Real Words

I am a firm believer in the idea that creative people must constantly refill their personal wells of inspiration in order to stay fresh in their work. I find this to be particularly true since I make a living as a writer. I spend almost all day, almost every day, writing for work. In order to avoid recycling the same ideas again and again, I work to engage myself in activities and projects that will broaden my creative experience.

One of this year’s projects is what I call “the neighborhood project”. The idea is that I’ll explore all there is to see in each of the different neighborhoods of San Francisco, taking them one month at a time. Because I made a move in January to begin working part-time in Berkeley, I decided that I’d choose that city for exploration in the month of January (as opposed to a neighborhood actually in San Francisco). It was difficult to do all that I wanted to in this first month because I didn’t make the move until halfway through the month. However, I did manage to experience some neat things which helped to inspire me in different ways.

Here are some of the things that Berkeley month did for me:

• I learned about some of the hiking areas in and around Berkeley. The only one that I have been able to check out extensively so far is Lake Chabot over in Oakland. The hiking that I did there gave me a renewed apprecation of the vast amount of nature that lies around the city. It also got me thinking about the way that places get their names (Lake Chabot is named after Anthony Chabot, as are many other things in this area). I’m not yet sure how that’s going to work it’s way into my writing but I hope that it does.
• I discovered Berkeley street poet Julia Vinograd. This got me reading poetry again which is something that I find really helps me get centered. There’s a simplification of words there that doesn’t happen in the other stuff that I read regularly, even blogs.
• I started to find the coffee shops, book stores, clothing stores and odds-and-ends shops that I hope will be places that I can go for self-expression over the next several months.
• I discovered the art museum associated with the college and put it on my list of things to visit in the next month. Also on this list I’ve put seeing a dance performance at Ashkenaz, music at Freight & Salvage, and theater at the Berkeley Repertory Theater. These are things that I hope will be ongoing sources of inspiration.

Because Berkeley is going to be a place that I’m going to be spending a lot of time, I was more focused on doing research for future sources of inspiration than really experiencing the creative moments available to me here right now. That sense of excitement about stuff that’s to come is, in itself, a great source of inspiration. I feel excited to see where I am which I think provides a great perspective for taking a new approach to work.

Tomorrow kicks off Chinatown month … who knows what I’ll discover in that famous San Francisco neighborhood?!

Question of the Day: Can you share something about Berkeley with me that I haven’t learned yet?

[Tags] berkeley, inspiration, writing, projects, creative, vinograd, chabot [/Tags]

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In addition to the many jobs that I have writing about technology, business and Web 2.0., I have a rather fun gig writing the content for The Dating Weblog. This blog is all about the world of online dating, the sites that are making headlines in that industry and the way that people interact online for romantic purposes. The other day, I was simultaneously looking for new news in the online dating world while perusing jobs for additional freelance writing gigs. And what I realized while doing this is that there isn’t a whole lot of difference between searching online for a writing job and searching online for a romantic match.

Here are just some of the similarities that I have seen between the freelance writing job search and the online dating partner hunt:

