Hi Anne,

I’m a freelance writer for an online food magazine.  I choose my own subjects to write about, provide my own photos.

I do get paid for my writing but have never signed a contract.

I like the editor very much and don’t want to step on toes.

What I’d like to know is if it’s legal for me to compile all of my articles, change them up a bit and then put them into a book format for resale.

Thanks!

AM

Hi AM,

First, I’m not a lawyer – and I don’t even play one on TV or in radio dramas.

Since you don’t have a contract that let’s you keep the copyright I think it’s safe to start with the assumption that the site does own the work you sold them even if you don’t find a copyright notice there.


Assuming that’s the case you can’t just take the articles and the photos you submitted and re-use them in any fashion without their explicit permission. Nor will changing them “up a bit” allow you to use them.

Not so by the way this is a perfect example of why we should all have contracts with those we write for and those contracts should spell out who owns our work. If you look around you’ll see while it’s not the norm it’s also not unusual for writers to retain copyrights.

More common in a situation like this would be to only sell First Rights – then you’d have the option to sell the articles and photos again. Though to be clear, I’m not sure that would allow you to put them in a book.


Which is not to say all is lost.

You could simply ask your editor there if they have any objection to your using the articles and photos in a book. They might say yes. The magazine might also want you to make some sort of a statement like “article and picture original appeared in (name of magazine/site.)”

It could be that they would want to join you, and maybe even provide some initial funding, in creating the book so both you and the magazine would profit from it.

In terms of rewriting if you can’t get permission to use the articles and photos as they are you’ll have to totally rewrite each one and use different photos. A total rewrite can be difficult to quantify but you’d want to rewrite enough so most people wouldn’t recognize them. Even then it would be nice to acknowledge the magazine.

Another thing to consider is that you may want to totally rewrite them when you’re re-purposing each idea for a book. The truth is that when I want to reuse material I wrote awhile back I often want to do a major rewrite.

Good luck.

Do you have a question about freelance writing? Contact me with Q&A in the subject line and I’ll do my best to answer it here.

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

I learned to type on a manual typewriter when I was in 7th grade! I don’t really remember why I took the class; it might have been a requirement I needed before I could write for the school newspaper.

A classroom of us sat before those now antique machines typing from books that folded in a tall triangle so we could look at what we were typing without looking at the keyboard. It was called touch typing. We also learned to use carbon paper to make copies of what we were writing. The quality of both documents depended on the freshness of the ribbon and the equality, or lack of it, of the pressure we put on each key.

Corrections were made with a pink eraser often attached to a brush to whisk away the eraser crumbs.

Rewriting and revisions were nightmares. If we wanted to insert, move, or eliminate a paragraph or two, the whole document had to be retyped. Sometimes manuscripts would be literally cut apart and re-pasted together in better form.


Back then someone watching a writer knew they were working! It was obvious from the noise and from the flinging of the carriage to move the document up and start a new line of words.

In newspaper offices the noise of the typewriters would often compete with the sound of the giant presses in another room or the basement. Often you’d hear the sound of paper being ripped from the typewriter, crushed into a ball and flung to the floor.

Even in quiet offices with a single secretary composing letters on a typewriter was noisy. The fact of work was obvious.

The electric typewriter evened out the print, but did little but add to the noise.

Someone invented correction fluid, a noxious white paint of some sort we’d dab over our mistakes so we could retype over them. It was better than redoing the whole page, but it still looked pretty awful. And moving paragraphs or any big revision or correction meant starting over again.


The  so-called self-correcting typewrite was a breakthrough It involved a second ribbon of a white-out chemical. Using a special back space key you could get the machine to mostly obliterate a word or several so you could retype what you wanted. Much more than that and you were back to the old way of erasing, retyping or starting over again. It was till obvious a whole lot of work was going on.

Today the computer makes the writing and editing look easy.  If I want to change the name John to the name Jane I can do it through even hundreds of pages with no more than a few keystrokes. I can move paragraphs and even whole sections from one place to another with ease, and even insert them in a whole different manuscript. The computer does a fair job of catching typos and spelling errors.

When you finish a piece of writing and print it, it looks good even if it’s awful. The margins are where they should be and there are no smudges or obvious erasers or stripes of correction fluid. The computer will add page numbers and even create accurate tables of contents and do an index provide I give it the right instructions.

