Real Words

I received an email last week letting me know that this blog had been included in a list of the 30 Finest Creative Writing Blogs of 2009 that was published by the Online Colleges and Universities website. (Scroll down past the featured schools list on that page to see the list.) I enjoy their site, which often features terrific writing tips an resources, so it made me happy to see that this blog was included there.

I was also happy to see myself in some great company. Here’s a look at the other 29 blogs that were included on their list (in alphabetical order):

1. · Advanced Fiction Writing Blog
2. · Apostrophe Abuse
3. · Becoming a Fiction Writer
4. · Becoming a Writer – Seriously
5. · Blue Pencil Editing
6. · Cheryl Rainfield
7. · Fiction Writers Review
8. · Future Perfect Publishing
9. · Gareth Powell
10. · Inkygirl
11. · Internet Writing Workshop
12. · Jeremiah Tolbert
13. · John Baker
14. · Men with Pens
15. · Mike’s Writing Workshop
16. · Neil Gaiman
17. · Paperback Writer
18. · Renegade Writer
19. · SF Signal
20. · The Orwell Prize
21. · The Poetry Blog
22. · The Urban Muse
23. · Thursdaybram
24. · Tom Conoboy
25. · Working Girl
26. · Write Anything
27. · Write to Done
28. · Writing for the Web
29. · Writing Words

My big writing project for 2010 is to go through all of the old writing that I’ve been meaning to go through for years. I have tons of projects that relate to this. I’ve got old files on my computer that need to be organized, some of which can be deleted and others that can be re-worked into new articles. I have an entire box of old scraps of writing that date back more than ten years. I have several poetry and fiction projects that were started and have been ignored. It’s my goal to go through these, save the stuff I’m actually going to use, mine some insights wherever I can and then toss the rest. The goal here is to clear out the old writing (either by using it or tossing it) in order to make room for new writing.

What I’ve discovered is that it’s not easy to accomplish this task (which is why I’ve been starting and stopping it and putting it off for so long). But I think I’ve found a system that works for me. Here it is:

Identify all of the writing to go through

The first step for me had to be to get organized enough to know what I wanted to look through. Then I needed to prioritize. The main things I want to look through are computer files, that box of writing and my unfinished projects. I prioritized them in that order.

Define clear goals for what to do with the writing

My biggest problem with going through my writing has always been that I don’t really know what to do with it as I’m going through it. Sure, there are some scraps that I clearly just need to toss but mostly there’s a bunch of stuff that may or may not be useful to me in some form. Defining exactly what I’m looking for as I go through my writing makes it a lot easier to actually sort through it. For me, the goals are:

• Repurpose any work that can be used somewhere else. This goal needed to be even clearer so I had to set specific things that I was looking for such as writing to use in my personal blogs, writing to repurpose for clients, writing to turn into magazine articles for specific magazines … By defining this, I am able to do a much better job of organizing existing writing for new uses.
• Look for any insights into myself. Much of my writing, especially on those scraps of paper, reminds me of things about myself that I had forgotten. That’s why it’s so hard to get rid of some of it. What I’m doing is setting aside anything that provides specific insight and then journalling about it now before I get rid of those original pieces of writing.
• Save any great lines. Usually there are only one or two great lines of writing in a whole stack of papers. I’m learning to look for those and then set them aside while getting rid of the rest of the writing junk that is there.

I make my living as a full-time professional blogger. Because of this, I obviously have tried a lot of different methods of getting blogging jobs. Each method has its own pros and cons. Here’s what those are based on my own experience.

1. Apply for advertised jobs. The most common way to get blogging jobs is to apply for the jobs that are being advertised. You can check out the Problogger Job Board or Deb Ng’s daily blogging leads to find these jobs.

Pros: These companies are definitely looking for bloggers, the work is available, you can find a lot of leads at once.

Cons: Everyone else is applying this way, too, so you are facing stiff competition. Your application can easily get lost in the crowd.

2. Attend classes for people interested in blogging. There are many classes given for people who want to learn more about blogging to help their businesses. Attend these and bring your business cards along to get new jobs.

