Scriptwriting Contests

For those looking to break into the screenwriting market, check out the list of contest opportunities with deadlines provided by Amanda the Aspiring TV Writer (a great blog in its own right).

Quotation for the Week of June 29

"As a rule we disbelieve all the facts and theories for which we have no use."
-- William James

Business Blogging Epiphany

It's Saturday, but I thought I would share Liz Fuller's "Friday Fun: Business Blogging Epiphany" from the always informative Business and Blogging.

Thanks, Liz. I liked your thoughts. One of my own--an epiphany, perhaps?--is that blogging doesn't have to be the huge time commitment so many people imagine it to be. Blog entries shouldn't be dissertations. People don't closely read long blog posts--they skim them. So all that precious detail you include in lengthy posts--wasted words, unfortunately. Make your points, make them concisely and finish.

See?

Copywriting--Where the Bucks Are?

MediaBistro had this little blurb on the great demand for copywriters and how much money there is to be made doing that work. The item did, however, question whether the "pay was commensurate with the demand."

This stuff about copywriting as a lucrative niche is not exactly news, is it? Bob Bly, Peter Bowerman--they've been saying for ages that the good money is in copywriting. Still, I have yet to find someone willing to pay me the big bucks to do it.

Maybe part of it is a matter of how you define "copywriting." Some people I know who call themselves copywriters make most of their money, not at ad or promotional copywriting, but writing annual reports and handling other big jobs or ongoing work for businesses.

What are your experiences with this? I know there are copywriters out there making a good living. Where are you getting your leads? How are you finding your clients? And what sort of "copywriting" are you actually doing for them? Inquiring minds would like your comments.

How to Get it All Done

I've become such a big fan of the blog Zen Habits. I recommend it as daily reading for everyone trying to accomplish a lot of stuff and still have time for a life.

Here's a great post from guest blogger, Collis Ta'eed, a person who you will see has accomplished quite a bit. It's his advice on how to do it.

What's Your Brand?

The minutes of a local freelancers' meeting that I couldn't (to my sorrow) attend showed that the subject discussed was branding. It got me thinking--what is my brand exactly? What is it that distinguishes me from other freelancers? Where's my focus? What's my forte?

Here are a few thoughts on how someone (particularly a writer who could work for almost anyone) might go about determining one's brand.

1. Determine your subject area expertise. That seems logical enough. Do you have experience or knowledge in a particular field? Science, technology, finance, gardening, cooking, or "other," you can use what you know to find your focus.

2. Identify your likes/dislikes. Okay, maybe you're a financial wizard because you have a CPA and used to work as a financial advisor or whatever--but you found out you hated it. Think about what it is you'd like to write about. What really turns you on. As writers, we're always reading (you do read, yes? yes?) and learning new things. What new area would you be excited to learn more about and focus on in your work?

3. Think about more than subject expertise. Remember, what you have to offer goes beyond the stuff you know. It includes your abilities. For instance, if you're good at writing persuasively, you might want to focus on copywriting and promotional work. Or if you give great attention to detail, you could do grant writing or technical writing.

4. Consider who will buy what you have to offer. It don't mean a thing if you don't hear that cha-ching! Once you've figured out what you're good at and what you'd like to do, figure out who wants it. Part of that is figuring out for potential clients what they need. Sometimes they don't even know they need it. So, finally you should . . .

5. Step outside the box, please. In thinking about these things, consider all the potential options. You've written articles for magazines, say. Why not take that talent and apply it in a way you haven't before. Your ability to write features may make you perfect for writing company histories or promotional copy so that it puts a "human face" on the business. Or you've written for newsletters before. Take that ability to write concise copy and put it to use writing case studies or corporate blogs. I'm sure there must be other examples of talents used in traditional ways or ways you've become accustomed to that can be applied toward providing new (for you or the client) and emerging services.

Just a few thoughts rattling around in my head on this subject. Anyone else got any bright ideas? Please feel free to share with your comments.

Book Promo Network

I can make no "yea" or "nay" call on this, as I have not used it, but someone has started this subscription book promotion Web site and I think I read somewhere that it may (possibly) offer free trial usage for a limited period. If you've got a book to promote and would like to check the site out, I'd be interested in reading your comments about it.

A Comprehensive Look at Trade Publishing vs. POD

For anyone interested in understanding the differences between print-on-demand (POD) publishers and big Noo Yawk publishers, this blog entry by Tracy Cooper-Posey of Anchored Authors provides a great, detailed overview. Very comprehensive--plus it includes a discussion of the whole Amazon/BookSurge thing (if you don't know what that is and you're thinking about self-publishing or publishing through a press that uses POD, you should read it).

A tip of the hat to Anne Wayman of The Golden Pencil for posting this.

ADDENDUM: Note that Amazon is throwing its weight around some more--this time in the UK.

(Long) Quotation for the Week of June 22

"Remember to never split an infinitive. The passive voice should never be used. Do not put statements in the negative form. Verbs have to agree with their subjects. Proofread carefully to see if you words out. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing. A writer must not shift your point of view. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.) Don't overuse exclamation marks!! Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing. Always pick on the correct idiom. The adverb always follows the verb. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives."
-- William Safire

To Be Continued . . .