The real work of writing is almost invisible when the writer is working on a computer.

I think this is one reason clients have no idea what it is we actually do as writers. We sit at a quiet computer, maybe typing, maybe using a mouse, maybe staring out the window. The work we do is far from obvious now. We make it look easy and they think they needn’t pay us much.

That’s probably why we’ve begun to include such things as x number of revisions in our contracts, as an attempt to quantify how we get decent words on the page.

The number of revisions in a piece of writing has nothing much to do with the work involved.

Most of what makes decent, even excellent writing happens in our minds and hearts. It really is more like pottery or painting or other art. We think or make a mental picture or mutter to ourselves or pace around or have another cup of coffee or tea or call a friend or listen to music or sit in silence or, well the list can go on. Quickly or slowly words begin to come through our fingers as they move across the keyboard and appear onscreen.

After a good session of writing many writers actually feel physically tired, as if they’d been doing some sort of physical work. I do I know.

But someone watching me would have no idea of what it took to actually get those words, or even these, where they could be read. They’d see me sitting, maybe typing, staring, drinking, pacing, etc. None of which looks anything but easy.

Maybe we need to find a better way to communicate what it is we actually do. Any suggestions?

Shane Arthur has some great demos of his edits at his Editing Hacks - might make a client understand more – anyone else?

Sharon Hurley also addresses this on her The Writing Process – Open Letter to Clients.

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image:  Some rights reserved by Laineys Repertoire

A guest post by Cathy Miller who blogs at MillerCathy.com and SimplyStatedBusiness.com. 

She’s also become a good friend through first our online relationship which has been enhanced by lunch when once a year she comes to San Diego to walk for cancer.

As freelance writers, we love exploring a new market – one with a wealth of opportunity.

Ask yourself –

• Do you love writing articles?
• Do you have a niche or specialty?
• Do you hate the push and pull of queries?

Corporate ghostwriting for trade publications might be your ticket to nirvana.

The Right Stuff

Before you explore this market, you should make sure that you have the right stuff for a corporate ghostwriter.

1. The Voice Behind the Face

I have a healthy ego. Frankly, I’ve been surprised that I took to ghostwriting.

• There is another person’s name on the byline
• Any praise goes to that person
• You are the voice behind the face

If the above bothers you, ghostwriting is not for you.

I remember the first time I saw an article I’d written in print. It did not matter that it had another person’s name on it.


I knew I wrote it – I took pride in that.

2. Finding the Voice

One of the most challenging – and the most fun for me – is finding the voice of your client.

You are representing your clients’ ideas, their passion. You need to elevate your listening skills to their highest level.

• Ask the right questions
• Let them tell their story
• Stir up their passion

Listen for what I call their sound bites - the phrases and expressions that sound like them.

3. Partner for Success

You want your client to succeed.

Your role is not one of a recording device – interact with your client.

• Question inconsistencies
• Offer ideas for expressing concepts
• Ask why it matters

Ready for the Trade

My niche in the healthcare industry is ideal for corporate ghostwriting for trade publications. My clients are healthcare organizations, insurance brokers/consultants and healthcare providers.

One of the things they all have in common is how busy their executives are. Look at any industry and you will find the same thing with the senior executives of those companies.

And that’s how you grab them. You also play to their ego.

• You know how busy they are
• You can help get their message out
• You help establish their role as an industry expert

And they get all the credit.

What executive doesn’t like to hear that?

The No-Pitch Trade

Trade publications love articles from industry insiders.


As a writer, you don’t send the queries to the magazine. If you pitch an idea to anyone, it’s your client. However, I find that most of the time my clients have an idea for the article.

Your client may go directly to the magazine with an idea for an article or use their PR firm to do it. It’s a very easy sell. About the only time magazines reject the idea is if the topic recently appeared in print. Even then, they’ll consider a different spin on it.

The Inside Pitch

There are times when you want to pitch an idea, especially if your target is a prospect you are trying to convince to hire you.

Here are some ideas for doing that.

Use trade magazines’ publishing calendar. Many of the trade publications develop a calendar with themed topics. For example, an insurance magazine may cover the voluntary product market in its spring publication, corporate wellness programs in the fall, etc.

If you know your client or prospect specializes in that area, send them an email stating you noticed XYZ Magazine is featuring corporate wellness programs in their fall issue. As your targeted company has an expertise in that area, question if they considered the opportunity it presents for them to demonstrate their expertise. Explain how you can help.

