Real Words

I spent the past weekend reformatting my entire computer. This was not a short process. It involved backing up all of my files which I don’t do nearly as often as I should considering how important it is for me to save many of the documents that I write. Then I had to do the actual reformatting and then the updating and then the transfer of important files back to my computer.

Mostly, this process went smoothly (due in no small part to the fact that I had help from my IT guy and didn’t even do a lot of it myself). And the computer is now in really good shape without the problems that it was having before and with increased RAM which makes it easier to do many different things from my laptop.

The one thing that didn’t go smoothly though was that I somehow managed to fail to save my Feeds. I saved my favorites and my files but I forgot my feeds. This means that my long list of writing blogs that I check daily to read is now gone. I am in the process of recreating the list now. Many of these blogs are blogs that I love enough to remember them easily but some were ones I just read now and then and who knows if I’ll ever remember them and read them again.

I’m sad about the loss. But when life gives you lemons, right? I decided that this was a really great time to learn about new writing blogs so I’m putting a call out to all of you. Please send me the links to any blogs about writing, blogging and freelancing. Include your own blog, of course, as well as the blogs that you read regularly on this topic (let’s share the love and support our favorite bloggers!)

Leave it in the comments.

I have found through conversations with other people who write for a living that most of us have the same problem when it comes to our personal writing projects. That problem is that we don’t take them seriously enough as “real work” to make time for them in our work days. We make sure that we take care of our other writing first because “that’s what pays the bills” and often end up having no time left for those writing projects that really excite us.

I’m working on a few different projects right now that I do for myself and not for money. A couple of my blogs are this way, the poetry project I mentioned earlier this week in the post on collaboration is this way and it is this way with the book that I’m working on which is based on my blog San Francisco is Sexy. I am excited to have these projects going on because they are writing that comes from my heart instead of from a job application that I made at one point or another.

However I do easily fall into that trap of putting off this writing while working on my paid writing gigs. It’s not so much a problem with the blogs. I’ve gotten into the habit of writing my blogs during my normally scheduled workday due in part to the fact that these blogs link to my other work and promote it so it feels kind of like “real work”. But I’ve definitely had to learn to make time in my work day for the poetry and book projects.

It’s easier said than done. At the start of each week, I commit to spending a certain amount of time on this work. Then things get busy, plans get changed, deadlines creep up on me and I find myself struggling to get everything done. At the end of the week, I haven’t worked on these projects much and I find that I either have the choice of not working on them at all or of taking my free time on my weekend to work on them. Neither is really preferable to me.

Slowly, but surely, I am learning how to set aside a chunk of time during each work day to devote to these projects. Right now it’s just half an hour per day but that adds up to about ten hours per month and that adds up to something tangible in front of me on the computer. I do this because I want to take my own projects as seriously as I take those projects that I’m being paid to complete.

What do you do to make sure that you have time for personal writing projects even though you work on writing for a living?

One of the things that I really love to do to get inspiration as a writer is to attend open mic events, poetry slams and literary readings where people read their writings from the stage. I think it’s great to experience the written word in the spoken format. It changes it, adds a new dimension and makes it something slightly new.

Attending these events always inspires me. Sometimes I hear a word or phrase that sparks something for my own writing. Sometimes I consider exploring a new form of writing after hearing it aloud.  And sometimes it’s just the energy of the crowd that makes me want to write.

What’s interesting is how many different types of writing events there are and how different each one is in terms of the energy and ambience of the event. Some of the ones that I most commonly attend include:

