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So I am just about done reading through Jenna Glatzer’s book, Make A Real Living as a Freelance Writer, and I wanted to share with you some really helpful things that I learned.
First of all, I thought this book had something to offer both newbies and those more experienced writers. Ms. Glatzer thoroughly covers all the important topics that beginners need to know about: from general terminology of the industry, the fine art of the query and a helpful overview of rights. Glatzer also provides a lot of good information for those who are already freelancing: the importance of keeping good records, how to negotiate, how to craft the best query letter possible, and making extra money by selling reprints.
One of my favorite parts of this book is in Chapter 2 where Glatzer provides a really useful exercise for brainstorming article ideas. As a matter of fact, every chapter has a “homework” assignment which prompts the writer to take the next step. She also includes in the Appendix of the book, a section on “Useful Jargon” which would be great for a newbie to familiarize him/herself with as well as a few samples of Glatzer’s own queries that landed her the job.
One of the most immediate take-aways from this book for me is that I got a new email address that was more professional-sounding for work purposes. I’m also feeling more confident in my ability to start querying soon since I have a lot of useful material in this book to walk me through it. One final thing the book emphasized for me is that to land the good jobs, you have to dig deep for the story. Don’t just go with the obvious one that everyone else is querying. Dig deeper for the big bucks story.
If you haven’t read this one, and you are looking for a good introductory book about writing for magazine markets, this is probably one you should add to your shelf.
If you’ve already read this one, let me know what you thought of it.
Let’s say you’re like me and the muse only visits you sporadically. How do you make the most of the ideas that come your way and maximize on their full potential? Here’s a fun and easy exercise I learned while reading Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer by Jenna Glatzer:
1. Begin with something you have some degree of experience on. Start with a topic that you feel comfortable with. It doesn’t have to be specific or complicated. Something simple like diabetes, Golden Retrievers or Automotive repairs is a great central topic.
2. Branch your topic off to the main markets. With that topic as a starting point, think of how you can market your topic to different audiences (ex. how would you slant the topic to appeal to Men’s magazines, Women’s magazines, Health magazines, Entertainment magazines, Parenting mags, etc.). For instance, say my topic of expertise is dogs. My slant to a Men’s mag might include an idea like “How to Tell What Kind of Woman She is By the Dog She Has”. My slant to a women’s mag could be an idea like “Why My Dog Understands Me Better than My Man”. A slant to a health-focused publication might include an angle like “How Golden Retrievers are Helping the Disabled Regain a Sense of Independence”. My entertainment slant would be “Pets of the Stars”. For the parenting slant something like “Why the Golden Retriever Makes a Great First Family Pet”. This is a simple and fun exercise that gets you thinking outside of your normal comfort zone. If all you ever write for and pitch to are health mags, this will give you an easy way to see the potential for using your topic in all kinds of magazines.
3. Really Think Outside the Box. Look at your topic in a way you’ve never seen it covered from before. Choose a bizarre angle. This will really get your mind reaching far to generate new ideas. “Golden Retrievers in Space” or “Bark Interpretation of the Golden Retriever”. The idea here is just to think far beyond the topics that have already been covered and get you to pull out fresh, original ideas.
I think this can serve as a great brainstorming tool when we are looking for ideas. Not only will it allow us to write about something we have an interest in, but it will help us find new angles for our topic.
Definitely pick up Jenna’s book. It’s full of really useful and practical exercises.
see more dog pictures
So I bought a bunch of writing-related books and I thought I’d post the list in case any of you are interested. I’m hoping that they motivate me to do more writing in terms of quality and quantity, find my writing niche, get unstuck when I am caught in a bit of writer’s block, make the most of my blogging opportunities, familiarize myself with CMOS, and learn to write more tight copy. Whew! Not too much to ask for! What are you reading?
Write Is a Verb: Sit Down, Start Writing, No Excuses by Bill O’Hanlon
Ready, Aim, Specialize!: Create Your Own Writing Specialty and Make More Money! by Kelly James-Enger
Secrets of a Freelance Writer, Third Edition: How to Make $100,000 a Year or More by Robert W. Bly
Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer: How to Win Top Writing Assignments by Jenna Glatzer
Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued: A Woman’s Guide to Unblocking Creativity by Susan O’Doherty
Start Your Own Blogging Business by Entrepreneur Press and J.S. McDougall
The Chicago Manual of Style
Write Tight by William Brohaugh
Problogger by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett
Writer Mama by Christina Katz
You may want to visit this article first. EW has a list of popular memoirs published since 1995 broken down categorically. Makes for some good reading material.
