freelance writing

Writer’s Wisdom 86

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A Reader’s Game

At one point, you probably have asked yourself – “How do best-selling authors do it?”  “How do they keep their readers coming back for more?”

An easy answer to that question is with another question – What keeps us coming back to our favorite authors? 

However, part of their magic is that they know how to play the reader’s game – they challenge their readers.  They give them more of what they want, but at the same time, best-selling authors seem to know when to stop, and how to encourage readers to look for more inside the story.  They feed the story slowly, and they give the readers morsels of mystery and awe, of emotion and feeling, and the readers love the game.

But most important is that they seem to love the game of writing as well, they love what they do, they are true to the story and their characters, and they respect their readers.

Metropolis

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The other day, I was watching a silent movie from the 1920’s called Metropolis.  It lasted for over an hour, and I was surprised that it kept me interested despite not having any words or sounds, just the occasional line on the  screen.  The movie was full of symbolism, both, religious and political, and reflected many trends of the time.  I was glued to it, at one point.  Then, I started thinking, what is it about this silent movie that captivated my attention?

Soon, I understood, it was the symbolism throughout, despite no words.  Then, I thought that this same principle is applied in writing.  In writing, when words don’t suffice, a writer must use symbolism to keep the reader interested.  A writer must keep the reader discovering. 

This certainly brought a new awareness to my writing, and the funny part is that it came from a silent movie.

Writer’s Wisdom 85

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Of Books and Movies

There seems to be two teams of authors when we talk about books and movies.  The authors who enjoy the process of working and collaborating in the making of their best seller into a movie, and the authors who will leave the process entirely up to the director and the movie industry.  However, there is one unifying and common opinion of both groups – both agree that movies are a complete different animal, and as long as the integrity of the story is kept, they can deal with any other changes.

I tend to agree with this.  If a movie where to be made exactly as a book was written, it would actually be boring on-screen.  A movie needs a soul of its own, and that is what Directors do best – they give a different kind of life to the written word, a reincarnation  (if you can call it that), a second incarnation for the book lovers where they can appreciate other levels and dimensions of the same story.

Writer’s Wisdom 83

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To Write or Not to Write – That is the Question.

When doing some freelance writing, especially if you are ghostwriting for someone, you will be presented with many topics or assignments.  Sometimes, those topics will be in clash with your values.  You are presented with the dilemma of writing the article or not.  What do you do?  After all, if you are ghostwriting, your name does not go in it.  However, your are still the writer of that piece, and you know it.  Where will that piece of writing end up?  So the dilemma deepens.

On one side you have an assignment that will pay the bills, on the other side, it will kill you on the inside to write it.  So what do you do?  There is no straight answer to this question.  You do what you do, and you deal with your feelings.  This is a personal matter and my motto is to live life, and everything I do, well enough so I can go to sleep peacefully at night – at peace with the world and with myself.

To write or not to write – That is the question.  And the answer is yours.

Writer’s Wisdom 82

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Every writer is a writer.

At first glance this may seem as a sentence without much meaning or even much sense.  However, what prompted me to write it was that it occurred to me that sometimes we are quick to criticize other’s work without going deeper.  Some might stop reading at the first grammatical error they encounter, others at the first cliché.  I have read about a best-selling author giving an opinion on another writer (now a best-selling author) and saying that the author did not know how to write.  The author became a sensation overnight.  I guess my point is that we should not judge or ill criticize the writing of others just because it does not follow our style and common rules.  There are no Gods in the world of writing just writers.

One thing is to present a piece to the world that is poorly written and obviously, without much care – that shows in writing.  Another, is to write different from the masses.  We should work on improving our writing everyday.

Writer’s Wisdom 81

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What happens when writing does not meet your expectations?

There are many ways we can approach the answer to that question.  It is a matter of individual experience, and whatever your expectations are as a writer.  At one point or another we will ask that question to ourselves, to the writer inside, and we may or may not like the answer.  Or maybe, we might not have an answer at all – at least yet. 

