Creativity

I applied for what appears to be a dream job. The job requirements stressed creativity, and I'm pretty sure I have that in abundance.

When it comes to creativity, I swear I have little to no control over it--and can't even fathom where it comes from.

I might do or say something very creative and then have my mind tell me, wow, that was funny but a bit off-color for your audience, or, what a creative idea you had for that holiday wreath only it would cost about $5000 to make.

I love to write, which in itself is a creative process, but when I can write with a flair, flaunt rules, conjure up word choices that are fresh, original and creative, I'm at my happiest.

Snow Jobs

Did you ever take on an assignment and find out the boss men or women kept the truth from you?

Truth like: this job is only a pilot and we're only putting it up for bid to show the client our price;
this job has a lot more to it than we're going to tell you up front;
this job is so underpriced for the amount of work it entails, we are expecting 60 percent of the writers and editors to quit within the first week or so...etc?

Not every job is presented in a truthful way.

I'm seeing this more and more as clients attempt to get writers at such low fees, they are no longer hiring real writers but people who own a keyboard instead.

Oh yes, it's still snowing outside which is what inspired me to post this blog.

Cupcakes because they always make me happy when I see them.

Content Farms

I like the idea of a broker between myself and a client -- especially if it's a client I might never have had a chance to meet without that middleman pitching work for themselves and for me by extension.

I do think it gets a little absurd when clients think it's possible to buy a blog post that is well written, interesting and typo free for a few dollars. You do get what you pay for in life.

One plus of the content farms is being able to roam free on the farm, only pick up the work you want to write, and with luck, find a few clients who are willing to pay more competitive prices for your work through direct orders.

In most cases, direct orders come from taking one of the open orders, doing a bang up job on it and impressing the client enough they are willing to spend more money for you and your writing.

If I feel all the work has dried up, I go to my farms and pull out an open order to do with the hope I may be rewarded with a direct order in the future. It works frequently and because of that I don't mind sharing fees with the word broker at all.

Do you share your office space with a family member?

I'm all for intimacy, but I wish my husband would use the office space upstairs rather than plop all his work down on the kitchen table. You see, I like to plop all my work down on the kitchen table!

We end up having our computers about six inches apart, and along with that closeness, which can cause fights for lid space, we annoy each other. I read my writing out loud sometimes and he clears his throat more often than I like. There's more but I'll spare you. :)

But since he loves to cook, he's usually in the kitchen cooking and doing his work. Since I love to eat I'm usually in the kitchen waiting for something to come out of the oven, and I think neither of us want to be banished upstairs to the office space (that I call the litter box room.)

I have not figured out how exactly to make this work for us since he's only been working from home for a few months, but I'm looking for suggestions.

Right now I put on my headphones and crawl into my little word as I try not to notice anything around me and just get my work done -- unless the cat doesn't want me to get my work done and crawls up on the keyboard!

Spinning my wheels

It seems like I've been spinning my wheels since mid-February. This has been a bad earning cycle for me mostly because each job has taken much longer than necessary and much longer than I anticipated.

Time is money.

When we waste our time, we waste the opportunity to make money somewhere else -- or even relax and enjoy ourselves for that matter. That's allowed too!

When you feel you have been spinning your wheels and going nowhere fast, it's time to take a mental health break.

I am reading (for the second time) Tim by Colleen McCullough and am enjoying it. I read it years and years ago. It's an easy read and a quick one. It's exactly the short but important break I need between one job and the next.

I think I also deserve one easy client; one well-run project or one good paying job. Hoping March brings me one of the three!

When to dump a client

I've written for a variety of magazines, newspapers, online content providers and private clients. Some clients I keep for years and years, and other clients last only a few short weeks or months before I see the handwriting on the wall. For example:

·      They lower word count, fees or frequency of orders because they don’t want to spend the money for professional work.

·      They start picking at minutiae and frequently change their minds about what they want.

