I love spunky articles and blog posts. When a writer takes an unusual stance or approaches a topic with razor-sharp wit it makes me excited about a piece, often ends up in my saved/bookmarked file and is forwarded on through various social media channels. As much as I like an offbeat approach, I practically cover my eyes and cringe at some ‘devil may care’ stances that fall flat. One reason why these posts miss their mark is they lack true understanding of who is in their audience. There was a post from a PR rep that recently made internet waves. [Read more…]
Article Quickie: Bullet Points
Fast facts about bullet points and how to use them
December 14, 2010. 3 Comments
A bullet point is a helpful little tool that helps break up content, smooth transitions and draw out important main ideas. They also help create more white space on the text or web page. When using bullet points remember to: Be consistent with content and style. Start each point with the same part of speech and maintain the same length within bullet point sets. Use main ideas. Bullet points are key to directing the reader – and their eyes – to the ideas that count. Clarify complex information. Complicated topics are best explained when broken up into bite sized pieces. [Read more…]
Parallel Structure in Writing
September 3, 2010. 4 Comments
Parallel structure, or parallelism, is a basic concept that students learn in writing class. Over the years, we may forget the term, but the idea should continue to be applied. Whether you are writing for your personal blog or for a big client, avoiding faulty parallelism can help you get your point across more clearly. I think parallelism comes naturally to most people. As humans who appreciate beauty and balance, we easily detect if something is off. Take a look at this sentence: I like to play soccer and swimming. You don’t need to spend minutes going over that sentence [Read more…]
100 Most Commonly Misspelled Words
How Many Words on the List Give You Problems?
September 2, 2010. 11 Comments
If you follow me on Twitter, then you may have already seen the great list of the 100 most commonly misspelled words that I tweeted yesterday. YourDictionary.com put together the list and it’s filled with words that most people have trouble spelling. I scrolled through the list and found several that often cause me to pause as my fingers fly across the keyboard. Accommodate and embarrass are two such words that always make me second guess myself. The best part about the list on YourDictionary.com is that most of the words include a helpful little clue so you can remember [Read more…]
Don’t Blow Off the New School – Social media
August 17, 2010. 2 Comments
As much as I love old school – old school hip-hop, pen and paper interviewing, in-person interviewing, library research, etc., I have to admit, the new school is pretty darn fun too. Everyday there’s a new blog on how writers/freelancers can maximize their efforts to get work, get noticed and build a reputation through social media. AND everyday there’s another writer who is quick to say, “Bah! I don’t use all that stuff. I’ve got a website, a solid client list and I’m good.” Those poor souls are wrong. They are also likely the same people who wanted to hang [Read more…]
Don’t Forget the Old-School: Pen & Paper Interviews
July 30, 2010. 3 Comments
Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to talk about some oldie, but goodie elements of article writing that are still important for writers. It’s easy to dismiss some tried and true techniques because of all the fancy, technological whiz-bangs available to writers, but when technology fails – and it will from time to time – it’s good to have something to pull out of your coonskin cap. Do I sound 100 years old yet? Good. Pen and paper interviews. Important. Reliable. Still in use even after the invention of the iPhone. Why? Because technology doesn’t have your best [Read more…]
5 Ways to Breathe New Life into Old Content
July 23, 2010. 2 Comments
Andrew Rosen published a post on Splashpress Media’s BloggingPro.com site today called “Bringing Old Content Back to Life: 5 Ways to Revive a Blog Post” that applies to freelance writers, too, so I wanted to share it with the readers here on Freelance Writing Jobs. A big part of writing is knowing when it’s time to remember that you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel to make an impact on an audience. If you write evergreen content for a blog or other media that can get lost in the clutter over time, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with [Read more…]
Words Can Make Me Cringe
July 7, 2010. 20 Comments