• Open mic poetry events. This is where people of any age and writing level sign up on a list and get to read their own work for a certain amount of time. These can vary widely in style depending on the host and may even end up more like a variety show with comedians and musicians being included. I typically find these events to be interesting (albeit slightly overstimulating) because of the diversity of the group that comes to read although this, again, can vary a lot depending on venue.
• Poetry slams. I discovered these back in my college days and then lost touch with them again until just the past few months. These are events where people sign up to compete against each other for cash prizes. They get a certain amount of time to read one poem which is voted on by a set of audience members. Here it’s more about the performance than the words themselves (although the words matter) so you get a totally different vibe that’s almost more like theatre than poetry reading.
• Multiple writers reading together at an event. One of my favorite writing events in San Francisco is Writers with Drinks. At this event, five or six different authors are invited on stage to read from their works for about fifteen minutes each. They get enough time to really explore their genre but you get exposed to the writing of several different people. This is usually less intense than a poetry slam but not as laidback as most open mics I’ve been to. Each author brings his or her own following so there’s a lot of support and you really sense a writer’s community at things like this.
• Single writers reading their work. This is what you typically get when you have an author reading at a book signing in a store. They read a specific work for an extended period of time so you really get to know the work. Then they usually take questions so it’s a great way to learn a lot about a writer’s process. However, I usually don’t love these events unless I’m specifically interested in the author and have read at least some of his or her work.
• Erotica readings and performances. There is a whole other set of literary readings which is geared entirely around sex. Sometimes these are erotica authors reading from their books at book signings. Other times they are open mics of erotic poems. Or sex workers’ performance art shows that include authors reading. Whatever the format, the underlying vibe of these is sexuality so it’s a different feeling than what’s at other writer’s events.

What other types of events do you go to where writers read their works?

As mentioned briefly yesterday in my blog carnival round up post, I have started a new blog called Diary of a Smart Chick. The purpose of the new blog is to serve as a place where I can compile information about my writing across all of the many different topic areas that interest me.

For a long time I have been trying to figure out the best way to keep an ongoing online record of all of my work. I write across so many different websites and topics that there’s never seemed to be a great way to do that. Although I’ve started using social networking sites like Twitter to let people know about blog and article updates, I haven’t found a good place to keep that information stored online.

In some ways, I’ve tried to do that from this blog. This blog is primarily about my experience as a web writer so it makes sense to use it to link to my writing around the web. However, I have always wanted this blog to be more about what it means to me to a be a writer each day than to serve as a showcase for my work. So I’ve tried to limit how much I link out to my other writing, especially writing that isn’t about writing and blogging and Web 2.0 issues.

I realized recently that I could create a whole blog devoted to the different topics that I cover regularly in my work. This coincided well with realizing that I wasn’t going to follow through on another project that I’d been toying around with for about six months. You see, Diary of a Smart Chick originally started as a website that was going to pull together news feeds from my twelve favorite topic areas. I was planning to discuss that news there and then allow for social networking about those topics on the site. But the logistics of doing that stopped making sense and I never finished creating the site. Now the site will serve the purpose of discussing those same twelve topic areas through the lens of my work around the web.

I hope that you’ll check it out as it develops. It’s only just launched so March is the trial period of beginning to post and discuss my work links. I’d love some feedback on what other writers think about blogs that are designed primarily for the purpose of compiling links to your web work in one place. How have other writes been doing this?

Most people don’t have the chance to visit a blog like this one on a daily basis. Instead, they check in now and again to see what’s going on over here and get the latest news. For those people who are interested in knowing what happened here in February, here’s a roundup of the best Real Words posts this month:

First, there were several posts related to Valentine’s Day, love and writing:

• 17 Things to Write for Valentine’s Day. Or really anytime you want to write something for someone you love.
• 20 Great Things About Dating a Writer. Because I think everyone should try it at least once!
• Writers Dating Writers. Because sometimes it’s not all peaches and cream.
• A List Of Ways To Say I Love You.

And then there were some other posts that might interest you:

• Valuing What We Write Well. A recent post about how writers often de-value the writing that comes most easily to them.
• Rituals, Routines and Habits for Writers. Writers should develop routines that keep them writing and being creative.
• Memories of Writing to Pen Pals. Appreciation for the many forms of the written word.
• Revealing Your Writing Rates. Do you? Should you?
• A Writer’s Weekends. Not everyone takes their days off on Saturday and Sunday. Here’s why.
• Hundreds of Resources for Writers. A few links that take you to hundreds more!

Also please check out my RSS feeds.

Which was your favorite Real Words post this month? What would you like to see on the blog in March?

It’s the end of the month so I’ve been taking stock of how my articles are doing on various sites such as HubPages, eHow and Bukisa. I’m reviewing the articles that didn’t really get any web attention so that I can learn why that might be, direct traffic their way and write better articles in the future.

