The Ultimate Writer's Website

I've already discussed networking and promotion, but there's another aspect of getting the word out that I haven't yet talked about. That aspect is advertising.

Note: I don't want to quibble over the semantics of what advertising is. Assume that in this case I mean paying to be listed or have an ad displayed somewhere. 

There are a number of reasons you might choose to advertise your services. Here's just a few: -- Read more

Have you ever done a white paper? Marketing materials? A web site for a small catering company?

What do all of these projects have in common? Not only can they be complex, but more importantly, all of these projects can involve an organization's image. Any time you come anywhere near image, you run into the situation that many different people within the organization (the head, the second in command, the marketing people, the lead designer, and more) all want input. And in fact they often should have input. Just not at the expense of the project. -- Read more

The old adage "Write what you know" has some truth to it, but some people take it far too literally. If people only wrote about what they knew at the time there would be no science fiction, no fantasy, no speculation toward the future, no dreaming ... all that would be left would be dry first-person experiences.

I prefer to take the phrase a little differently: Write what you Know. Know, as in Truth, as in the greater Truths that bind us all together. Such a definition doesn't rely on knowledge of particular details. It's more an awareness of the human condition and universal laws than whether you actually know what it feels like to be shot.  -- Read more

A big deal is often made about organization, sometimes too big a deal. However, sometimes without the big O you make your job far more difficult than it should be.

First, you have to look at whether the items you're trying to organize are digital or physical. I'm going to focus on digital here. In part, this means that I don't generally recommend printing out material unless you absolutely need to. Too often, people print out material that they really didn't need to, keep it for a few days, toss it in a pile, and then eventually just recycle or toss it out completely unused. Better to not print it out unless you absolutely need to. (If saying so makes me a tree hugger, I guess I should go outside and start hugging some trees. -- Read more

Anyone who's been following Freelance Survivor for a while might have noticed that this site got a bit erratic lately. The world of a freelancer exists of two major phases, feast and famine, and a number of things can contribute to finding yourself eyeballs deep and gasping for air. I found myself in one of those feast phases in the be careful what you wish for department. This article isn't a call for pity, it's more a chance to share the experience of how to handle it when you find yourself in the same situation. -- Read more

If you're doing an interview where there's a lot of information about to be shared, and/or you need to make sure you can quote people accurately, you might want to record it. To do so, you'll need equipment. What equipment depends on whether you want to do the interview through a regular phone line or through an Internet phone line. If you want to record through a regular phone line, you'll find the topic far more complex than you might expect for a number of reasons: -- Read more

I went to Seattle for a data visualization seminar with Edward Tufte, who is well known for his ability to bring his data to life. The seminar isn't cheap, though it includes about $200 worth of books in the price. When a friend gushed about this class to me I had to seriously think. Was the cost and time worth it, especially given certain fiscal realities?

When looking at these kinds of decisions, it can be hard to be objective, but you need to do it. Especially if you're unsure you can afford the price. Sometimes the reality is you can't afford not to. But you can't really make this decision unless you have a clear idea of where you're trying to go. -- Read more

Between my blog and my other writing work lately, I seem to be doing a whole lot of interviews. In some cases, the interviews are for information, such as when I'm working on a news article. In that case I'm probably also looking for some quotes. With others, like the ones I post here, the whole point is to share the interview itself.

I used to hate doing interviews. It wasn't the process, unless there's transcription involved. (More on this topic later, transcription is essentially taking the audio or video interview and writing or typing it out into text.) The bigger problem for me was actually coming up with the questions. What the heck do you ask? -- Read more

Whether you're doing technical writing, writing course materials, or even writing some how-to article that doesn't seem at all related to either of these topics, you probably at some point will have to write a series of instructions. Maybe those instructions have to detail how to get somewhere, how to use a particular software feature, or how to do cook that delicious meal you made last night.

Writing good instructions isn't rocket science, unless you're writing something for aerospace engineers, but it does involve practice and a good eye for detail. In particular, you have to: -- Read more