·      They want to appear unhappy with the writer’s work in order to get more out of the writer whether it’s HTML programming or adding in Creative Commons art/photos or other free services.

·      They become big time sucks and emotional burdens by constantly wanting to chat about an assignment, even one that pays in pennies -- all unpaid time.

·      They act like they have purchased you for life and now have you chained in their basement to a laptop on 24/7 call.

·       They don’t expect you to have other clients—even for a $10 blog post.

When I start to see these warning signs above, I know it’s time to say my adieus. I am not angry, but I’m not going to have a dysfunctional relationship with anyone from a family member to a client. It’s got to work for both of us; we have to be on the same page (had to use that cliché).

One of the main reasons I have to let a client go is because when they act like the above bullets, they are telling me they really don’t know what they want, so they change guidelines or focus or point of view hoping the writer will, through the process of elimination, come up with what they want even though they have no idea what they want.

I love working with clients to iron out the wrinkles of a project, find the voice and content they want and locate that sweet spot where they are deliriously happy with my work. I won't  waste my time or babysit a diva-style client who’s going to pay me enough money to buy a coffee and a donut, but not much more. I refuse to roll over and take it.

New Project Hints: Keep it Simple

So many times I work on a project where the manager does an information dump upon the writers as a way to get us to organize the work or because they want to give us every scrap of information on the project they have even before they or we understand what is expected from us.

I wish they would understand that you have to start off with baby steps when you're doing a complicated project. Managers can add new material, charts, spreadsheets, etc once the basics of the project have been absorbed.

It's like being given the responsibility to make a seven-course meal for 20 with no menu, just 20 boxes or bags of ingredients from lemon curd to shitake mushrooms.

I have managed a few projects in the past, and written copy for many complicated projects. I have a few tips for anyone starting up a project. Most of them will be a variation on the same theme: keep it simple.  I may revisit this title again but for now, here's two mighty important tips that will help your writers known what's expected, which means you'll meet your client deadlines.

1) Boil the project down to one concentrated paragraph. 

This project is to write ad copy for a catalog that sells high-end women's clothing for the 18-50 age group with sizes that range from 2 to 18. This catalog is written with a light, funky and amusing tone and product information is shown in bulleted lists. Total word count per item is 150 words and split into one 100-word description and one bulleted list of approximately 50 words.

2) Give an example to your copywriters.


One example is more effective than 200 pages of guidelines.

Blaine Berrywhite’s gorgeous long-sleeve polka-dot dress looks innocent enough until you realize the skirt is split on two sides right up to the hip and a matching peek-a-boo panty that snaps into place (so you stay a lady even if the wind blows).  What you’ll love about this dress is the synthetic-blend fabric (yes you will) that mimics your three most favorite fabrics in the world: cotton, linen and silk. The difference is with this luxury engineered fabric, you don’t get wrinkles, or booty clinging or see-through visual effects that make you look as naked as a full body scanner does in the airport.

•    Classic jewel neckline with roled edge

•    Long sleeves with cuffs

•    Pearl buttons on cuffs (2 per sleeve) 

•    Matching belt with leather and metal clasp

•    Pearl buttons cover clasp seam

•    Matching panty snaps into place

•    Double French seams

•    Bodice is lined in cotton batiste

•    Fit and flair style

•    Princess seams

•    Made in France

•    Dry clean only


If I had been given this information for a project, I would now feel very comfortable about taking on the assignment.  I'd know the format and the focus and the demographic and the tone. Once I understood the basics, I could expand my knowledge to other guidelines or recommendations, but for now I'd be able to crank out copy and be fairly sure I was doing it correctly.

Listicles: Do you like them?

I was just researching the value of listicles and wondered what you thought? For those who don't know, listicles are what you see all over the Internet and emblazoned on magazine covers. Here are a few examples:

Five ways to get your man in the mood
10 ways to prepare guacamole
7 must-have kitchen tools

What's good about listicles?