• Some posts are easily dismissable, others turn into brief affairs. When I apply for online writing jobs, several things might happen. Scenario one: I see a post for a job I like and respond but get no response back. Scenario two: I see a post for a job I might be interested in, get a response back and realize it’s not a good match. Scenario three: I apply and get a job, try it out a few times and decide that I don’t like working with the employer after all. Scenario four: I find a job that works for me and I work well for the employer and we create a lasting relationship. The only difference with online dating is that in online dating, people sometimes approach you first; but if you’re posting a resume on job boards then the same thing may happen with writing jobs.
• There are a plethora of sites to choose from but there aren’t many that are right for one person. There are literally hundreds of websites online devoted to listing different freelance writing jobs. There are also hundreds of different websites for various types of online dating. Some are well-known and often used (Freelance Writing Jobs, Match.com). Others are for specific niche interests (NASW Members Science Writing Job Site, Farmers Only dating site). Each individual needs to sift through the different sites out there to see which ones work best for them.
• Paying for access to a site may or may not make a difference in your level of success. There are sites out there for both types of search that require a paid subscription. There are also free sites. Some people find that they do best on paying job sites where the competition is lower. Likewise with dating sites where the people there are probably more serious about making a match. But some find that free sites suit their needs without the commitment of money.
• You can spot the regulars. When you search daily for online writing jobs, you see a few ads keep cropping up. Before even clicking on a headline, you know that a particular link is just going to take you to a blog network where you can sign up to be a revenue-based blogger. Likewise, spending enough time on a dating site will allow you to pick out the people who troll there daily for date after date.
• You have to keep an eye out for scams. In addition to the annoying regulars, there are people out there to scam you. With writing jobs, it’s often that you’re asked to complete highly specific samples for a company that turns out to not be hiring anyone at all - just taking your samples and using them for their own business. With dating, there are people out there who try to defraud you after you’ve fallen for them romantically. Common sense and a cautious eye can help keep you safe from both types of predators.
• It’s wise to check out the competition. When I’m applying for writing jobs, I like to know how I compare to others who might apply. While I can’t know for sure who is and isn’t applying, I can stay on top of the writing world by paying attention to the blogs of other writers. This gives me ideas on what I can do better and helps me add the right things to my own resume. In dating, you can sometimes get the attention of others on the site by figuring out what sets you apart from the competition online and highlighting that.
• Craigslist works for both of them. I have seen successful writing jobs come out of the posts on Craigslist. And believe it or not, I’ve also seen successful relationships come from posting on their personals section. In both cases, it requires sifting through a whole lot of nonsense to find the gems but in both cases, it was worth it.
• You should update yourself on the sites. Whether or not you post job resumes on a website, you should keep your online profile and portfolio up to date. This helps to secure the best jobs. Similarly, using a new picture and a fresh profile on your dating sites will lead to better responses from fresh matches.
• It can get addictive. Even when I have plenty of work to keep me busy, I find myself heading to the freelance sites to make sure I’m not missing out on anything. And I know people in happy and committed relationships who still see what’s going on in their old online dating world just in case there’s something a little bit better out there. This is okay until it starts interfering with the jobs and relationships that you have going for you.

There are many similarities between searching for jobs online and searching for life partners online. They both require taking the time to find the right sites. They both involve some trial-and-error, some short relationships and the potential for a lot of success. And they both demand that you be online and active if you want to get the best results.

Question of the Day: Have I missed any other similarities between the two?

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[Tags] writing, dating, online, gigs, internet, freelance, jobs, employment, job search [/Tags]

One of the annual projects that I had planned on executing this year was to read all the books by (and all the material I could get my hands on about) author Milan Kundera. Unfortunately, as I started this project, I found that I wasn’t enjoying Kundera’s books as much as I’d thought I would. Although I still love the first Kundera book that I fell in love with (Identity), I quickly saw that his other books didn’t fill me with the kind of inspiration that I was hoping to get out of the project.

I decided I’d probably select another author for the project and was leaning towards Somerset Maugham when I stumbled across Armistead Maupin. Maupin is the author of a series of books called Tales of the City that is set in San Francisco. I love this city that I call home and am always excited when I discover anything that gives me a new look at it. The first book in the series, also titled Tales of the City, mentions many different places and occurrences in San Francisco at the time that the book was written (1978). This gives me a chance to see how the city has changed from the details mentioned there to the way I know the city to be now.

But what really interests me about this author is the style of writing that it displays. Here’s where I’ll reveal a secret about myself: I like chick lit. I don’t read it often. I don’t think it’s necessarily the most inspiring or creative genre out there. And I’m not too girly so a lot of the details of it tend to seem frivolous to me. But on a day when I want fluff to read, chick lit is my genre of choice (followed closely by true crime novels). And what I’m finding here is that Maupin seems to be the original chick lit writer. Years before the genre had a name, this man managed to get to the heart of the wit that’s behind this kind of writing.

