers can do the same. Today we’re going to continue with that series with landscape writer, Wendy Komancheck. Interview with Wendy Komancheck, Landscape
*Note* This post and podcast episode contain explicit language, as regulars will know pretty much all rants here do. If you don’t want to read / listen to that, skip this one. Bloggers. Readers. Friends. We need to talk. Do you know what I love about All Freelance Writing readers, including you? You’re out there carving your own path, pursuing the career and lifestyle you
You were asked to vote on my next big writing challenge or experiment, and boy did you come through. I’ll be honest. I didn’t expect much voting given how difficult it was to pull initial ideas out of you. But vote you did. I didn’t think we’d hit 50 responses by the end of the day Friday. Instead, you doubled that more than a day before