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Remember that feeling you had as a teenager the first time you slid behind the steering wheel of your parents’ car?
You get in, fire it up, and grab the wheel with a white-knuckle-death-grip as you jerk your way around an empty high school parking lot.
Read moreIf you’re researching jobs that let you escape the office and be your own boss, being a freelance writer probably tops most lists you’ll find online.
You can work wherever you want (as long as you have an internet connection), whenever you want (please sleep from time to time), and for whoever you want (assuming they want to work with you, too).
But what does a freelance writer do, exactly? And how do you become one?
Read moreWhen you’re just starting out as a freelance writer, it’s tempting to use job boards like Upwork to try and find work. I have two words of advice: DO NOT. Before you burn yourself out vying for low-paying gigs and shady clients with thousands of other freelancers, take a breath.
Ask yourself: if you were your dream client, who would you rather hire:
A person who you know nothing about beyond a form they completed on a freelancer marketplace?
Or a trusted member of your professional community?
I’ve created a quick guide for new freelance writers who are just starting to dip their toes in the waters of the freelancing world.
This will give you answers to some of the many questions that come up as you’re just getting started--and will point you in the direction of some helpful resources, too.
Read moreWe all know that attention spans are shorter than ever (about 7-8 seconds on average, in fact.) Compound this with the distractions that crop up every minute of the day in the modern world, and you’ve got a major challenge on your hands when it comes to getting someone to sit still and actually read something you’ve written.
Read moreWriting About page copy is something a lot of people struggle with, because:
It feels gross and weird to write about yourself
It’s hard to know what’s too much (or too little) information
You don’t want to creep people out or scare people off by over-sharing
And these are just a few of the things that trip people up when they sit down to write this particular page.
BUT! Don’t worry. I’m gunna help you with a few easy suggestions. Let’s get right to ‘em.
Last week after I did a live Q&A session, I realized it’d probably be helpful to pull together a FAQ of sorts that puts answers to common freelancing-related questions all in one place.
Honestly, I don’t know why I hadn’t done this already. UGH.
So, without further ado: Here are my quick, short-form answers to common freelancing questions and links to longer-form reads that answer these questions more fully.
I hope you bookmark this page and share it with others.
Read moreI pulled together a FAQ that puts answers to common writing-related questions all in one place. Here are my quick, short-form answers and links to longer-form reads that answer these questions in depth.
Read moreHope you're doing okay right now. If you're like me, maybe you too are having trouble sleeping and feel like your anxiety is at an all-time high with everything that's going on. You're not alone in that.
That said, I've been working to keep the worries at bay. Which brings us to today's topic.
Shakespeare.
Sylvia Plath.
Notorious B.I.G.
Bob Dylan.
What do they all have in common?
I always save this task for last because I often struggle to figure out the best way to summarize what I’ve just written about in a way that’s interesting, but not crossing the line into the territory of spammy.
(Because, is there anything worse than clickbait? Nerp.)
So are there any formats or formulas for crafting headlines that get clicked (and read?)
Glad you asked. There most certainly are...and these are some of my go-tos.
No writing lesson today guys. This one’s a bit more general.
Recently on the Creative Class Podcast (the one for freelancers I co-host with Paul Jarvis), we tackled a topic that’s been bouncing around in my brain: Are people who work for themselves and sell things *really* the enemy?
Paul and I both sell digital products online, and even though it’s new to me, I find myself feeling caught in the crosshairs of this conversation.
Let's talk about writing descriptively today.
I've got three examples we're going to dive into from really varied sources: Ernest Hemingway, Brandon Boyd of Incubus, and Sylvia Plath.
Up until about six months ago, I didn’t have a business credit card.
However, I recently got one, so I wanted to share the why, how it’s working, and a few of the problems it’s solving for my freelance business.
Read moreThe how, what, and why behind my first-ever digital resources for writers and content managers.
Read moreI have a thing for writers with a very signature writing voice.
You know what I’m talking about. There are certain writers that you can hear in your head as you read. It’s as if they were right in front of you, telling a story or entertaining a small crowd.
There’s definitely an element of showmanship to stylized writing: It performs for the reader/listener. It pauses. It has asides with the audience. It builds anticipation and delivers solid punchlines.
I wanted to share a few of the activities I’m doing this week to wrap things up. Maybe these will be good reminders, or maybe they’ll be inspiration for a few new things to try out. It doesn’t matter if you’re a freelancer, a business owner, or work at a company--all of these things are versatile enough to be relevant.
So, let’s dive in...
This year I celebrated six-years of full-time freelance writing, and it was my most productive and interesting year of self-employment to date.
Client work picked up, Paul Jarvis and I partnered on the Creative Class course and podcast again (cracking 100K downloads!), and I still find myself excited when I sit down to work each day. I’m so grateful to have found a job I enjoy doing and am truly interested in…the novelty of that never wears off.
Should you be a generalist or a specialist?
I personally started out as a generalist. I was a freelance writer who’d basically do any job that came my way that first year...because MONEY.
But you know what? That was a tough year.
I feel like it’s been a bit since I’ve given you a really valuable, tactical, science-backed writing lesson.
So today, I want you to pick your own adventure.
Below, you'll find my three best, most in-depth posts on writing.
Choose the one that best lines up with whatever you need help with this week (or could use a little refresher on.) Here are your options:
Read more