This blogger will be taking a break to go on a well-deserved vacation out West. I'll be back after June 21.

Journalism Students Give Thumbs-Down to Broadcast News

You'd think journalists would be the biggest news watchers, Robert Niles posits in an article for Annenberg Online Journalism Review. But no--many journalists despise watching news on TV. And this is true for many of his journalism students.

Niles asked his students where they got their news, and got answers like "The Daily Show", "The Colbert Report" and "The Onion". When asked why they didn't watch regular TV news, they "complained about the titillation--fear-mongering crime reports, salacious coverage of the entertainment industries, reporters and anchor people glammed up to look like models. And when TV reports covered more serious issues, including politics, they result as little more than propaganda--talking points served up from two sides, with no analysis testing the claims, beyond petty insults."

In addition, "The broadcast majors among them expressed their revulsion at moving into an industry where 'good television' meant insults, violence and conflict, rather than information, engagement and enlightenment."

Pretty sad when future news professionals feel they're getting straighter stories from news parodies than from the shows being parodied.

Does anyone else remember that movie "Network", with William Holden and Faye Dunaway? How visionary was that?

One Step at a Time

Sometimes writers (freelancers, bloggers, fiction writers, etc.) can get so overwhelmed with everything they have to do, it can get to the point where you don't know which thing to do first, how long to do it, why you're doing it to begin with and so on and so forth.

But here's the thing. Even if you have a huge to-do list, you can get what you need to accomplish done. Just take it one step at a time.

You hear so much about people multitasking--emailing while typing while phoning while eating. But all this does is divide your attention between so many things that you can't give any one of them the attention they deserve (besides, if you bolt your food while you work, you risk choking).

So, a few pointers to help keep your head on straight while you're trying to do your work:

1. Make a list of things you want to accomplish. These are your long-term goals. For example, "write e-book" might be one of them.

2. Break any big project down into discrete steps. For your hypothetical e-book project, that could include "pick topic," "research need," "write outline," etc. Any big project can be broken down into little steps.

3. Schedule the small tasks, too. If you make a note of them, you won't forget them.

4. Make a do-able list of various things you want to do. Not a huge list. Don't try to build Rome in a day or work on every single project you have. Create a manageable list of the various things you need to do--both small tasks and small steps toward completing larger projects. You can block out time for things that will take longer and do smaller tasks in between blocks, or you can "bundle" the small stuff and set aside a block of time to handle that, too.

5. Go through your list one item at a time. Don't try to do everything at once (or even two things at once). Focus on each task, so you do it as well as it can be done. Really paying attention to each thing you do will help assure your work is of the highest quality you can achieve. And you'll probably more be efficient than if you try to do more than one thing at a time.

6. Don't multitask. As I said, you'll just stress yourself out and the quality of your work will suffer, too. Erin at The Unclutterer makes a very persuasive pitch against multitasking. I agree with those points and would add that it reduces quality--in your work and life.

I'm reminded of Anne Lamott's great book Bird by Bird in which she tells the story of how a school project on identifying birds so overwhelmed her brother, he didn't know where to start. Her father told him, "Just take it bird by bird, son."



Very wise advice. Otherwise you might end up too much like these women.



And then you might have to start taking this stuff.

The Protocol of Story Theft

They say if you're going to steal from other writers, you should steal from the best. Well, Gawker presents the rules for stealing stories.

Bad Assignment Spam

I'm happy (to the extent one can be happy about being solicited to take a writing job for no pay) to report that I was able to provide The Ultimate Get-a-Clue Freelance Request for this week on one of my favorite freelancer blogs, Screw You! (or the Irreverent Freelancer, as I have so demurely identified it in my freelance writing blogroll).

And, yes, why look for lousy job notices, when they're being sent right to your inbox?

Advertising for Freelance Writers?

On more than one occasion, it's been suggested to me (by someone not in the freelance writing field) that I could advertise for clients. Since I'm a lawyer by training and past experience, it's even been suggested that I take out an inexpensive ad in the local bar association newsletter.

I shy away from these suggestions for one simple reason: I don't think advertising works for freelance writers.

Here's my thinking on the matter. Advertising usually costs a good chunk of change. And for advertising to work, you have to run your ads on a regular and continuing basis. That adds up to a huge chunk of change. Even if the advertising is cheap (like the bar association newsletter), it will add up over time.

But do people hire writers based on advertising? I don't think so. That's because most clients aren't looking for a freelance writer. They may not even know they need one or how they could benefit by hiring one. I think most of the time freelance writers get business by reaching out to others in some way (whether its through cold calling, query letters or face-to-face marketing) and selling those people on the idea of using them.

This is why I refuse to spend money on advertising. But I'd love to hear other opinions on this subject. Has anyone had success selling freelance writing services through advertising?

Quotation for the Week of June 1

"Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough."
-- Groucho Marx