There are some words in the English language that are like nails on a chalkboard to me. I’m particularly sensitive to business-related jargon. Why? Because I always think if a person is hiding behind a bunch of jargon, buzz words and corporate rhetoric, they’re undoubtedly trying to cover up their lack of real knowledge on the subject at hand. Whether or not that’s true is up for debate, but I much prefer get-to-the-point, give-it-to-me-straight language over jargon-heavy fluff. So now that I got that off my chest, you’re probably wondering what my point is. It’s simple. While I’ll gladly admit [Read more…]
Waiting for Confidence to Strike
June 12, 2010. 1 Comment
More than one person I know has said that they couldn’t work as a freelance writer because they don’t feel confident enough. I tell them that feeling confident is not a requirement; if I waited until I felt completely confident and I was wearing just the right outfit and the phase of the moon was just so, I would never reach out to any prospective clients. If you take how you personally feel about your job hunt out of the equation, you can get a lot more accomplished and be on your way to finding a gig that is a [Read more…]
Blog Posts vs. Articles: Length and Point of View
January 22, 2010. Leave a Comment
We’re going to take a break from the 5 days, 5 Ways to Enhance Your Writing Skills series and answer a freelance writing question I receive pretty regularly. “What’s the difference between a blog post and an article?” In many ways they are the same and much of the information featured here can apply to both. There are, however, important ways they differ: Length Most blog posts are short – between 200 – 300 words. They may be longer, but the majority of posts are designed to give you information quickly before you lose interest – almost like a commercial. [Read more…]
5 Tips for Giving Your Writing More Cowbell
January 18, 2010. 15 Comments
We all have days when we feel as if we’re only going through the motions. Even during our most productive periods we can produce work that’s lacking a little..something. Maybe the tone is off or maybe it’s not getting the point across well enough or maybe it just needs…more cowbell. Don’t be afraid to use your voice Many writers stifle their voices in favor of more antiseptic writing. What we forget is that our clients hire us because they appreciate our voice and wish to use it. It’s OK to add personality to writing that isn’t supposed to be personal. [Read more…]
Driving Rules for Getting to the Point with Your Lede (Lead)
December 2, 2009. 6 Comments
The other night The Wizard of Oz was on and I watched Dorothy and her crew sing about following the yellow brick road. It was a simple instruction, but it dawned on me the yellow brick road was a terribly convoluted roadway, with twists and turns all over place. Who were the city engineers on that project? Sheesh! Some ledes are the same way. They are good enough to hook the reader, but take so long to get to the point readers lose interest and turn the page or hit the back button. Here are a few rules of the [Read more…]
Lede This! #2
November 14, 2009. Leave a Comment
Ok, the first Lede (Lead) This!” didn’t go so well as we had no participation. Maybe it was the stunning cuteness of my little lion or the (hopefully) super busy week all our FWJ writers had, whatever the case we are going to try again. I’m a little late getting this up, it’s been a crazy week over here as well. Remember a good Lede (Lead) is what captures your audience’s attention and gets them to read the article. Brush up on your skills and get featured here at FWJ – the number one site for freelance writers! The Rules: [Read more…]
5 Things You SHOULD Say to an Editor
October 26, 2009. 9 Comments
Last week I named a few things you shouldn’t say to an editor “5 Things You NEVER Say to an Editor” and the post was pretty darn popular so I figured it was only practical to give a couple of tips on things editor’s love to hear from writers. 5. “I need help.” Writers like to present a tough facade. They want to show they have everything under control and worry that asking their editors for help on a piece will cost them future work. On the contrary, editors love to know a writer will come to them for help [Read more…]
Self Editing Tip #3: Check if You’re Not Sure
August 28, 2009. 2 Comments
Stumped for Article Ideas? Query Your Friends!
July 23, 2009. 1 Comment
Scheduling Time for Your Articles, Part 2
May 8, 2009. 2 Comments
Yesterday we looked at scheduling time to research information, conduct interviews and prep an article in the first part of “Scheduling Time for Your Articles ” today we are going to wrap up this mini-series with a look at writing and editing. Schedule time to write the article. Once your preliminary work is complete it’s time to write. Short articles you may wrap up the initial draft in an hour or so, longer feature articles or more detailed subjects may take you anywhere from a couple hours to a couple of days. You should know your writing style by now [Read more…]
Are you finished with that article or just finished?