Pros: These people are certainly interested in having a blog and they don’t really know how to do it on their own.

Cons: Not many - I’ve actually found this to be the best method of getting new jobs as a blogger. The biggest difficulties are probably scheduling your time to fit in these classes and making sure that you’re talkative enough there so that people know what you do. Additionally, you’ll find all different types of businesses represented at these classes so you might not succeed if you’re looking to blog in a certain niche.

3. Attend networking events in your niche. If you do want to blog in a certain niche then attending networking events, trade shows and Meetups around that niche is a great way to meet people who may want you to blog for them.

Pros: You’ll meet people who don’t necessarily already have a blogger and could use your services in a writing niche that interests you.

Cons: These people may or may not want blogging help. It can take time for these connections to lead to real blogging jobs. You have to really promote yourself at these events to get the work.

4. Email or cold call businesses you’d like to blog for. Identify businesses that you want to blog for. These may have existing blogs that you believe you could develop or they may not yet have blogs. Contact them via phone or email with information about your services.

Pros: You’re tapping into jobs where there is a lot less competition. You’ll get to work with businesses that really interest you since you’ve identified them.

Cons: These people aren’t necessarily seeking a blogger so you’ll face a lot of rejection while you’re looking for work. It can take a lot of time and follow-up to make these leads work.

5. Create a great blog of your own and let people know you’d like to blog for them. If you have a terrific blog that you promote around the web then people will eventually seek out your services. Let them know on the blog how to reach you as a blogger-for-hire.

Pros: These people already know your style and want to hire you for the work that you do.

Cons: It takes awhile to build up the kind of reputation that will have people knocking at your door. This requires patience.

How do you get blogging jobs? What are the pros and cons of your method?

When I first wrote up my personal statement for my application to law school, I struggled over every word, trying desperately to fit the nuanced details of a life full of changing decisions in to what amounted to a five-paragraph essay. In the copy of my first draft of the paper which I have tucked away in to a scrapbook, there is a bulleted outline of my working life. It reads:

· Age 15 – began full-time employment at daycare

· Age 16 – receptionist at civil engineering office

· Age 17 – dropped out of high school, certified in massage therapy

· Age 18 – traveling portrait photographer

· Age 19 – founded non-profit working with incarcerated adults

· Age 21 – developed literary magazine for said non-profit

· Age 22 – group home staff worker

· Age 23 – completed manuscript about group home staff experience

· Age 23 – certified in therapeutic in-home foster care

· Age 24 – finished four year college degree in two years of full-time school

I remember staring down at that piece of paper and thinking that all it looked like was a litany of, “I started and then I quit, I started and then I quit”. I hadn’t even bothered to list the numerous bookstore, barista, babysitting and bartending jobs I’d begun and then backed away from off and on and off and on throughout the duration of my short life.

Staring at the list, I put my pen to the page and began to scrawl. I wrote lines and lines about why I had left each job that I had started. It was probably the most cathartic writing experience I had ever had in my life. I learned, through a close look at my own ebbs and flows, about the motions of my own internal alterations. And what I saw when I looked at the final pages summarizing my life was that I was not someone who always started and quit things. Instead, I was a girl who was not afraid to say that something wasn’t working for me anymore and to move on to something else which might. I was a girl who was interested in having as many new experiences as she possibly could and being okay with letting one lead in to the next.

In the end, I sized that multi-page self-realization in to a concise description of why I would be able to meet the challenges of law school with an efficiency and dedication which would wow the school’s staff and make marks upon the world around me. The funny thing was that despite those layers of self-knowledge I was staring at, I had completely convinced myself that law school was the right path for me. I was certain that I had finally figured out what was exactly right for my changing life, sure even that I could continue to change within the boundaries of that profession without compromising my own free spirit.

I began law school with the kind of gusto with which I begin all of my endeavors. I fell head over heels in love with legal language and buried myself happily in books as children will bury themselves in the sands of beaches. This experience was going to be just another step on the boardwalk of my life and I was excited about the chance to wind my way along the coast of this new career.