Review your target’s website and communications. The key to a successful partnership is knowing what your client does well. Review their website, published articles, and social media communications. Then appeal to their expertise.

It’s great if you know the different trade publications in the industry, but it is not essential. Ask your client or prospect what publications they subscribe to and start there.

Like any article for a magazine, make sure the theme fits the magazine and targets its readers.

For example, I have an ongoing ghostwriting assignment for a trade publication that targets insurance brokers. Any discussion about the insurance industry is from their perspective. Sometimes I have to remind my client she is not writing for her client – the employer who sponsors employee benefits.

Final Pitch

There are several benefits from corporate ghostwriting.

• It generally pays more than articles with your byline
• New assignments often come to you instead of you sending queries
• It often leads to other kinds of work like white papers, case studies, etc.

If you have the right stuff to be a ghostwriter, demonstrate your value to busy executives, and can talk the talk of their business, then corporate ghostwriting for trade publication may be your dream job.

Have you done corporate ghostwriting? If so, what do you like about it?

Anything you don’t like?

Cathy Miller is a freelance business writer with over 30 years of professional writing experience from small businesses to Fortune 500 customers. Cathy started her own business in 2008, providing all forms of online and print business writing.

Cathy has a business writing blog at Simply stated business, a health care blog at Simply stated health care and her personal blog, millercathy: A Baby Boomer’s Second Life.

If you’re writing  you’re writing a query letter to a magazine or book publisher, you probably will only be accepting or working with a proposal or contract that they write and send you.

When you write for individuals or organizations you usually have to generate the proposal yourself.

Proposal writing is not rocket science, but it does take some work and some understanding of general business ideas. And yes, you will find job postings for writing proposals. Some of them will fit in this model, but many won’t.

Here are the nine elements of a great proposal for freelance writers:

Understand what the client wants. Your first job is to understand what the client wants. If you’re talking with them you have ample opportunity to ask questions. If you’re responding to an ad or job posting you’ll have to do your best to read their minds at a distance. Even when you’re using services like Elance which allow you to ask the potential client a question you’ll find they often don’t answer.


Define the scope of work exactly. Your proposal needs to include the details about what you’ll be writing. You need to define the goal or purpose of the work. Other items that may need definition may include things like research and who will do it, how any recorded material will be transcribed, interviews, approximate number of words, and the ultimate deadline. The more specific you are the fewer problems you’re likely to have. This is particularly true of big projects.

Spell out the client’s responsibility to the project. Your client has things they must do in order for you to succeed. In general, these have to do with reviewing and commenting on what you’ve drafted for them. They may also need to provide information, interviews, etc. etc. etc. The possibilities are almost endless. Make it clear what they need to do.

Define milestones. Milestones are signposts that progress is being made. On a single press release this might be 24 hours for the draft and it’s implied when you send it to the client. On larger projects you need a more formal definition. On a book they might be chapters. On a grant your milestones might be sections. You get the idea. Milestones let both you and your client know when the project is on track and when it isn’t.

Address who owns the copyright if necessary. If there’s any question about who owns the rights to whatever you’re writing spell it out.

Quote the total price. Yep, you’ve got to clearly state the total price. When you’re making a proposal this is actually what you’re offering to do the project for. If you’ve already agreed, just use that number.

Explain exactly how the payment is to be made. Define the payment terms. Sometimes this is a single payment, sometimes payment is tied to something else, like chapters or months, etc. You want to be clear when to expect payments and your client needs to know when to make payments.


Provide a way to get out if you need to. On longer projects like ghostwriting a book you may want to include some sort of escape clause. I often will say something like “This is a personal service contract. Although both parties intend to fulfill it as written here, both also recognize that sometimes projects fall apart. Therefore either party may cancel with 14 days written notice.” I only use this for ghostwriting books because the truth is I can’t proceed if the author changes their mind and I want a way to get off the hook.

Make the next step clear. I usually write the proposal so it can also be the contract and include a statement something like “initial payment indicates acceptance of this proposal in its entirety.” There are other possible next steps, like signing of a contract, an initial interview – just be sure everyone knows what it is.

