I write blog posts a couple different ways. Some days it’s the spur of the moment, when an idea strikes or I’m inspired by the day’s news. Other times I hatch an idea, dash something off in a hurry, then let it simmer half-written for days or weeks before finishing it off. Or I’ll have […]
WordCount Blog: 2008 Q1 Report
I’m taking a cue from public companies and issuing a quarterly report on this blog. I started WordCount as a New Year’s resolution, so the end of March marked the end of my first quarter as a blogger. Here are some highlights: Readership – More people are discovering the blog. Page views grew exponentially over […]
Why I'm Proud to Call Myself a Reporter
I’d planned to write about something else today, but it can wait. The 2008 Pulitzer Prizes came out yesterday, the newspaper industry’s highest honors. The Washington Post won six, a record for the paper, including the esteemed Public Service award for its reports on sub-par treatment of war veterans at Walter Reed Hospital. The paper […]
Spring Training for Freelancers
Baseball players aren’t the only ones who use springtime to warm up for the regular season. With winter behind us, the writing conference season is in full swing. Conferences can be a good way to inject new life into your freelance business – and pardon the pun – put some spring back in your writing. […]
10 Basic Web Tools for Freelancers
My workday would not be the same without the Web-based tools I use for research and writing. The good part is they’re simple. I may be a tech writer, but as my husband will attest, I an not an early adopter. Whether it’s a computer, software program or cell phone, I stick with the tried […]
One Writer's Journey From Print to Online News
How does someone go from mild-mannered print writer to multimedia maven? It’s the question of the day given the direction the U.S. publishing industry is taking – and if you’re not asking it, you should be. That goes for freelancers as well as staff writers. To shed some light on reporting and writing in the […]