To do good writing, read good writing. Here’s the good writing I’ve been reading this week:
Today is National Day of Unplugging. It’s a made up holiday like National Truffle Day (May 2) and Book Lover’s Day (Aug. 9). But it’s got a serious purpose – to make people aware of how much time they spend with their electronic devices and the benefits that can come from going offline every once in a while.
I’m as bad as the next person about screen time. I work in front of a screen all day. I watch TV to unwind. I quit playing games on my computer and phone a few years ago – I have no self-control and it was messing with my productivity. But if I’m driving, I can’t stop at a stoplight without grabbing my phone to check for Facebook or Twitter updates.
So I’m using the occasion of this made-up holiday to unplug. I’m going cold turkey for 24 hours this weekend. And I already know it’ll feel great.
If I can do it, you can too. You can log onto the National Day of Unplugging website to download the pledge card you see at the top of this post, fill it out with how you’ll be spending your time, take a picture of yourself holding it, and upload the photo to the site. Look at the front page of the website to see how other people are planning to spend their time offline.
In case you want to learn more, read my MSN Money tech story on people doing a digital detox:
Need a digital detox? Ditch Facebook
I’ve started writing a weekly tech column for MSN Money’s Smart Spending blog. If you have a question or problem with your laptop, cellphone or cable company or a favorite app, website or tech gadget, let me know.
Here are other good reads for writers I found this week:
Said to Lady Journos – Sexism is alive and well in the news business. A new Tumblr curated by an anonymous reporter gives women journalists and writers the chance to share the sexist comments they hear from sources and others. I don’t encounter this as much anymore, but when I was a freshly-minted trade magazine reporter going to medical conventions on a regular basis for my beat, it was everywhere. I might as well have been a booth babe in a bikini for the come ons I got. Anyone else experience this?
The best cities to be a freelancer (SmartPlanet) – If you guessed New York and the Bay Area you’d be right. The areas with the highest wages for scientists, knowledge workers and writers are San Jose ($26.42/hour), Washington, D.C. ($25.55), Boston ($25.39), Philadelphia ($25.21), New York ($25.10), San Francisco ($25.02), Houston ($24.64), Bigmingham, Alabama ($24.21), Austin ($24), and Los Angeles ($23.50), according to the survey. Areas with the largest share of self-employed workers are Riverside, Calif. (11.6 percent), Los Angeles (10.1 percent), Miami (9.3 percent), San Francisco (9 percent), Sacramento (8.4 percent), Portland (8.3 percent), San Diego (8.1 percent), Houston (7.8 percent), Nashville (7.7 percent), and Memphis (7.6 percent), according to the SmartPlanet survey.
Independent work goes mainstream (MBO Partners) –
Infographic: A five-year look at magazine editorial salaries (Folio) – Need another reason to thank your lucky stars you work for yourself? You probably make more freelancing than the editors you’re pitching. Consider: the mean salary for editors-in-chief of consumer magazines in 2012 was $89,100, and $94,800 for EICs of b2b publications, according to a Folio survey.
Anatomy of 10 years as a solopreneur (DebbieReber.com) –
Why I am no longer writing the column I loved for the Toronto Star (StoryBoard) – Faced with a new contract with terms she couldn’t accept, family and parenting writer and author Ann Douglas bid adieu to xxx.
IRE fellowships for freelance investigative journalists (Investigative Reporters & Editors) – The deadline to apply for the $1,000 grants is March 15. “Proposals dealing with whistleblowers, business ethics and/or privacy issues will receive priority; projects involving other topics will be given serious consideration by the committee as well.”