Of course, Tales of the City doesn’t stick specifically within the chick lit genre which is probably why I like it so much. It tells the tales of women (and men) in the city from the perspective of an open-minded San Francisco swinging kind of place. And there are some great turns of phrase in the book that make it literary as well as fun. More importantly, to me anyhow, is the fact that the book does a great job of creating a whole series of characters and then intertwining them over time. This is something I don’t do well in my own creative writing and aspire to do better at so it’s exciting to find an example of it that I can pattern some ideas on.

There are seven books in the series as well as a few other books that Maupin has under his belt so this should keep me busy for awhile. That makes me happy since I was hoping to have a reading goal this year. I really do think that getting to know an author’s works from the beginning to the end allows a writer a chance to explore the creative process from the inside out. I’m looking forward to the chance to do that with Maupin!

Because my work is scattered in so many different places across the blogosphere, I like to keep track of my favorite posts here on this blog. Hopefully this helps the folks who are interested in my writing to find the best material that I’ve got. These are the recent posts that I’ve made that I’m favoring at the moment:

• Technology as Necessity and Tech Tips for Teachers at MacWorld Mac-Forums
• Can VoIP Fly and Emerging Technology: Voice Mashups at PC World’s Phone Connection
• Financial Planning for the Past, Present and Future and How To Recycle Electronics at HubPages
• What to Buy From Airline Catalogs at Hotels Cheap Discount Travel Blog
• Honesty in ExtraMarital Affairs at Dating Weblog
• Young Patient Makes Progress in Treating Own Cancer at Picture Your Future
• Avoid Plastic Surgery Regret at The New Me

As for the posts on this site, Reading for Creativity is the one I’m most happy with.

Share your own favorite posts from the week so you can send people to your work as well. Just stick a comment here with the link.

I have a post up today over at Pureblogging which reflects on how important it is for bloggers to read books about blogging. The underlying assumption of the post is that all writers benefit from reading different types of writing. I try to make sure that my own reading agenda includes blog posts, in-depth online articles, magazines and books. I also try to make sure that the content of that reading material is varied. I believe that this helps to broaden my own experience of life as well as to inspire my own writing.

Although I do think that any type of reading at all can do this, I find that it’s useful for me as a writer to read books that are specifically about creativity and the creative process. I don’t, however, limit myself to reading books that are about writing. In fact, I have found that books about creativity in general tend to be more useful to me than books that are specifically about getting my writing going. Rather than writing prompts, I prefer reading about how to make my entire life more creative. A life lived artistically is a life that has inspiration around every turn.

It’s probably no surprise that the first book like this that I discovered was The Artist’s Way. It was years ago that I came across this famous book and worked through the exercises to unleash some of my creativity. I have since read several of Julia Cameron’s books and although I don’t always do the twelve-week process that they’re all about, I do find that I can get some refreshed inspiration here and there by reading through her ideas on creativity. Even the series of quotes lining the margins of her books is often a source of new ideas for me.

The most recent book that I read on creative living was Living Artfully by Sandra Magsamen. This book provides tips, anecdotes and examples of bringing creativity into your daily life. It touches on everything from creativity in your home decor to artistic ways of making your holidays more special. I particularly liked certain tips (such as using empty wine bottles as unique picture frames). But more than this, I found that taking the time each morning to read a few pages really got my creative juices going. This inspired me to provide creative ideas to others in some of my blog posts (see examples here and here) as well as to be more creative in my own personal projects.

In fact, it helped me to come up with many of the projects that I’m working on this year for my own personal development, including the neighborhoods project which I mentioned here in the blog recently. And because of that, I’ve added another goal to the list which is to fill an entire shelf on my bookcase with the  books on creativity that I read this year.

Seeking Input: What other books on creativity should I add to this year’s reading list?