I’m finally getting around to reading The Well Fed Writer and so far, Peter Bowerman, the author, makes a solid case for the writing opportunities available for freelance copywriters/corporate writers. Has anyone ever ventured to these areas of writing? I’m eager to give it a shot, but I am also skeptical that I have no experience. Mainly, it’s because the concept of copywriting/corporate writing automatically conjures up images of sales writing into my head and I am not a sales writer. I am looking to do more informational copy/brochures perhaps. Just looking for some input, if anyone has any to share.
If you’re like me and work a full-time job while dabbling freelance on nights and weekends, you’ll probably benefit from picking up this book. It’s called The Anti 9 to 5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube by Michelle Goodman. I’m about 3/4 of the way through, and I have picked up a lot of pointers, both on how to juggle my freelance time with my “real” job and how to be a better freelancer, who aspires to one day be my own boss. There is also a companion website for the book which, unlike other book-supporting websites, actually contains fresh and helpful information that is not in the book and is updated regularly. One more thing I really have to rave about regarding this book is the amount of resources that are spot-on useful regarding the world of freelancing. While the book is specifically geared toward women, the information is really universal (if you overlook the language which is in the tone of girlfriends sharing career advice during happy hour).
photo: Seal Press
Here I am at my desk reading my favorite blogs and I can across this great article. It’s about the lessons that Stephen King has taught to aspiring writers. Pretty good stuff and worth a read. On a related note, the guest blogger who wrote the post is also writing her thesis on Mr. King. Pretty cool, if I do say so myself.
And if you haven’t read it, go and pick yourself up a copy of On Writing by Stephen King. It’s a great resource for writers.
I have a confession to make and it’s not something I am proud of. I’ve never read a book by Stephen King. When I was much younger (12 maybe), I had a whole slew of them, but could never get through one. I’m not sure why, maybe part of it was what I deemed to be the daunting vocabulary. I’d get about one-third of the way in and give up, opting for the movie version.
This being said, I decided to get my hands on Mr. King’s book On Writing which is not a novel per se, but more of his personal journey into his phenomenal writing career. I was absolutely amazed by this book. I’m not even done with it yet, but I figured in the spirit of me not being able to finish any of his other novels, I’d start raving early about this one!
The book is written in an interesting format. The first section is an autobiography of sorts, a kind of personal recounting of his life and how he became a writer. It is very amusing and inspiring. To hear about his rejections, it makes us newbies feel a bit of kinship to one of the modern day masters. It also goes to show the importance of 1) not giving up because of rejection and 2) that in order to get better, one must keep writing.
The second portion of the book is “The Toolbox” which offers King’s advice on what every serious writer should be equipped with. I am only partially through this section, so I’m not sure about what the remainder of the book entails, though I do suggest picking yourself up a copy of this one. Lots of great advice to be underlined, and an awesome sense of humor throughout.
As a side note, I’ve already ordered King’s newest book Duma Key from Amazon and I look forward to re-discovering him all over again and with a fresh perspective.
Sometimes when suffering from an inescapable bout of writer’s block, it helps to have a handy reference for quick and easy ideas. That’s where the book No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog by Margaret Mason comes in. It’s a short, fun read with 100 ideas to get your writing (specifically your blog) going again. While a lot of these ideas are clearly intended for an electronic blog, you can use most of them for journaling offline too.
Some of them are ideas that are commonly utilized by writers (ex. bring a notebook with you everywhere you go to record ideas, people watch, write on a daily basis and read on a daily basis). Others are ideas that seem simple, but are often overlooked (ex. creating your own vocabulary, make a time line of your life, talk about charities that have deep meaning to you, write about your personal wisdom and write about something specific about where you live that others would find interesting).
The ideas in the book are organized in terms of how much time they take to write (fifteen minutes, half an hour, an hour and an extended time frame). There is also a section entitled “Think Like a Writer” which has a lot of good writing prompts. I especially like the idea where you say “yes” to every opportunity that comes your way for a set amount of time, that way good or bad, you have a new experience to write about!
This is the perfect book to help keep your New Year’s Resolution of writing more frequently.
