Write a blog people will read logo

Major proofreading fail.

by Leave a Comment

A while back I offered to proofread a book by a former co-worker. It was for a regional publisher that has its own in-house copyeditor for proofreading, but my friend wanted to go the extra mile.

In fact, he hired yet another former co-worker – who’d spent many years on a newspaper’s copy desk – for a third set of eyes.

A total of five pairs of peepers (including those of the author and the publisher) pored over that manuscript. After finding a handful of typos and misspells, we congratulated ourselves on making the book as clean as it could be.

You can guess what happened in the finished product.

 

[Read more…]

Writing career tips from a veteran.

by Leave a Comment

A former editor recently received recognition from his state’s press club. It was sort of a “lifetime achievement” award, although that’s not what it was called.

The guy’s writing career stretched for half a century and across multiple media. His words have appeared on radio and television, in newspapers and magazines, and more recently books and online articles.

A young reporter at the banquet asked for career tips. The editor offered some, and gave me permission to reproduce any that I wanted. The trio I chose may not all apply to your genre, but all three are food for thought.

 

Never turn down any assignment.

 

This is particularly true for freelancers, who may experience long dry spells until they develop their abilities at pitching stories and getting themselves known.

 

[Read more…]

Meet pro bloggers and podcasters (and a rapper!) at Dallas writing event.

by Leave a Comment

This year’s Financial Blogger Conference has something special planned for members of the public. Despite its name, the conference isn’t strictly for those who write about personal finance (more on that in a minute).

If you’re interested in freelancing writing and/or interested in getting a handle on your money – and if you’re in or near Dallas on Friday, Oct. 27 – then you need to check this out.

“Your Money, Live!” is an eight-hour event with workshops, speeches by (including keynote speaker David Bach), and something called Ignite FinCon, which is TEDx style speaking followed by a networking party where you can meet personal finance writers, bloggers and podcasters.

And did I mention the appearance by rapper Dee-1?

 

[Read more…]

Slang: It’s not the bee’s knees.

by Leave a Comment

In a recent Washington Post article about John McPhee’s new book*, writer Michael Dirda recounts a talk that McPhee gave to his granddaughter’s senior-high English class.

McPhee read a list of things mentioned in one of his articles and asked the teens to raise their hands whenever they recognized something.

The entire class knew “Woody Allen.” Only five students knew who Norman Rockwell and Truman Capote were. None of them knew recognized Sophia Loren, Bob Woodward or Samuel Johnson.

The idea was not to embarrass the youths, but rather “to emphasize the brief shelf life of cultural references,” Dirda writes.

 

[Read more…]

Writing: You can ALWAYS improve.

by Leave a Comment

Think you’re already at the pinnacle of your profession? You’re fooling yourself. Even if you’ve been writing for years and years (and years), improvement is always possible.

Recently someone who’d heard about the Write A Blog People Will Read course contacted me about a coupon special* that I was running. The woman, whom I’ll call “Mary” because it’s nowhere close to her real name), told me she’s been writing for a long time. (Hint: She has a kid in college.)

Mostly her work has been in public relations. Lately she’s maintained a blog and is doing guest posts for others.

Mary has taken some other courses, so she wasn’t sure that she needed WABPWR. Given the depth of her experience, I wasn’t sure either.

And then I read her blog.

 

[Read more…]

Proof. Proof! And proof some more.

by 4 Comments

My second book is now out. “Your Playbook For Tough Times: Needs And Wants Edition,” like its predecessor, was published by me (on Amazon, Kindle and as a PDF through my personal website).

As a publisher, I’m a pretty good writer. Getting this brainchild born took much whirling and howling in the forms of back-and-forths with designers and formatters, and re-teaching myself how to use the different platforms, and much proofreading.

But apparently not enough proofreading. Shortly after it came out a reader wrote to me:

“I love the book and it is my second frugal bible. … I was upset that the spine has your name spelled incorrectly.”

Hey, thanks! … Wait. Wut?

 

[Read more…]

Don’t let Facebook run your life.

by 2 Comments

The November election certainly stirred things up. Even if your preferred candidates won you’ve likely felt some upheaval thanks to relentless Internet uproar, which in some cases led to un-friending – and even un-familying – over political differences.

And if your candidates didn’t prevail? The temptation might be to dig a hole, crawl in and pull it in after you – after you get done un-friending your Facebook buds and cutting yourself off from relatives.

Don’t do that. Instead, take some advice from online course expert David Siteman Garland.

“Your social media is your social media. If you want to talk politics on there all day, that’s your right,” he said in an e-newsletter.

“However…there are better ways to spend your time.”

 

[Read more…]

How to be a better writer. (Hint: It takes work.)

by Leave a Comment

thAs a writing coach and creator of the Write A Blog People Will Read course, here’s a phrase I hear regularly: I want to be a better writer.

Most of us want the same thing – and those of you who don’t, i.e., those who think your writing is already perfect, are probably kidding yourselves.

Earlier this year I wound up offering advice to someone I encountered someone on a writing website. Specifically, I offered to give feedback on a couple of her articles. She was delighted and sent me several short essays.

Well.

 

[Read more…]

Should you hire a writing coach?

by Leave a Comment

th-1A while back freelancer Susan Johnston Taylor was stuck in a rut, feeling “uninspired” and unable to come up with ideas for her regular clients. Hiring a writing coach fired her back up.

Although she bounces questions off fellow freelancers and freelance forums, Taylor will still set up a coaching session now and then.

“Sometimes I find that seeking advice from one person I trust is better than getting a chorus of conflicting opinions, especially when it’s a more personal or complicated issue,” she notes in an article on Contently.

She quoted author and coach Rochelle Melander, who suggested at least two times a writer might want to reach out:

 

[Read more…]

Two essential tools for writers.

by Leave a Comment

th-1Long time no blog! Sorry about that. I’ve been working on a book.

Full disclosure: I’ve also been working on enjoying the Alaska summer, providing some fill-in child care, spending a week at a theater conference, hanging out with my life partner (he and I particularly enjoy the built-from-scraps greenhouse) and my BFF, being a writing coach and helping my daughter promote her book.

Both of us are personal finance writers, so it’s no surprise that both of our books have personal finance underpinnings. Abby’s is called “Frugality For Depressives: Money-Saving Tips For Those Who Find Life A Little Harder,” but it’s not strictly a PF how-to. She writes from painful personal experience about the ways she tried and failed to follow the frugal hacks with which she was raised, and how she (and later her husband) manage their money in the most sustainable ways.

My book also springs from painful experience, but in an odd way: To become a personal finance writer, I had to go broke.*

 

[Read more…]