By using a numbered or bulleted format, you can write the article quickly and your readers can digest the information easily. One quick glance and you have the basic information. If you care to read more, there is usually a paragraph or so of text for each number or bullet.

What's not good about listicles?

The name (amusing but begging for parody) and the fact that this format style is used for click bait articles which usually aren't worth your click.

So what do you think? Do you enjoy listicles or do you define them as crap?

Get it in Writing

I tend to have faith in people or clients to be exact.

I think they will treat me with the same level of integrity and attention to detail I give to them. I think a person's word means something, so I rarely ask for a contract or a follow up email and accept the assignment based on my faith in humanity.

Recently, I've been burned by a client I have through a business that provides content. This client has emailed me her suggestions and directions for two blog posts, but decided to change them after I had already written the blogs.

When you get a job order at this content provider, all instructions are supposed to be within the job order and not discussed in emails. I know this, but I trusted her and went ahead and wrote the blogs according to her email.

I have worked with this person for months without a problem, so I felt comfortable in bending the rules that are there to protect me as well as the client.

Now I know, it's doesn't matter who the client is or how long you have been writing for her, get the facts in writing. Know the word count, the subject, the expectations of the client, the additional requests like creative commons photos or if you need to use HTML, subheads or any other special requests.

Don't let your guard down and end up with blog posts or any other type of writing that now have no home. Get it in writing so you have something to fall back on if your client becomes less friendly and cooperative than she was in the past.

How to Proofread your Writing

It's not easy to proofread your own work. It's almost impossible, but here are a few tricks that will help you turn in error-free copy.

1) Change the font. Choose a different font than the one you originally used for your writing and your copy will appear differently to your eye and help you spot the mistakes.

2) Increase the size of the font and you will also get a new perspective on your writing and errors will be easier to see.

3) Check for mistakes like it's and its. Always read it's as "it is" and you will avoid using it's when you want the possessive.

4) Read your work aloud. This uses another part of the brain, and you may hear the mistake you could not see.

5) Everyone has built-in errors that we make over and over again. Maybe it's there and their or we tend to misspell certain words probably since childhood. Go over your work one time looking for those words to ensure you have them spelled correctly. Words like there and their don't show up in Spellcheck.

6) Do not use Spellcheck until you have read through your copy twice and used the methods in 1-4 above to hunt down mistakes.

No Can Do

I recently turned down some work because it was highly technical and I am highly "not" technical. I tend to be more Luddite than Dot Com, although I'm fierce with Social Media.

I hated to turn away a nice client and a pile (small) of money, but I knew from my initial reading of the job specs that although I could do the job, it would take me twice as long as someone skilled in technology, apps etc. I also would not feel comfortable writing about something I only knew a little bit about.

I know me and I know I'd over achieve. I'd study and research and spend a huge amount of time trying to grasp the technology even before I wrote the piece.

For the client and for me, it was not worth it. Learning to say, "No, I can't do this job" is one of the hardest things. However, in my experience you gain good will and respect from the client for admitting your weaknesses.

The Blank Page

Writers get the blank page.

They must travel through the vast world of letters and punctuation marks to create coherent prose that is able to be understood by both friends or foes.

Writers start with nothing but their own fertile minds and must plant the seeds of an article onto the page and watch them grow into mature, thoughtful copy.

Then these words are handed over to the editors whose job it is to improve the copy. This doesn't always work. If you have an editor who justifies his or her position by hacking and slashing at copy, things might get dicey indeed.

I've had some of the best editors known to man in my opinion, and I hate to say it, but some of the worst.

Very young, inexperienced editors may feel the need to wield power over the "lowly writer" when we all should know by know it is the writer with the power because the writer gets the blank page.

Best writing job ever: Trivia Questions

I used to have a client/friend who had a ton of connections in the business world and did a lot of radio advertising copy.

One of his specialties was coming up with trivia questions. Usually the questions would sync with the company's current ad campaign.

