Tech cliches we never want to hear or write again
The computer industry loves jargon. Think about it. Engineers and programmers get into designing computers and writing code because they’re good at math and conceptual thinking, not necessarily with words. Consequently, stories about computer and Internet are cluttered with words and phrases nobody ever uses in real life. I’m tired of hearing them, and work [...]
Should you upgrade to Firefox 3?
I ditched Internet Explorer a long time ago for Firefox, the Web browser from Mozilla, and never looked back. It loads faster, doesn’t crash as often and most Websites look just as good. Firefox just came out with an upgrade, version 3. Should you switch? One of my go-to sources for these kinds of computer [...]
Poynter Online remodels, adds features
My favorite place for keeping tabs on what’s happening in the news industry just got a makeover. Poynter Online, the Web home of the Poynter Institute, the non-profit journalism education and policy institute, is previewing a new look that makes it easier to navigate through the wealth of material available there. The new front page [...]
7 tips for writing a great press release
Press releases are easy to hate. So many of them are poorly written, off target or way too long. But if you’re a writer covering the world of business, press releases are a fact of work life. In the years I’ve been a business reporter, first at a daily newspaper and more recently as a [...]
Should writers blog about juicy subjects or save them for story pitches?
Any writer with a blog has faced this dilemma: when a juicy tidbit or great story comes your way, do you blog about it or save it for a query? Freelance writer and blogger Michelle Goodman tackles this question in a recent entry to her blog, The Anti 9-to-5 Guide. Goodman wisely suggests saving your [...]
Use Wordle to create a word picture of your blog
They say a picture’s worth a thousand words. So today, for your viewing enjoyment, here’s a picture of this blog. The image comes courtesy of Wordle, a Website that creates word clouds from text that you give it, or in this instance, of all of the words I’ve ever written in this blog. You can [...]
11 favorite online activities for taking a writing break
Why is it that when I have the biggest deadlines, I have the strongest urge to take breaks and troll around the Web. It probably the brain’s way of relieving the mental strain. Someone has to come up with a name for this, like the Freelancer’s Law of Inversely Proportional Leisure Activity. When I need [...]
LinkedIn's Companies directory best tool yet for freelancers
LinkedIn just unwrapped a new feature that may be the social network’s best tool yet for freelance writers – a comprehensive company directory. The Companies feature is a database of LinkedIn’s 26 million members that can be searched by company, geography or industry. Freelancers can use it to look up editors at umpteen publishers of [...]
How to fit blogging, social networks into your writing work day
A writer I know is thinking of starting a blog and asked me how I fit blogging into my regular work day. Good question, and one that’s relevant to anyone who writes full time but wants to improve how they’re marketing their business either by blogging or joining a social network like Facebook, LinkedIn or [...]
Freelancers should just say no to assignments, gigs that aren't a good fit
Can you tell when a freelance gig isn’t a good fit? Susan Johnston’s got some great tips for determining whether you should take a freelance job on her blog, The Urban Muse, in a post called 5 signs that this isn’t the gig for you. My favorite: when an editor sends your story back with [...]
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