But, alas, the excitement was short-lived. I liked law school well-enough, but I have never been a woman suited to a life of structure. I was fine on days when I had no class and I could linger in coffee shops, reading my books and working on cases. But on days when I had to go to class, it was a struggle to force myself to conform. Every fiber of my being fought against my logical insistence that it was just class and that I could go; I felt weighted down by my own insistence that I stick to the plan.

Lying in bed one day when I was supposed to be attending a seminar for my contracts class, I came across that life list in my old scrapbook. I remembered the fervor with which I had crafted every word of that essay. And I remembered that what I had always wanted to be was a writer. I wasn’t certain what that meant. I didn’t know what I would write. Or for that matter, how I would pay my bills without the security of a law firm check coming my way every two weeks.

But I knew one thing for certain: every time that I had quit something in my life, I had left behind an important chapter of my personal story to move on to an even better selection. My life is not a book with a neat and tidy plot, a single climax and an ultimate ending. Instead, my life is a library full of books. That day, I walked away from a law school career as easily as I had walked away from the bartending jobs that hadn’t even made the cut on my life list of career-ending decisions. Today, I am a writer. In total, I have about ten years of professional writing experience behind me from various positions. I’ve been a full-time professional web writer and blogger for nearly five years now. So I can confidently say that I won’t quit this work anytime soon. But who knows? I’ve never regretted quitting anything yet!

I recently started working as a blogger for a company that I really like. The company is Edgi Clothing, a Bay Area tshirt company that has really cool clothing designs and a great philosophy behind their business. I’m writing blog posts about tshirts, fashion, and indie creativity for the blog. And I’m loving it - not only because the work is fun but because this is a client that I can really support.

I’m lucky to be in a position right now where I’m able to work with clients who are doing things that I find interesting. I get to collaborate with cool creative people who are making and promoting interesting products, products I’d want to buy or share with others. I get to be a part of teams that have strong beliefs that I can align myself with. It’s a great place to be in as a writer / professional blogger.

It was not always this way. When I was a new freelancer, or when money has gotten tight, I’ve done writing jobs that weren’t so in line with my passions. I’ve written for companies that didn’t interest me. I’ve done jobs that were more like sales for products that I would not have bought myself. I’ve worked as an independent contractor with businesses that I didn’t care to become more team-like with.

I won’t deny that those jobs sometimes pay the bills but I will insist that it’s a lot better to work with clients that you care about whenever you get the opportunity to do so. Working for companies that you enjoy and believe in leads to many benefits including:

• The work is more interesting to you.
• Your work day flies by because you’re really into it.
• You get to meet and work with people who like the things that you do.
• You spend time researching things that interest you and end up learning more about the stuff that you like to know about.
• Your work ends up being of better quality because your passion shines through.
• You can be a lot more proud of the work that you’re doing.

I recently went on a tour of the Mission District here in San Francisco. (Learn more about that from Diary of a Smart Chick). One of the things that I noticed was that there was a lot of text incorporated into the murals. Combined with the images of the murals and the stories behind them it all looked like poetry (and of course some of it was intended to be that way. Here’s a glance at the writing in murals:

There is a really terrific post over at Problogger about blogging rules and how a real blogger might want to break them. There are all of these different rules that bloggers know that they’re supposed to follow to write a “good” post. You know the ones - write a catchy headline, do a lot of lists, use bullets, use proper spacing, keep it short and sweet …

There are some really good reasons that a blogger wants to do all of these things. It has to do with the likelihood of having your posts read and shared by other people around the web. However, as Problogger points out, it takes a lot out of the creativity of blogging. That, in turn, takes a lot of the fun out of blogging.

Remember back to the days when blogs were still called weblogs and they read like personal journal entries? The reason that we loved this medium when it first emerged was because it leveled the playing field for all writers and let readers into their inside worlds. You lose that when you start writing just to get links.

So take a tip from Problogger. Throw out the rules now and then. Write lengthy titles. Ramble on instead of making short sweet lists. Share your own thoughts without linking to other people. Use flowery language. Dare to be creative in your blogging!!