Ever notice how you tend to deal with things that have a due date or an expiration date (and a punishment for missing that date) first while you let other things slide? You read your library books before the books from your own collection because they’re due on a certain date. If you don’t return …
It’s great that we live in an age where information is just a couple of mouse clicks away. Gone are the days when we had to slog through the stacks at the library for even the simplest research. Unfortunately, too many of us have become excessively reliant on the Internet for our research needs. It’s …
If you find yourself in a position where you aren’t writing as much as you would like to, a great way to push yourself to do more is to do a 1000-words-a-day challenge. The actual number of words you choose to try to write daily doesn’t have to be 1000. It can be any number …
Most people think of revision as painful and something that should be avoided. It’s much more fun to play with a first draft than to try to take something half-baked and shape it into something publishable. If you want to make money writing, though, you have to revise. No one’s work is perfect on the …
My parents were cleaning out their house the other day and decided to get rid of the old piano. Seeing it go to my young cousin brought back memories of my attempts to learn to play. I didn’t take lessons, at first. I just banged away on the thing, sure that I was creating masterpieces. …
You’re trawling the internet one day and you see one of your articles or blog posts posted on someone else’s website. Your byline is missing and there’s no reference back to the website where the original work was posted. Or, you’re reading a book and you notice that one section seems familiar and then it …
If you want to be published in a magazine or by a traditional book publisher, the chances are that you’ll have to submit a query letter at some point. At its most basic, a query letter is simply a letter that details your project and your writing credentials to a prospective editor, agent, or publisher. …
Being a writer isn’t usually thought of as a job that annoys and alienates other people. It’s not like you’re a telemarketer. But it’s entirely possible to so annoy and anger your clients, publishers, agents, and editors to a degree that they will never want to work with you again. Obviously, this is not the …
Having a web presence is almost mandatory for writers these days. Whether you write fiction, non-fiction or are a freelance writer, a website gives readers and clients a way to find you, interact with your work, and hire you for jobs. It also gives you a chance to reach out to people who might be …
I confess: I’m a huge fan of the computer game, The Sims. I’ve played it since the first iteration and have spent an embarrassing amount of money and time on the game. It used to be a guilty pleasure until I discovered that I could use it to further my writing. I could play and …
