I’ve written before about online resources that freelancers can use or classes they can take to improve their writing or multimedia skills or learn new ones. One of the biggest sources of online classes is News University, a project of The Poynter Institute funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Since it […]
What freelancers should know about podcasting
Podcasting sounds intimidating. Maybe it’s the word: it conjures up images of pod people from old sci-fi movies. In reality, there’s nothing scary about podcasting. It’s just another way of producing a story, albeit in audio rather than written form. I reached that conclusion based on two recent podcasting experiences. The latest is an interview […]
Lessons learned from May blogathon
A month ago I had the crazy notion to blog for 31 days straight. For reasons I still don’t understand, two dozen other freelance writers hitched their wagons to the idea and joined me. 31 posts later, I’m at the finish line and here’s what I discovered: It’s not that hard to blog every day, […]
The art of the link
If you’re a writer and you work online, you need to know how to write a lead, nut graph, headline, deck – and how to link. Linking means including live Web addresses or URLs in your story to information related to whatever it is you’re writing about. The art of the link is in putting […]
To keep business and tech writing fresh, avoid cliches
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 […]
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 […]