When Can You Call Yourself a Writer?

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Editor’s Note: This post was written by Brie Weiler Reynolds, the Director of Online Content at FlexJobs, the award-winning site for telecommuting and flexible job listings. FlexJobs lists thousands of pre-screened, legitimate, and professional-level work-from-home jobs and other types of flexibility like part-time positions, freelancing, and flexible schedules. Brie provides career and job search advice through the FlexJobs Blog and social media. Learn more at www.FlexJobs.com.

If you’re visiting this site, it’s highly likely that you’re either thinking of becoming, or you already are, a writer. When, though, does that transition happen? When do you get to drop the “aspiring” from your title as “aspiring writer?” Anyone along the writing career spectrum, from those just toying with the idea to those fully immersed in writing every day, will deal with this question at some point: When can you call yourself a writer? [Read more…]

Persistent and Consistent – Keys to successful article writing

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I talked to a friend and mentor the other day and she stressed the importance of being persistent and consistent in whatever you do. Initially, I was inspired to apply those key terms to another area of my life when I realized she said, “in everything you do.” It applies to article writing as well.

Are you persistent – writing despite things going on in your life or business? This is important especially if you’re a blogger, but applies to magazine and web writers as well. Blogging on a regular basis despite sickness and strife helps build and keep your audience. They know  your blog isn’t another fly-by-night fancy and they will come to look for and depend on it. Good bloggers can write through any upheaval. Great bloggers write ahead so they can manage unforeseen circumstances.

Persistent writing for magazines and the web means staying on schedule no matter what is happening. It means making the deadline even if you’ve got to run to the library and work on their computers next to the kid sneaking looks at porn at the terminal next to you. It means doggedly shopping queries after rejections.

If you veer off your schedule ahead of your deadline in favor of coffee with friends or a movie with your honey, you are counting on nothing to go wrong before your deadline. How many times has this happened: You knock off early or a whole day for a little extra fun and then the day before a deadline the computer goes out? Or your cat knocks over a glass of water on your keyboard or there is a storm and the internet is affected? Now instead of pushing through work on days you’d rather play, you have to scratch to the deadline with one arm tied behind your back and an elephant standing on your foot.

Consistency in work quality

Admit it. Sometimes you give a piece a little less love and attention than others because it’s for a small publication or a content site, or because you just don’t feel like it needs that extra tuck in and kiss on the forehead. Whether the publication is big or small if you blow off an article you are blowing off a clip.

There should be nothing in your portfolio you’d be embarrassed to show to a potential client. This is different than content that is appropriate for one client while inappropriate for another. If you write about ‘personal electronic massagers’ for one client and want to write about toddler tinker toys next week, I wouldn’t show a Parents Magazine editor your article “Buzz-worthy Products for Couples.” Though if you did, it better be written well! Stop giggling folks… This is a good time and place to move to:

Are you consistent about working within your niche? When you are committed to building yourself or brand within a niche, you have little time to take work from the four corners of the world about everything under the sun. Every piece that isn’t about fly fishing does help build your credibility as a writer, but can take away from where you want to be – the featured writer for Fly Fish Monthly.

Persistent. Consistent. For the next week check to see if you are living your life and managing your freelance writing career according to these principles. If not, figure out why!

Got a tip for other writers? What principles guide your freelance career? Share below!

Writer? Journalist? Is there a difference?

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On my web site and in bios everywhere I tend write “freelance writer/journalist.” Sometimes I alternate – freelance writer for one publication, freelance journalist for another. I feel compelled to highlight the difference, but I have to wonder does it matter, if so to whom? I also wonder if there is really a difference.

A person writing for a magazine or newspaper has to follow journalistic guidelines, except in first person narratives, so does that make them a journalist? When a journalist blogs like I do for a non-news blog are they a writer only? I tend to attach journalist to my profile because I have a degree from The Ohio State University School of Journalism (now Communication) that I am still paying for so I like to make that bit of effort known!

When I attach journalist to my profile, I seem to earn a bit more respect from sources (and other writers) and it clearly defines what I do for a living. On the other hand I also have corporate clients and attaching journalist sometimes scares off potential clients because they think I may a “down in the trenches, war-zone reporter,” not a flexible freelancer who may report about breastfeeding and local politics one minute and produce press releases for a business leadership trainer and surgical camera company the next moment.

If I say I’m a writer people ask about books, and while I’m working on one I haven’t been published yet so I am hardly an expert. If I say I’m a journalist, people ask on what channel I appear.  It’s pretty sad people forget about newspapers these days! In my brain there’s a difference, what do you think?

The comment section here at Article Writing for Freelance Writing Jobs has been a bit quiet lately so I’d like to hear from everyone, including those lurkers – what do you call yourself? Is there a difference between the two?

5 Ways to Know You’ve Written a Good Article

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Picture 5There are times when you have an article finished and you wonder if you’ve really done the piece justice. Here’s a few things to keep in mind:

5. It has great sources.

Great sources include leaders or well known folks in the field, interesting subjects that give a personal perspective to the piece or sources with something new to offer on an evergreen topic. Great sources have been vetted, they provide accurate information and there’s a demand for the information they are offer.

4. There are no holes.

All the questions have been answered – the ‘why’s’ and ‘why not’s’ researched and the ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘where’ and ‘when’ exposed. Attention has been paid to the audience and what they want to know.

3. It’s been thoroughly edited.

The editing process went beyond spell check. The article was allowed to marinate, then read aloud, printed out and double checked. It has been screened more than Dionne Warwick at the airport.

2. It has a killer lede (lead).

The kind of lead that stops you in your tracks and pulls you in like an ant at a cook out. The lede (lead) is catchy without being cliche, makes the reader think and stops the reader from turning the page.