Exactly what your proposals will contain will vary from contract to contract. In a ghostwriting contract, for instance, I often include the language of a non-disclosure agreement in the copyright section. For a series of press releases that’s unnecessary. Understanding each of these nine elements of good proposal writing however will help you get more contracts and avoid problems with the contracts you land.

What do you include in your writing proposals?

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Although being comfortable talking about money is actually a normal adult behavior, lots of people don’t actually feel that way.

Writer’s want to get paid for their work and that means talking with clients about money.

If you’re not comfortable talking with your clients you may find these tips helpful:

Get out of vagueness about your money

When you know how much money is flowing in and out of your accounts, you will feel much more confident when talking with anyone about money. Start by tracking all your income and expenses.


Somehow, when you really know how much money you have, or even don’t, you’ll have a much clearer idea of what you need to do. For example, if you’re almost out of money you may have to consider a temporary job or doing something to fill the coffers. If you’ve got a decent amount you know you can continue hold out for the better paying projects. 

Either position is much stronger than not knowing. That strength will translate to some real self-confidence when you need to talk with clients about money.

Know what you charge

I’m always surprised to find many freelance writers are also vague about how much they charge for the work they want to do. I start with an hourly rate. Then I estimate how long I think a particular project will take. I add 15-20% as a contingency and that’s my fee. You might find the post, 10 Steps To Setting Your Fees helpful.

However you do it, you’ve simply got to know how to set your fees and how much you charge if a conversation about money with clients is to make any sense at all.

Know you’re worth it

Coupled with knowing what you charge is that illusive thing that might be called self-worth. Although some would argue money and self-worth shouldn’t have anything to do with each other, the truth is they usually do. You can go along way toward feeling better about yourself by eliminating negative self-talk and turn that internal nay-saying editor into a friend.


When you’re comfortable with yourself, your talents, and how much you charge, you’ll find it much easier to talk with clients about the money you want them to pay you. That confidence often means they will be willing to accept your offer.

Help your client be comfortable talking with you about money

Writers aren’t the only ones who feel uncomfortable talking about money. You’ll find clients may feel the same way. If you’re confident and self-assured some of that attitude will rub off on the client. At least they will know that you’re not threatened and they don’t have to work to protect your feelings.

You can also make it easier if you bring up money first. Or at least be willing to. If you’re listening carefully you’ll find that eiother the client will ask how much you charge or it’s time for you to bring it up. There’s no point in trying to dodge the issue.

Often you’ll be able to simply state your price. Then you simply stay quiet until the potential client responds. Not to the point of rudeness of course, but your fee is your fee and you don’t need to try and explain it or apologize for it.

Sometimes you wont be able to quote a price because you’ll need additional information to truly understand what’s involved and how much time it will actually take you to complete it well.  Don’t hesitate to explain briefly what you’ll need and promise to give them a price when you have that.

When you need to raise the rate

Eventually you’ll run into a project that requires much more time than you originally agreed to spend. Some call this ‘project creep’ because it tends to sneak up on you.

Your first defense is to build in that contingency fee. If the extra time is less than say five percent you can probably live with it and add even more the next time you work for the client. Much beyond that and you’re going to have to talk to the client about more money or less work. Sometimes the client will truly not realize what they’ve done; on the other hand they may be trying to squeeze as much out of you as they can get away with. It’s up to you to draw the line.

Past-due payments

And yes, you’ll also run into clients who don’t pay on time, and even some who try not to pay at all. I’ve got a writing friend who is having trouble collecting a large ghostwriting fee from a well-known client! It happens.

When you’re comfortable talking about money it won’t be difficult to pick up the phone and ask when to expect payment. And if you need to, you’ll also feel okay about sending the bill to collection or taking the client to small claims court.

You’re entitled to be paid; you’re entitled to make a profit – both of which means you will be talking with clients about money.

How do you feel talking with clients about money?

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image: Some rights reserved by Podknox 

I’ve known Susan (not her real name) for three or four years. We’re close enough so I figured I knew her pretty well. That’s why I was surprised when she called yesterday to ask for the address of this blog. I gave it to her and asked her what was up.

With obvious trepidation she told me she’d always wanted to write but found the whole thing so scary she had waited this long to even be willing to even look at my blog.

Now I do know her to be articulate, with a better education than mine – she’s got a degree. She’s widely read and curious. Except for the degree she’s got the qualities I think are necessary for successful freelance writing and the degree won’t hurt, it’s just not necessary.