April 30, 2009. 4 Comments
Finishing Strong – How to wrap up an article
April 23, 2009. 8 Comments
Every writer knows creating a great lead (lede) is key to a great article. It piques an audience’s interest and pulls them in for you to deliver the goods. What some writers fail to realize is a good ending or conclusion is just as important. We’ve all been there – one minute you’re reading a piece, zooming right along and then it just trails off… An article is not a novel, it shouldn’t have a cliffhanger. When writing a newspaper article, there are a few set standards for finishing up a conclusion, such as a final quote. Features have more [Read more…]
There's No Whining in Freelance Writing
March 19, 2009. 19 Comments
This week I am pretty disturbed at the amount of angst Deb received when she took a break from writing leads. There was a distinctive tone I heard in many of the comments that was very familiar…it was like so many of the writers I’ve had the opportunity to work with throughout the years. I heard a level of entitlement. I’m sure you’ll find it in every line of work, a host of people who like to stay in their comfort zone, particularly when that comfort zone has a bit of hand holding. As an editor, I love to work [Read more…]
Caller You Say What? Questions About Queries
December 11, 2008. 3 Comments
By Terreece M. Clarke I always wanted my own talk show :0) Today I’m going to answer a few of the great questions I’ve received: Rupa Says: Hi Terreece, Off topic – but I wanted to return to the query challenge. (Yes, I am working on it!) I have spent some time studying query letter tips and sample queries online. I have never done this before and want to learn to do it right. I have a few questions – Is it absolutely necessary to mention in the query some of the names of the people I will be talking [Read more…]
How Well Do You Fact Check?
December 9, 2008. 5 Comments
by Terreece M. Clarke The BEST writing “how-to” ever!. Our first job as non-fiction content writers/journalists is to present the truth fairly and accurately. Whether it’s on the web, in glossies or newsprint we are obligated to uphold a certain standard. It is what makes people trust what we say and what makes them look to us when they need information. Most of us do our jobs well. We seek out knowledgeable sources and we try to stay as objective as possible. But how well researched is that knowledgeable source? You’re writing an article on clothes detergent – the best [Read more…]
Four Tips for Starting your Freelance Life
December 6, 2008. 5 Comments
Note from Jodee: Freelance Writer Meaghan Campbell has contributed today’s post. I know you will enjoy reading it. by Meaghan Campbell After two years of technical writing I was itching for more creative work. To escape creative annihilation, I started The Word Boutique, my very own freelance business. These best-practice tips I’ve learned will help any freelancer along the way. 1. Build your network, whenever you can. No writer stands alone. I didn’t have a leg to stand on when I started freelancing, but I built my network wherever I could. I asked former classmates to critique my samples. I [Read more…]
Thoughtful Thursday: How's that Working For You?
December 4, 2008. 3 Comments
By Terreece M. Clarke Tuesday in “Date Your Publication” we talked about getting to know the publications you want to query and got some great feedback, specifically from Mary who commented on how frustrating her first year writing was because she hadn’t tailored her queries to specific publications. Once she started however, her success rate climbed. Mary is an excellent example of a great writer stopping to take stock in their career to see where things could be improved. This time of year is a great time to take stock in your career and goals as Deb wrote in her [Read more…]
Writing Tip of the Day: Ask the tough questions
November 10, 2008. 5 Comments
By Terreece M. Clarke Most of the time when say “ask the tough question” we are talking about asking tough questions of an interviewee, however, the term “asking the tough questions” can apply to almost any aspect of freelance writing. Are you as well prepared before an interview as you should be? Could that article undergo one more round of edits before you turn it in? And yes, did you ask your interview subject questions beyond the superficial? Each day ask yourself the tough questions – it’ll make you a better writer.