1. You know it’s awesome.

Writers know when they’ve given an article their best. They know when a turn of phrase is magical or when an interview subject has just given the pull-out quote. It’s almost orgasmic when a piece or a lede seems to write itself, flowing from brain through fingers and out onto the computer screen. It is equally satisfying when an article is hard won. It’s a fight between the writer and the words and only one can win. The struggle to get every transition smooth, every bullet point packed with succinct information and finally, finally, victory. An article is good when there’s no need to see the score, you already know who won.

Self Editing Tip #3: Check if You’re Not Sure

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Picture 1Lay versus lie, awkward spellings, AP style versus Chicago – all can be difficult things for even the most accomplished writer to navigate. That’s why great writers check and double check their resources to make sure they are not relying on hunches when it comes to editing their articles.

Style guides are there for a reason – to guide writers to the correct usage of words and standards that the publication follows. Some publications have more than one guide – they may use a general one like AP Style and then another one that is specific to them.

The World Wide Web is at your fingertips so there is absolutely no reason why some writers continue to guess and use lay, lie and all of their forms incorrectly. It’s lazy and no one wants to hire a lazy writer.

When that little voice in the back of your head says “Hmm…” pay attention and use your resources.

Here are few sites I like to visit when I have a question or a “Hmm…”
Quick & Dirty Tips: Grammar Girl

AP Associated Press

Chicago Manual of Style Online

alphaDictionary.Com

Do you have a fav grammar site? Tell us below!

Top 10 Reasons Why Your Writing is Suffering

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picture-6Why aren’t I getting gigs? Why am I caught in this niche I have grown to hate? Where’s my career going? There are a lot of reasons why a writer’s work suffers and some are so common most writers have or will experience them at some point. Do any of them ring a bell?

  1. You’re bored. There are times a writer needs to switch course or look for new ways to stay passionate about an familiar topic.
  2. You’ve gotten lazy. Let’s be honest, sometimes freelancers slack off and don’t feel like doing what they are supposed to do. I’ve been there and it’s tough to get back on task, but take a look at that electric bill – feel like writing now?
  3. You’re not reading enough. The more you write, the more money you make right? The more work you have can take away from the other things that make a writer great, like reading other great writers. It’s amazing the amount of inspiration one well written piece can provide another writer.
  4. You’ve got too much work. It sounds like a good problem to have, but in reality too many projects can take away from the time you have to devote to the perfection each project. The result? Sloppy or rushed work and not too much to show for it.
  5. You’re burned out. When’s the last time you took a break? Switched up the routine a bit? If you’re still thinking, you may need a breather, a chance to go off the grid for a day or so and recharge. Time to refresh is not a privilege it’s a necessity.
  6. You’re lonely. Online social networking is great and you can make some wonderful friends, but you also need to get out there and make friends in and out the writing field. You need your writing friends to commiserate and appreciate the life you lead and you need non-writing friends to give a different perspective. A writer’s life can be a lonely one and it can drive you bonkers, don’t let it happen to you.
  7. You don’t have any support. Are you battling deadlines, kids, bills and the feeling no one really understands what you do? You are in need of support – it makes all the difference in the world. When someone’s in your corner it can help you get over those hump days and it’s important to have someone to share the good times. Nothing like calling up a friend to relay the news of a hot new gig knowing they are just as excited as you are about it.
  8. You’re not enjoying yourself anymore. An important indicator of having a great job is when you love what you do.  You don’t have to love it all the time, there are days I’d like to throw my laptop and favorite pen out the window, but generally I get a whiz bang out of writing. Recapture that magic and it’ll show up in your work.
  9. You’re not charging enough. Raise your hand if you ever worked your butt off for a piece only to get the check and decide it’s just not worth it? Ok, hands down. What’s going on with your fee schedule? Should you really charge more and does your work justify it? This great article from James will help you make what you’re worth.
  10. You’re not doing what you really want to do. You became a freelancer so you could travel the globe, or your local playground, finding tips and trends in a fascinating field. Six months later you’ve got SEO and tech work coming out of your ears. You keep telling yourself it pays the bills, but really a corporate job would do just as well if that’s all you wanted. Time to check your goals and develop a plan to get back to your dreams.

Getting to the bottom of what ails your pen is not only great for your career, it’s great for your health. People who are passionate about what they do live fuller and longer lives. Let’s get you back to living yours.

Thursday’s post: “Inspirational Writers for Inspired Writing”

Got any great tips on a common writing threat/malady? Have you dealt with one of these and overcome? Share below!

Writing and Your Moral Code

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picture-1There are times when a story is so hot you can write article after article, blog after blog and milk it for all it’s worth, but doing it gives you pause. You may wonder if you are feeding the media machine so many complain about, or you may wonder if you’re causing more harm than good, or putting profit over your moral code.

I write a parenting blog for Examiner.Com and the hottest story on the parenting scene is a domestic violence incident between two young music stars. The national news, Oprah, The View and other current event shows are all weighing in on rumors, sections of police reports, leaked photographs and giving advice to two young people they don’t know and probably hadn’t heard of until the story broke.

This story came with all of the goodies media people love – sex, violence, pretty people and money. I talked about it once for TwitterMoms, discussing the issue of violence against males and the double standard in which girls are applauded and excused for slapping, hitting their partners and shown destroying their partner’s property out of spite.  Howeer, as more news came and more rumors were “exposed” and more people began sending “messages” and “warnings” the more the thought of writing about it anymore turned my tummy.

There are a variety of parenting issues that could be discussed and drawn from the incident. Linking back to the red hot story of these two stars would surely lead to some nice Google juice, but at some point you have to draw the line. When are you using media to shine light on issues and when are you using your powers for exploitation?

Have you ever written something against your better judgment or refused to partake in a particular media frenzy? Discuss this writing dilemma.

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