Some stories take on a life of their own and before you know it, a piece that was supposed to be 750 words has grown to 1,000. Unfortunately, editors are pretty adamant about sticking to assigned word counts. So some trimming is in order. It may be tempting to turn in a too-long article and […]
Help a freelancer in need, help save Lori's house
UPDATE: I am sorry to have to report that Lori Hall Steele passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the age of 44 after a short and mystifying illness that was diagnosed as either Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease) or Lyme disease. Here is her obituary as it was printed in the […]
Mediabistro.com on contributing editors: "gigs with teeth"
Mediabistro.com, the career center for freelancers and other media types, just published an illuminating article about contributing editors, and I’m not just saying that because I was interviewed for the story. The article, “Between Freelancer and Staffer: Contributing Editors,” by E.B. “Liza” Boyd, explains how the title means different things at different publications but for […]
You don't need to be serious to write about serious topics
Particle physics isn’t exactly simple. But just because a topic is complicated or serious doesn’t mean writing about it has to be. Take the superconductor supercollider that Switzerland-based CERN has been working on for the past 14 years. The 17-mile circumference Large Hadron Collider, which is intended to look for new particles that explain why […]
Nominate WordCount for best writing blog
Time for a shameless request. Michael Stelzner’s Writing White Papers blog is running its third annual contest to choose the top 10 blogs for writers. So I’ll just come right out and say it: vote for me! It’s been nine months since I started WordCount to blog about freelance writing in the 21st century – […]
How to build the freelance writing career you want
When you’re just starting out as a freelancer, it’s easy to fall into the habit of taking every assignment that comes your way. But if you stay in the business long enough, you realize that to be really happy in your work you’ve got to take control over what you do. Different writers will pursue […]