Sometimes, you will work hard, and harder, but the results and rewards just don’t show up in a pretty package.  What then?  Do you beat yourself up?  Do you get discouraged and stop writing?  Do you take a break to clear your mind and find a new path?  Do you just ignore your feelings and keep writing anyway?  Maybe, you will think of another approach to your writing.

Whatever your answer, it is one that you must deal with to be able to find your way as a writer – I am still figuring that one.  If writing is your passion, keep at it.  If you have to try different approaches, then try them.  If you need to take a break and clear your mind, then do so.   Do what you have to do, and what you need to do to find your writing path.  For some it will take longer than others.  Look at the different life stories of best-selling authors.  For some it happened fast, while others took years figuring out that they belonged writing.

I guess my point is, a true writer finds a path.

Writer’s Wisdom 80

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Live and Write

If you are busy freelance writing, you may find that it takes most of your day, and sometimes, a few hours at night.  It may also take some of your weekends.  Assignments come and go, and the competition is fierce – you are lucky if you can grab it.  However, how much is too much?  You know you have to eat, right?  But at what cost?  Be thankful for the assignments you get, but also live your life.  Make time for your spirit, yourself, your family, your pets, and your friends.   If you don’t, you will find yourself in a less than perfect mood for writing.

Create a balance, and write.  Live and write.

Writer’s Wisdom 79

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Change your daily routine – fool your Muse.

Most of us have a daily routine for writing.  You might wake up early in the morning, turn your PC on, while waiting for a cup of coffee, or maybe you check your email right away.  Well, one thing leads to another, task after task, and soon you are following your usual routine.  Sometimes, you feel inspiration may have left you for a while, and you fall into a writing rut.

Sound familiar?  It may take, a simple change, such as sitting outside to write (weather permitting) or just move to your living room with pen and paper instead of your PC, to break the rut and feel inspired once more.  Maybe your Muse was asleep and you surprised her by changing your routine.

Give it a try, and see if it changes the atmosphere for you.  Surprise your Muse!

Writer’s Wisdom 78

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Writing for Pleasure

You have deadlines to meet, and many writing projects awaiting you, but there are times when you just need to write for pure pleasure – just for you.  It is important to nurture this part of writing and give it a place in your hectic schedule.  If you only write because you want to get paid, you will be missing on this important aspect.

When you write for pleasure, you enter a realm of enjoyment, and you are opening the gates of inspiration.  When this happens, ideas can come from anywhere, and you will experience the power of the written word.  Many of us are so worried about making the deadlines and earning a living (out of necessity,of course) that we forget to take a bit of time to just relax and write for ourselves – just for the pure enjoyment of it.

From time to time, relive the early days of your writing career, and take a few minutes to write for the simple pleasure of it; recapture the magic.

Writer’s Wisdom 77

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Planning Your Writing Day

Your computer’s calendar is your best friend – the best tool to plan a day’s full of writing and other projects.  Time goes fast when you write, and the hours do not seem enough to cover everything that you have to do in a day.  Learning to log your tasks in your calendar and timing them, is a big help to focus and handle your most important assignments.

When logging your tasks, prioritize them from the ones that are due first and assign a time to work on them, set an automatic reminder to let you know when your next task is about to commence, so you know how much time you have left with the present task.  Also, spend and hour in small tasks that can take 10 or 15 mins – you will eliminate the small tasks and will warm up for your bigger tasks.  Don’t forget to allocate a few minutes here and there for breaks and lunch, and of course personal time and errands.

This is not to say that you have to function like a robot tied to a computer.  It just helps you to keep track of time and also to organize your writing throughout the day.  It also prevents the wasted minutes surfing the net.  At the end of the day, when you look back at your schedule, the satisfaction you feel for a good work’s day will become fuel to make you more productive.  It will all pay off in the end.