A cute little post via Bits of Wisdom that highlights how punctuation can change the meaning of some sentences:
Just a quick note here about a home decorating item that writers might be interested in: Gartenkulter‘s book pots for plants. These are old hardcover books that have had their center removed and placed with a sealant that allows the book itself to serve as a pot for growing a plant at home.
Writers seem to have mixed feelings about this product. On the one hand, we love books and the idea of using them in home design isn’t new to many of us. Plus there’s a link between the growth that you get from books and the growing of a live plant. However, some writers hold books so dear that they don’t want to see them altered or defaced in this way.
I’m an altered book fan myself. I think books are great but I don’t think that they’re sacred. In fact, I think that writing in them and altering them and turning them into pots are all terrific ideas.
What do you think?
I received a link to an interesting article about 10 Greatest Writers who Became Famous After Death. What an interesting topic! I’ve often thought about the people who became well-known as artists after they died. However, I hadn’t thought extensively about people who didn’t receive a lot of writing fame until after they had passed away.
If I had to think about it, only one of the names on the list would have come to mind. That name is Anne Frank. Her diary is so incredibly famous, as both a piece of writing and as a piece of history. Of course, it wasn’t something that she was famous for during her young lifetime.
Other names on the list became more obvious to me once I thought about them. Sylvia Plath is a good example. She is so widely known now for her poetry. Even people who don’t know a lot of poetry know her name. And yet, during her lifetime, she didn’t make nearly such a mark even though she was a published poet.
And then there are some folks on the list that I hadn’t even heard of before. I’m curious to check out their writing now since I don’t know them yet.
Can you think of any other writers who became famous post-humously?
As a writer there are some things about writing that completely annoy me. You know how it is – there are grammar issues or spelling problems or other quirks of writing that are just your personal pet peeves. These things are unique for everyone. For example, a lot of people are annoyed by typos in writing and they’re actually something that I find completely amusing.
On the other hand, one of my pet peeves has always been unnecessary quotation marks. People seem to love putting quotation marks around words for absolutely no reason at all. And I just don’t get it. There are two times that you need quotation marks. The first, obviously, is when you are quoting someone. The second is when you’re trying to indicate that what you’re saying isn’t really what you’re saying at all. Although we do this in writing, it’s more commonly seen when we add air quotes to our speech.
For example …
“Where are John and Suzy?” Jen asked. Lesley’s responded with a wink that the on-again, off-again couple had gone in the bedroom to “talk”. In this case, we all know that talking doesn’t mean talking at all.
I like those quotation marks. I like that we can say one thing and mean another and everyone can know what we really mean because we alter our tone of voice or use those quotation marks. So perhaps that’s why it bugs me so much when people just randomly decide to use quote marks for no apparent reason.
However, I have to confess that I’m learning to find the humor in these annoying cases and it’s due in no small part to a blog I recently discovered call The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks. Much like the popular FAIL blog, this blog posts pictures of real life notes and signs and then follows them up with a single sentence or two about why the sign is funny. To be honest, I find the notes they add a bit superfluous. However, the pictures crack me up. I love seeing all of the ridiculous ways that people are using quote marks without needing them.
One of the things that I like about typos is that they make me stop in my tracks for a moment. They make me look at what someone was writing, puzzle over what they really meant and actually think for a second about all of the information streaming through my brain. Often, looking at the typo, I see something ironic or funny there. And I’m learning through this blog that I can think of unnecessary quotation marks in the same way – less of a pet peeve and more of a fodder for momentary humor throughout the day.
What do you think – are unnecessary quote marks one of your pet peeves?
There are no hard and fast rules about how to blog. Yes, there are guides. There are six-figure bloggers who provide tips and ideas about being a successful blogger. There are general etiquette practices that bloggers tend to follow. But the truth of it is that the most successful bloggers are the ones who find the way of blogging that works for them regardless of what they’ve been told works in general.
And as blogging as grown to such huge proportions, bloggers have found that there are some common beliefs about blogging that they just don’t agree with other bloggers about. In fact, Problogger had a great post recently listing 29 Debates Bloggers Have. This simple x vs. y list shows that there are not only no clear cut rules for blogging but actually totally opposing beliefs about a lot of blogging methods.
One example given in the article is whether you should have descriptive titles or keyword-focused titles for your blog. Either way can work depending on what you’re seeking to do, who your audience is and what type of blogger you are. This isn’t the only title debate either; bloggers even debate whether you should have short titles or lengthy titles.
This is what makes blogging great … it’s very personal, very individual. You can blog in the way that is right for you and find an audience of like-minded people who like your style. You get to be yourself. And really, there’s no debate that that’s the best way to be a good blogger.
A lot of people have commented on the article that I wrote here awhile back giving 20 good reasons to date a writer. The article was recently noticed by Examiner.com writer Melinda Maddison who writes a column about dating over 40. She reprinted some of the article along with her own thoughts comments. She has some neat things to say so I thought others might want to check it out.
Other blogs that have linked to this article include The Shared Journey, Write it Anyway, The Creative Penn, Beyond the Rhetoric, Eyeweekly.com, Fiction Scribe and eek – even HoustonMassageParlors.net!! Thanks all.
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):
- · Advanced Fiction Writing Blog
- · Apostrophe Abuse
- · Becoming a Fiction Writer
- · Becoming a Writer – Seriously
- · Blue Pencil Editing
- · Cheryl Rainfield
- · Fiction Writers Review
- · Future Perfect Publishing
- · Gareth Powell
- · Inkygirl
- · Internet Writing Workshop
- · Jeremiah Tolbert
- · John Baker
- · Men with Pens
- · Mike’s Writing Workshop
- · Neil Gaiman
- · Paperback Writer
- · Renegade Writer
- · SF Signal
- · The Orwell Prize
- · The Poetry Blog
- · The Urban Muse
- · Thursdaybram
- · Tom Conoboy
- · Working Girl
- · Write Anything
- · Write to Done
- · Writing for the Web
- · 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.
- Computer and physical files. For the work that I want to use somewhere else, I’ve got files labeled “blogs, clients, magazines”. There is a file on my computer for each of these so that I can drop other files into each of them to get organized. I also have physical files for each of these which is where I’m sorting the paper stuff in the same manner if I plan to use it in a writing project.
- Stack for journalling. If something seems like it gives me some real insight into myself then I place it in a stack for journalling about later.
- Highlighting. The few great lines that I’m coming across are highlighted and then stacked together. I’ll be going through these highlighted portions later and copying them into a journal or computer file – a sort of inspiration packet for myself.
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?
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.
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