Sometimes questions would need to have a regional slant, and other times they were just sheer trivia questions.

When he had more work than he could handle, he'd pass the job off to me. It was wonderful and fun and easy to do and he paid me very well for this great opportunity.

I guess trivia questions are not as hot as they were 15 years ago when I did this type of work. Too bad.
=========================

Here's a trivia question for you:


What is the name of the highest mountain in Africa?

Mount Kilimanjaro which is a dormant volcanic mountain located in Tanzania.

Writing product descriptions

Have you ever written product-description copy?

Believe it or not, it's one of my favorite forms of writing.

Since I buy mostly everything online, I've come to depend upon clear, concise, well-written copy --along with reviews, photos and specifications -- to make my selections. Great copy helps me to quickly scan different items and to zero in on the make or style of an item that I will most likely purchase.

When I write product descriptions, I like to match my tone with the manufacturer's tone. I try to be creative when the item lends itself to a creative approach but can be "just the facts ma'am" for products that have a more serious nature where fun or creativity would be out of place.

I write copy that tries to persuade you to buy the item, but it's based on real facts. I could never lie in a description but I might polish my prose a bit to get your interest.

When I'm shopping online, I keep that in mind.

Give up writing; become a gambler instead!

Of course this is tongue in cheek, but I am wondering if there might not be some truth to the statement also. A friend of mine who is a writer just scored an easy $50 buckaroos betting on a sports game.

To make $50 doing content writing, it takes a lot of time. If you're really good and have managed to find private clients plus belong to three or more word broker sites, you might make this much money in a day. Okay I might be exaggerating here.

As for gambling, most freelance writers do this on a daily basis. We take a chance that the client will like our work. Then we take a chance that the client will pay for our work.

In my next life I'd love to be a skip tracer...Internet research only, and then I'd be chasing the bad guys instead of the big bucks.

The Ebook is Finished

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah -- in what seemed like a finger snap, the mountain of work I had to do for the ebook sifted down into a tidy little molehill, which is now completed with care and love. 

What I find interesting is that seconds after I sighed that big exhale of relief, I instantly got the "now what?" feeling.

If I don't have a queue of work assignments, I feel a bit lost. I am in this constant conflict of being eager to finish up a project yet eager to have a new one to begin waiting for me.

However, if no work comes in, I'll work on another one of my goals which is to write a screen play. 

I've written a novel...(not very good but completed with a beginning middle and end.)

I've written two one-act plays (I'll never know how good they were as I never saw them performed.)

So I figure, how hard can it be to write a screen play that may also not be very good? 

A snap I would think.

Three quarters of the way through the latest ebook

All anxiety about writing ebooks is gone. I'm only one chapter away from completion.

I might need an intro but that's nothing to worry about. I am becoming an expert on the ebook's subject which I won't share just in case the client decides to locate this almost hidden blog post.

One thing about ebooks is now that everyone can write and publish one, everyone is an author.

Of course, not everyone is a writer, but that does not stop a ton of authors from serving up their word soup as if it were worthy of the Nobel prize.

I read so many poorly written articles in a day, it's beginning to affect how I write.

There was a time when most of what you read was written well but now it's the opposite because professional writers are the first to be cut from a budget -- especially when Angie's girl Lavinia is really good with words or Jeff in shipping once published a poem in his high school literary magazine.

Write an eBook. Nothing to fear.

I see a huge call lately for short (less than 2000 words) ebooks that clients want to "give away" on their websites or give as a bonus on a purchase. At first I thought gahh, who wants to take on that chore. Then I took a look at some of the ebooks available and changed my mind.