At the end of each year, I set forth some goals for what I would like to accomplish in the New Year. These aren’t resolutions in the traditional sense. Instead, they are a series of projects that I work on throughout the year. By writing them down on paper, I find that I am more likely to work towards accomplishing them. And although they are often unrelated to writing, they are all projects which add information and excitement to my life - something which ultimately results in better writing throughout the years.

Here are some of the annual projects that I’ve got going as a source of inspiration for 2008:

• Neighborhood project. By far, the project that I’m most excited about this year is the neighborhood exploration project that I started. I live in San Francisco, a city that is filled with distinct neighborhoods that each offer their own type of experience. Now that I’ve been here a few years, I stopped really getting outside of my comfort zone and found myself sticking to the same neighborhoods. The neighborhood project is designed to get me out and about again, learning my city.  I chose one neighborhood per month and the goal is just to spend time there, to learn about it online and to find places there that I enjoy. For the first month, I cheated a bit on the definition of “neighborhood” and chose to explore the East Bay, primarily Berkeley, because I had some other things going on over there this month anyway. So far the best thing I’ve checked out there is Lake Chabot - and the hiking trails around it - in East Bay Regional Park.
• Hiking. This also helped jumpstart one of my other ‘projects’ which is to go hiking in a new spot at least once a month. I really believe that physical activity helps to rejuvenate the spirit and get your mind into a clearer place, something that is crucial to being able to write well.
• Milan Kundera project. I often say that Milan Kundera is one of my favorite authors. However, I’ve really only read two of his books and that was many years ago. This project consists of reading all of his books sometime in 2008. Unfortunately, I’m finding that I don’t seem to love the writing as much as I thought I did. I think it might be that I’m not in a mood for heavy writing this week though so I’m going to give it another chance again soon before dismissing the project. I may end up choosing another author in the end (Somerset Maugham comes to mind).
• Ryan Phillippe project. Likewise, I say that this is my favorite actor (Playing by Heart and Crash were favorite movies of mine) but I haven’t seen him in too many things. He has a diverse range of roles and I think it’s good to expose yourself to different creative mediums - such as film - so I’m going to check out all of his movies this year. This started with 54 which reinspired me to start checking out some of the art from that time period again.
• 20 wines project. I only became a wine drinker in the last couple of years so I don’t really know that many wines. I’ve been wanting to learn more about which ones I like and which ones I don’t. Maybe I’ll even start to notice which kinds go with which foods! My goal was to try twenty new wines this year … and to do some research learning more about them as well. I’m already way ahead on this project so I might need to modify it. Let the wine flow!

I believe that inspiration comes from a variety of sources. Writing is drawn from the experiences that we have in life. Fresh experiences translates to fresh writing. Besides, life is healthier and more exciting when you’re learning new things and having new experiences!

Question of the Day: What do you think of annual projects as inspiration throughout the year?

I’m halfway through my week of reporting on MacWorld for Mac-Forums. It’s been a great week so far but it’s also been a really tiring one. I’d forgotten how exhausting it can be to be out and about doing the 9-5 thing! It’s funny, because I generally put in more than an eight hour day. But there’s something about doing it from the comfort of home, without a commute or the sensory overload of a shared office, that makes it a much more relaxing experience.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m thrilled to be at MacWorld this week. I’ve had a chance to learn about all sorts of different gadgets and applications. I’ve met people associated with EFF and people putting out cool magazines that I didn’t know about until now. And today I got the chance to hear some really awesome guest speakers talk about some topics that interested me. I am enjoying every minute.

But I’m also coming home at the end of the day totally ready to just veg out! Of course, in addition to the MacWorld Expo, I’ve to the rest of my fulltime work to keep me busy. So I don’t truly have the opportunity to just relax when I get home. But I’m trying to keep that always important life-work balance in mind to make sure that all of my work is as good as it should be.