I started to say something banal about she needn’t be afraid, ya da ya da ya da. Then I remembered how long it took me to even attempt to write.


The family story is that I started talking about wanting to be a writer in the 6th grade. I don’t quite remember it that way, but I do know I would buy Writer’s Market in a different store each year in case someone remembered me. I didn’t want anyone to think I wanted to be a writer. (Talk about self-centered thinking!) I was 32 before I dared make my first submission.

Here are the myths people who are afraid to even try writing tend to tell themselves, and their solutions.

I don’t know what to write. Ideas are literally everywhere. Pick one and write about it. Get a copy of Writer’s Market and as you read through it make a list of the ideas it sparks – pick one and write about it.

I don’t know how to write. No one was born knowing how to write for publication, or how to write at all. It’s a learnable skill. Chances are if you speak English (or the language you want to write in) well and you are curious and read often, you write well enough. You need to write for your writing to improve – so write. You can find a ton of resources on the web to improve your writing – they all involve writing. (Are you detecting a theme here?)


I’m afraid they will reject me. They will – so what? Every single writer you’ve ever heard about or read has been rejected – why should you be different? Treat rejection as a celebration and an opportunity to learn and write and submit some more.

But I don’t have any credits. Again, no one is born with writing credits. You may have some from school or volunteer work. If not, create a few articles as samples – if they are well written they will lead to published credits. You build up your resume or credit list an article at a time. But unless you write nothing will happen.

I don’t know what to charge. Ah, this is an exception to the you’ve got to write rule. You can check Writer’s Market which lists typical fees. You can also read the Setting Fees category here. Pick a number and charge that. See what happens. It will either be accepted or it won’t. Do it again, and again.

I love writing but I hate marketing. How do you know you hate it? What have you tried? For example, marketing can be quite simple. Mostly you’ve got to experiment and find out what you will do and put it in practice so it can work.

The bottom line is if you want to be a successful writer you’ve got to quit giving into your fears. You’ve got to write and submit or market and write. It simply won’t get done any other way.

What are you willing to do to let go of your fear? What have you done?

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image:  Some rights reserved by epSos.de

I’ve had one of those mornings that simply got away from me. I’ve been at the computer for two hours and I’ve gotten almost nothing done that earns me money.

That’s unsual for me.

Oh I got up early enough, and I did my morning meditation routine. I even got started in the way that usually works for me.

First I go to my account at Toggl and start timing my activities. I began with what I call ‘survey the day.’ I spend a few minutes, and usually it’s less than five, reviewing what’s on my plate for the day.

Then I move to email.

That’s when it all began to break down.

Oh, the two short emails to two clients, updating one on a project and asking a question of another were right on target.

But instead of postponing trying to figure out how to bring TextNOW to my desktop to facilitate communication with my partner in a class I’m taking, I spent maybe 15 minutes trying to figure out how to log in before I realized I was spinning my wheels.


I started an email to her about my schedule. I realized that my Monday afternoons have recently changed and called a business friend to see if she wanted to get together even though we will be meeting with the third member of our team only twice a month now. That resulted in a fairly complex discussion of our mutual schedules.

Do you see what’s happening here?

By the time I got back to work I’d spent about 45 minutes of what I consider prime writing time on important stuff, but stuff I could have done later.

Fortunately I don’t often let email take me that far of track. My usual habit is to scan and see if there’s anything I need to handle right away. Part of my awareness is that I’m on the west coast and my east coast clients are well into their work day even though I usually start at 6 or 6:30.

The Money Shots

Since I know I do my best writing early in the day, the first writing tasks I tackle are those that will bring me money the soonest, or have the closest deadline. I call these my ‘money shots’ and put them in a special color (bright blue) on my calendar.

For instance, if I’ve got a client who needs a press release and has provided the info in this morning’s email, I’ll do that right after I post here.

When I have bigger projects, like ghostwriting a book, I always start that before 10 am, and often sooner. I save the afternoons for marketing and doing things for myself that will bring in income but not right away.


Afternoon is also when I tend to do what might be considered creative writing.

For example, I’ve started a series of gathas. I’m also slowly writing the story of my family at the request of my children. They want to hear about their grandparents and anything else I know. That’s a fun project and I’m writing it with almost no thought of publishing it.

