Enough already with the cliches. If you write about business, technology or niche subjects, you probably have to bat off the cliches like flies. OK, did you notice that both of those sentences included cliches? That’s how hard it is to keep them out of your writing. But you should keep them out, if you […]
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Carlson bids adieu to Post's Magazine Reader column
For a great take on what’s happened to the U.S. magazine business over the past dozen years, be sure to catch Washington Post staff writer Peter Carlson’s latest and last entry in his column, The Magazine Reader. Carlson’s finale is titled “Looking at 12 Years Between the Covers”. In it he chronicles the magazines that […]
Guest post: Going freelance in a down economy
Going out on your own is scary enough, so why would any sane person do it in an economy like this one? Because a bad economy may actually be a good time to start a freelance career. At least that’s what Susan Johnston is hoping. Johnston is a Boston writer and creator of The Urban […]
Writing is like a hike in the woods
Writing is like a hike in the woods. You know it’ll be hard, but you look forward to it anyway. Even so, when the time comes, it’s easy to put off, to turn over and go back to sleep or distract yourself some other way. Once you’re on the trail, it’s exciting. Everything is fresh, […]
Why freelance queries get rejected
Freelancers deal with rejection all the time and it doesn’t get any easier. The worst is when you’ve put your heart and soul into a query only to have an editor say “Thanks but no thanks,” or worse, not say anything at all. I got dumped recently for the first time in a while, and […]
J-school grads are mastering digital news skills, freelancers should too
Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Columbia Journalism School gave the commencement address at the college’s 2008 graduation ceremony on May 21. It’s interesting reading for freelance writers contemplating where they fit into the increasingly digital world of news gathering and writing. As Lemann’s address makes clear, this year’s crop of journalism graduates is leaving school […]