Here’s a look at some of my HubPages articles articles that didn’t get any web attention this month and the reason I think that may be:

• Everyone’s Favorite Holiday Gifts. The reason that this one isn’t getting web attention right now seems obvious – it’s not the season for anyone to be thinking about the holidays! Likewise with my article on Rules of Re-Gifting.
• Small Business Guide: Networking to Help Market Your Small Business. There are a few reasons why this article probably isn’t getting noticed. For one, it’s a really old article from back in 2007. For another, it’s quite a short article. And finally, it offers general thoughts but no real tips or advice so it’s probably not as useful as it could have been.
• Giving to Charity Responsibility. The brevity and general-ness of this article probably also contributes to its lack of traffic. Also, maybe people aren’t looking at giving away money during the recession!
• Door Gate Operating Advice. This is an exaple of a keyword-based article that serves only a small percentage of searches and doesn’t play a big role in what’s going on in the Internet today. It’s an old article and it’s not too surprising that it’s not getting attention. I think it served its purpose in its time and now that time has passed.
• London’s Best Museums. This is a short article on some of London’s best museums. My best guess as to why it isn’t getting traffic is that maybe it’s not comprehensive or detailed enough to interest London visitors.
• Ideas for Getting Free High Speed Internet. I’m not quite sure why this one didn’t see traffic this month since I think it’s a solid article on a good topic related to issues of both technology and personal finance. Maybe there are just too many articles like it out there that are getting hit first?
• 6 Steps To Getting Your Book Reviewed on a Blog. This is another one I’m a bit puzzled by. I think it’s a good topic with some solid advice that is useful to people in this position. Perhaps my keywords aren’t right for attracting attention to this one?

I would love some thoughts from you on why any of these web articles might not be getting attention. Share in the comments!

People who come to check out this blog are probably mostly interested in the thoughts that I share on writing. Hopefully if you’re a regular here you’ve already subscribed to the RSS feed for this blog. That’s terrific and I’m glad. If you do like my writing, you may also be interested in subscribing to some of the other RSS feeds for my work. Those feeds include:

• San Francisco is Sexy. This is my local San Francisco blog about everything sexy that’s happening in San Francisco. If you’re interested in the city and have a bit of a risque side then you might like the posts on this RSS feed.
• Hub Pages. I have written over 350 articles for HubPages over the past two years and continue writing there regularly. I love to explore a diverse range of different topics over on this site including personal finance, health, relationships, technology, web stuff and travel pieces.
• Bukisa articles. As I mentioned yesterday on this blog, I just started writing articles on Bukisa. I haven’t yet decided what topics I plan to focus on here but the first article that you’ll find there is on freelance tax deductions.
• Money Saving Blog. I’m not the only author on this personal finance blog but I do contribute money-saving ideas here on a regular basis and also do a weekly money-saving advice column on the site.

Hopefully you’ll like what you see here. Feel free to send me some info on any feeds that you have for writing sites as I’m always interested in connecting with new writers and bloggers whose work I’m not already familiar with!

I recently filled out one of those “25 random things about me” notes that keep popping up all over Facebook lately. At first I was going to ignore the requests but then I saw how interesting it was to read what everyone else I know was writing about themselves so I decided to go ahead and participate in order to keep it going. Doing so reminded me of when I used to be really involved in penpalling back in high school.

Most people don’t know this about me but there was a point in time when I had over 100 pen pals that I corresponded with on a regular or semi-regular basis. All through handwritten letters sent via the USPS. I probably spent more of my class time in high school writing letters to people I didn’t know than getting to know the people I was in school with. I certainly spent more time writing letters than writing class assignments.

This obsession started out innocently enough. I got my first few pen pals through one of those ads they used to have in magazines that linked you to others through the mail. Then those people sent me the addresses of their pen pals. And my links to people across the nation started to grow.

Soon, one of these pen pals introduced me to friendship books. These were little paper booklets – you’d decorate a page with some information about yourself, include your address and sent it on to the next pen pal. It was a way to meet other people who wanted to share thoughts and friendships through letters.

At some point in my exchange of friendship books, someone sent me a “slam” which was more or less a booklet of questions that you answered about yourself. It is these slams that the Facebook note thing reminds me of – learning curious facts about people you do and don’t know in a somewhat communal manner. In addition to friendship books and slams, I started doing swaps with my pals (of everything including books, stickers, fabrics, movies, mix tapes …) and I started getting into zines.