Some Balance

I’ve learned that I can’t sustain much more than four hours of writing a day – not the concentrated kind of writing that gets projects moving and done.  When I try to do more, the next day I can barely write my name.

There’s lots of other stuff I can do for my writing business that are outside those best writing hours. Marketing, bookkeeping, editing, following up phone calls – all the stuff that makes a business run. I also try to schedule any classes I’m taking for the afternoon. Plus I generally get in some exercise several times a week. Finding balance makes life so much easier.

What About You?

Obviously my schedule won’t work for you. That’s not the point. What I’m suggesting is you recognize what time of day you do your best writing and honor that. Figure out how many hours a day you can write and keep up that pace over the week, month and year. Then develop your schedule according to that.

I usually approach this by creating my ideal day. You might find that a helpful technique.

You might also find Time Tracking helpful.

How do you determine your writing schedule?

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image:  Some rights reserved by Valerie Everett

A guest post by Lior Levin.

Writing is not like solving equations, you can’t finish a piece robotically, as you do in Mathematics. Good writing is way beyond reading literature books, having a degree in the language or being born in a family of novelists.

Good writing comes from the heart and the soul, there is no way anyone can fake it or achieve the feat by “working formulas.”

I am a non native English freelance writer and I know how difficult it is to reach a level where your readers actually pay you some attention. I admit that my writing is not as fluid as that of a native English writer but I firmly believe that anyone who has the drive to “write better” can top a native writer with his efforts, perseverance and continuous practice.

Give Yourself Enough Time

When I started writing three years back, I would spend four to five hours a day writing essays, opinions, analysis and arguement topics. Sure they read awful but those were my learning steps and stumbling blocks, I traded labour and time with expertise.

Average writers need enough time to grow, to learn what sounds right and what sounds crack. With time and regular practice, you would eventually master your approach.

More importantly, time takes care of the interest and love part. When you are engaged in a habit for years, you will end up loving it which means you will spend more time on it. When you love a culture and spend time on it, it is bound to improve.

Give yourself enough time, it can be 2 years or 5 years; this depends where you’re standing on this day.

Resist the Urge to Hit “Publish”

When you have finsihed writing something, don’t hit “Publish.” Save your post as a draft and turn it off.

It is a known fact that “first drafts” are full of grammatical errors, typos and have a good number of sentences that are wrongly constructed. It’s highly ambitious to expect a 100% perfection in the first shot, so don’t hit the “Publish” button right after finishing your blog post.


Instead, return to the post the next morning and read the copy you wrote the other night.You will be surprised how bad the piece reads now, which sounded “okay” yesterday. Fix those mistakes, re-construct the phrases that sound complex and make your writing “flow.”

Write Regularly

Write every day.

No matter how busy your schedule is, don’t go to bed unless you have written something on your own. Don’t bother about the length, important thing is to be in the habit and make it a discippline to write every single day without failing.

There will be times when you would not feel the urge to write. In those days, read your favorite blogs, pick a subject and write down your opinion and views on your own blog. This is called re-blogging and it is perfectly acceptable.

The takeaway message is: being in a discipline and hustling your way to success.

Hone Your Skills

Writing regularly is important but more critical is to improve your skills and polish your writing. If you keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again, a thousand years is not enough.

We all do mistakes, we all fail. That is normal; do not take this as a “ground breaking rule” that since you’re a non native English writer, you can never improve. Instead, keep working on the areas that needs improvement, hone your skills and learn the proper way of approaching a problem.

For example: I have had problems with using connectors between sentences. My phrases appeared disconnected and miles apart from each other. Often, they won’t make any sense and my teacher would put a big red question mark on top and say “go fix this. Rewrite.”

Here is how I fixed it:

I would write the first few sentences and stop. Next, I would write the same thing on my native language and then I would read both of them. Analyzing a paragraph written in my own language helped me to identify the areas where I can improve my English writing skills.

Read, Read and Read

Not only blogs, make a daily habit of reading newspapers, magazines, books or novels. You should spend 70% of your time reading while the remaining time should be used to write, practice and learn. Reading is the best way to make yourself aware of the style, approach and the fundamentals.

For example, if you want to be a good freelance writer on lifestyle niche, read lifestyle blogs on a regular basis and follow current trends, news and stories. See how prolific writers write their articles, study how they approach their posts and follow the best practices.