Go ahead and take that ebook writing job. Don't stress about the word count and follow these helpful hints. (I hope you find them helpful, if not I'll direct you to my ebook on helpful hints to understand my blog posts. ;)

• Make a rough outline
• Find out the word count and then break it up into 300-400 word sections
• Give a flexible title or subhead to each section
• Treat each section like a simple blog post
• When finished, read your work in one sitting for compatibility 
• Check for compatibility on point of view ex: first, second or third person 
• Look for duplicate copy
• Spell check
• Collect your fee for your very nice ebook

Errors, errors, and more errors

It was not that long ago that my husband pointed out a huge error in a caption on the front page of the New York Times. I was crestfallen. I had always thought of the Times as producing impeccable copy --and more often than not --excellent writing and reporting.

Anyone can make a mistake, but the New York Times has a long illustrious history of very, very few typos or misspellings in their publications.

Perhaps the Times is just echoing and mirroring what I seem to see everywhere, which is either a general misunderstanding of the meaning of a word or a lack of interest in checking to ensure the word is spelled correctly.

I've probably made 25 errors so far in this blog, but I'm not the Times. When I write for others, I spend a lot more time proofreading my work compared to this blog that is being written with a cup of coffee by my side.

I don't get excited if I make a mistake here, but when the Times gets lackadaisical about spelling I do get worried.

Wealthy Johns and Brain-Damaged Sex Workers

I know better. I've been burned a few times, especially from a particular word-brokering, middleman site that treats clients like wealthy Johns and writers like brain-damaged sex workers.

I started to write a blog post on one subject and poof the client cancelled the order and my 1/2 blog of writing now has no home. I should have waited for 8 hours to ensure the client was not going to change his or her mind.

Clients often start off one way and end up another.

They can start off picky and grouchy and end up being a wonderful source of income and fun to work with. They can also start off like your best friend and something happens (which is a secret) and they turn into Simon Legree.

My advice to you is don't take anything crabby clients say to heart and don't take any guff either.

I don't bow and scrape for clients, but I do try to give them clear, concise web content, on time, in a creative style, with unique word choices and plenty of SEO words but not so many the piece looks like a computer generated ad.

I love providing a client with the best copy around and take pride in my work. So anyone want to buy a half written blog post? LOL

How I lost that pharmacy account

I actually found one job on another blog of mine. I think I had a headline like Pen for Hire. Quaint. Pens don't do much now except endorse checks, and half the time PayPal takes care of most money transactions.

Still I like to think of writing as a craft.

I am sure I would have enjoyed the days of fountain pens and silky sheets of white paper, and I bring that sensitivity to my work. I don't crank out crap.

Online writing?

Well everyone can do it now. That's what the many people think unfortunately.

You can go to a website that is selling a great product or service and read vacuous drivel. You'll find typos sprinkled on pages like they were sentence seasonings. Or you'll find egregious grammar errors that are the equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard.

What you need is crisp, original copy that people want to read. It has to be easy to read, fun to read and clearly supports your product or service.

It must be priced right. That's what I did wrong with the online pharmacy job. I didn't price my job right. I asked for too much. I wish they would have negotiated with me as I would have definitely lowered my fee.

A lesson learned for both sides, client and writer - negotiate payment so both sides are happy.

Online content writing; off line writing and on and off writing. I write clear but creative product descriptions, engaging blog posts and so much more.

I first started blogging in 2003.

I was so naive I thought that the words I wrote down in cyberspace floated around in the ether until they turned into cosmic dust.

I put in about ten patchy years blogging but never had a schtick or an angle nor have I figured out how to create a snazzy website. I've changed a lot in ten years but not that much.

I named this blog Lead and Feathers. Lead is for the postings that are more serious in nature and feathers for those thoughts that are ephemeral and even whimsical.

My purpose for Lead and Feathers is to get myself some work.

(Hear that? Don't go through word brokers or middlemen to get a writer. I and a slew of competent professionals are available at great rates without paying that middle layer of nonsense.)

I am a very good writer, idea person and super creative. The best part of me is that I can think and that I work hard. The pen is mightier than the sword and online content needs to reflect the power of the pen.