But what was really treasured, of course, was the letter that came with the package. Through writing letters to others, I was able to start more clearly defining who I was. Through receiving letters from around the world, I was able to learn about things and places that I may have taken a long time to discover on my own. I still have many of the letters that were sent to me back then and I treasure those old friendships though I’m not in touch with too many of my old pals.

People probably still write letters by hand to their pen pals but those days are gone for me. After a few years, the urge to write letters gave way to the urge to write other things. I was introduced to email and instant messaging and then to MySpace and started doing some correspondence there – and eventually I moved on to Facebook and LinkedIn and blogging. I’ve participated in a few mail swaps and I do paperback book exchanges but for the most part my mailbox is pretty empty these days.

I would say this is neither good nor bad – or perhaps both. Getting stuff in the mail is fun and I miss that sometimes. But I like the instant gratification that comes with online communication and I find it a much easier way to stay in touch with people. Online social networking has many of the same great things about it that drew me to penpalling in the first place and I’m glad that it’s an outlet I have today when I’m not nearly as inclined to write long letters.

I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before there are tons of variations on this “25 random things” that become merely annoying to deal with but for now it’s kind of neat to see these little things popping up online that remind me of my pen pal days. 

Incidentally, you can feel free to add me on Facebook. I like new friends there. However, you should tell me something about who you are and why you want to add me. I’m not averse to adding strangers but I’d like to know why you want to know me!

A quick pat-on-the-back to myself and the other writers over at The Money Saving Blog because that blog was named by the Times Online as one of the top 20 British personal finance blogs. It’s a UK-based blog that’s all about how to live frugally. And it’s a blog that I regularly write for.

Most of what I write for this site is tips-based articles on how to save money on different things. I’ve written recently about saving money for Valentine’s Day, saving money on groceries and saving money using a barter system.

I also just started writing a personal finance advice column for this site which is a really fun way to write on a topic that I think is really important. So far I’ve answered the question of how to stay fit while living on a budget. Of course, it’s pretty easy here in San Francisco where all you need to do is walk up some hills on your way to wherever you’re going but there are lots of other things that you can do as well and I had fun exploring those things in that advice column response.

I’m not the only writer for this blog and other posts on the site also got attention in the article but I just wanted to point it out since I received the link about it.

I spent yesterday updating my website, correcting links that were broken and adding in new information about my writing. As I did that, I realized that I haven’t been keeping this blog updated with information on where to find my other writing.

Of course, a lot of that is due to the fact that I’m not doing a significant amount of online writing these days. I do update my other blog, San Francisco is Sexy, on a near-daily basis. But for the most part, that’s all I’d been publishing online until the last week or so. However, I’ve started adding a few articles to the sites I like to work for here and there. I’m still doing a lot of journalling, a little poetry writing and a whole lot of random ramblings on the written page.

But for those people who are interested in my current online writing, here’s a look at what I’ve been up to lately:

• 15 Ways To Create Wealth By Giving Time. One of the things that I’ve thought about a lot lately is the value of my time. I’ve gotten really interested in working less for money and more for trade – bartering my services for the services of others. This article is about the different ways that you can get something back in your life by giving your time instead of your money to get it.
• 15 Good Things That Have Come Out of the Bad Economy. (Apparently I like lists of fifteen lately!) I also like thinking about the positive things that are happening as change begins to take place on a nationwide (if not global) scale. This article allowed me to reflect on the good things that I’ve noticed about the economy going sour.
• Ideabooks for Houzz.com. I’ve started contributing some design and decor ideabooks to a really cool design / architecture site called Houzz.com. You can sign up with the site and add ideabooks too – no need to be a professional writer to do this. It’s a great way to kind of play around with ideas for the design of your own home or to just daydream about design stuff if that’s your thing. I’m liking this stuff which is totally different from any other writing I do since it’s less about the words themselves and more about the total concept.
• Biomimicry: Inventions Inspired by Animals. This was a random article that I did to answer a request over at HubPages (another really cool site that anyone can sign up to write for). It was really interesting to research and hopefully is also interesting to read about!
• Mobile phone reviews for Dialaphone. This is one of my favorite sites to write for so I’m happy to be contributing over here again. I’ve done several recent phone reviews there but the one that I enjoyed doing the most was a review of the G1 which is the first of the Google platform phones to be released to the market. Fun stuff.

So that’s what I’ve been up to in terms of publishing my content to the web. What about you?