At the end of the day, regular practice and subsequent skill improvements will take you a long way. Like I said, it might take some time, but given the fact that you practice regularly and keep improving, you will eventually be your own teacher.

This guest post is written by Lior Levin, a marketing consultant for a neon sign store that offers custom made neon signs; he also consults for a css company. 

How have you improved your writing skills?

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Yesterday I met with a long-term client and friend at my local Starbucks.

It’s located at the edge of a shopping center in the neighborhood known as City Heights here in San Diego. I’d walked to the coffee shop after finishing my volunteer stint at the library.

We were sitting outside because it was a lovely, warm afternoon. We were discussing the content for his new website.

I was facing roughly north and I glanced up, probably drawn by the sound of a siren, to see a San Diego City Police Car stopped with all lights flashing and at least three San Diego City Policemen  with drawn pistols pointing at the red sedan stopped immediately in front of them.


Out of the front and back passenger windows, which were partially opened, were two sets of hands awkwardly waving trying to show, I assume, they were unarmed and not going to provoke the police. From the concentration of the cops I gathered the same thing was going on on the other side of the car.

The incident gradually wound down; no one was shot. My client and I walked to the nearby bank and he withdrew some money to pay me for work I’d already done.


As best as I can recall my thoughts went something like this:

• My God, they’ve got guns pointing at those guys.
• The cops are white and it looks like everyone in the stopped car is black.
• If they start shooting and those guys scatter we could be shot.
• What’s going on or what was going on that needed this kind of fire power ready to do untold damage to both suspects and the many others in the parking lot around the shopping center.
• Yes, the cops are all male and they are all white and the hands waving out of the window look male and black to me.
• If they start shooting even going inside may not help.
• If this goes bad we could be shot. I don’t want to be shot!

And so it went, my fear running high as was my curiosity and horror at the whole scene. I came home rattled and almost immediately had a phone appointment.

This morning I called and apparently the car the police stopped was a stolen car – that’s all the officer would tell me, other than to explain the fact that it was a stolen car was why the officers had drawn their weapons. That doesn’t quite go together for me.

The takeaways? There’s a bunch for me this morning and will probably be more to come.

• I’m terribly grateful.
• We truly never know what will happen moment to moment.
• My writing business continued making its demands in spite of what had happened – and I went with it.
• Writing from life experiences is part of what I and most writers do.

I’m not even sure this post belongs here on a site about freelance writing, and yet, writing is my business. I was conducting business when this happened, so where else?

Thanks for being there, truly.

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image:  Some rights reserved by jarito

Editor in a glass-walled office

I assume that most of the readers here either are freelance writers or are trying to figure out how they can do their writing from home.

The blunt truth, or at least some of it, is that freelancing isn’t for everyone. There can be lots of reasons for wanting a writing job where you go to an office every weekday.

Here are some of them:

You need predictable income. This is probably the biggest reason writers decide to return, or never leave, regular jobs. Freelance writer’s income is notoriously unpredictable. The regular paycheck makes many things easier.

You need the benefits, particularly health insurance. Health insurance is, I would guess, the second biggest reason writers want to work for someone else. The other benefits are nice too.

An inside job would boost your writing career. Sometimes taking an inside writing job will give your career a boost. It may be that you need to learn new skills either about writing or about the technology we all deal with today. Or maybe the inside job is truly prestigious and well paid. Working inside can work well for many people.

You want the discipline of working for others. It’s not always easy to get up every weekday and start working for yourself. Knowing you have to report elsewhere for work and that you’ll be expected to produce provides the discipline many want. I know I benefited and learned how to discipline myself partly from inside jobs.

You’ve discovered you simply want a more predictable schedule. The freelance writer’s schedule can be as unpredictable as the income, while writing inside tends to be 9-5. It’s easy for freelancers to work through weekends and holidays. That doesn’t happen so often when you’re working in an office for a company.

You miss the interaction with co-workers terribly. Lots of folks who try freelancing find they hate working at home alone. It’s a legitimate reason – being alone just doesn’t make for a good work environment for many. Taking an inside job cures that loneliness.

There’s nothing in the world wrong with deciding the freelancing life isn’t for you, or isn’t for you right now. When you know yourself well enough to sense you want a more normal job, it’s time to go for that. Trust yourself – you’ll be glad you did.

What are some other reasons for not freelancing?

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image:  Some rights reserved by EG Focus