There are half a dozen posts about writing that I’ve been planning to get into this blog but I haven’t had a chance to do any of them. That’s because I’m swamped with other work and I’m trying to cram the work into a shortened time frame because I’m going to be out-of-office all next week. The reason for that is something exciting. I’m going to be spending the week at the MacWorld Expo here in San Francisco.

I’ll be blogging about what I learn at MacWorld over at Mac-Forums.com. You get a sample of what you can expect from my by checking out my first pre-Expo post: PC-to-Mac Convert Heads to Macworld. It explains why I’m making the switch and what I hope attending the expo will do to assist me in the transition. Anyone with an interest in the Expo should head over there throughout the week to get additional information about everything our team is finding out.

Today is Monday which means that it’s my Friday. I’m still learning the ins and outs of working a 5 Day Week that doesn’t have normal days off. It’s what works best for me but there’s an adjustment period of figuring out the details with clients since they, of course, work a Monday through Friday week. It seems to be working out for the most part. I think the fact that I am almost always able to guarantee a quick turnaround for my work is a big contributing factor as to why those two days off in the middle of the week don’t affect my clients too much.

I’ve thought a lot about the turnaround thing and why that is. Many of the writers that I’ve worked with in the past, particularly when I was running MoKa House and needed writers to turn stuff into me, have required far longer turnaround times than what I usually need to get the job done. Part of the reason is because I do write quickly. But most of the reason is that I am organized with my work. It’s amazing what a high level of organization will do to make work go in and out quickly. I’m not sure how I got blessed with an organized brain but it’s definitely something which makes my work flow more smoothly.

As such, the week of work went well. Here are some of the highlights from what I’ve written since the work week began on Thursday:

• VoIP Philosophy: Wirearchy
• Blogging and Blog Commenting Etiquette
• Two Gay Men Donate Sperm to Surrogate Mom
• Gain Weight Safely
• Emotional and Physical Tips for Making your Bed
• Gracefully Back Down from an Argument
• Check your Finger Size for Osteoarthritis Risk
• ASPS Refutes Three Common Concerns about Silicone Breast Implants
• Reverse Mortgage Seniors Should Celebrate Organize Your Home Day
• Improved Technology Reduces Risk of CT Scans

Now I’m going to go enjoy my “weekend”!

Perhaps you’ve wondered why I didn’t bother to post anything in December. It’s because I took the month of December off. Okay, that’s not entirely true. I did my normal jobs and kept on working at the projects that I had already started. But I also took a big chunk of December to myself, to sort out what my writing goals are and to figure out what was and wasn’t working for me in my work. I think it’s important to take the time to do this every now and then so that you can move forward with the work that’s good for you and let go of the work that’s not quite working. December seemed like a perfect month for this because there’s very little new work coming through during the holiday season.

This blog was one of the things that I opted to let slide while sorting through my work because I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do with it. I thought that taking the time to figure out what it meant to me and what I wanted to share here was a better use of my time than throwing up some random posts. So it was quiet here - not because there was no news but because the news was still in the making. And now it’s January, and I’m ready to ramp it up again.

So why wasn’t I around for the past couple of days? Well, one of the things that I learned in December is that I really do need days off. I’ve been going full force for a long time, rarely taking any days at all off of work. That’s not healthy for anyone, even when you love what you do. In early December, I took the first laptop-free vacation that I’d taken in years. And it was wonderful. It rejuvenated me. It made me feel creative again. And I realized that I need some no-technology days in my life if I’m going to be able to really give my work my best. So Tuesdays and Wednesdays are my offical days off for 2008.

As you can see now, it’s Thursday and I’m back to work. You can even see some of my stuff online today at the usual sites including a post that I’m quite proud of over at PureBlogging on the topic of blog etiquette and the basic rules of respect that commenters should follow on blogs. A few of the other posts that are live today are about CT scan advances, a tattoo removal book, an infertility movie and the use of viral videos for getting dates online.

This blog will be updated regularly now (at least weekly) with links to other posts, updates about big projects, and random thoughts about writing. I hope you’ll come back and share your thoughts with me!