The Student Becomes The Master
I have to admit, I occasionally worry about referring folks to Helium. After all, the fact that I’ve had amazing success with it doesn’t mean that everyone will. It’s not that I think I’m that good of a writer, but I’m much better putting my word behind something that won’t change (like the Freelance Rockstar eBook I recommended earlier in the week) than something that I can’t control, like Helium.
The results of this weeks contests, however, have made it worth it, and reminded me why it is I am comfortable recommending Helium. One of my readers and my good friend Kameron won first place in one of the Helium contests this week. Good form, Kam!
For myself, I only entered one contest, and placed 3rd. This week could be especially fun, as there’s a “Writing Online” category. I’m going to try that one, and It’ll be cool going up against some of the best and brightest and Helium (and maybe some of you!)
I have to say that the one area I’m most interested in right now on Helium is the marketplace. I’m trying to score you all an interview with one of the big marketplace writers, and hope to post it next week, but we shall see.
———–
If you missed it earlier in the week, make sure to check out Eight Violent Truths About Freelancing - Part 1 and Eight Violent Truths About Freelancing - Part 2 over at Freelance Folder.
Enjoy your Friday evening, all!
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How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer - Review
Overview
For months now, I’ve seen the button and banner ads for How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer. To be honest, I assumed that I really didn’t need the book. The fact is, I was (and still am) already wildly successful in my freelance career. While I love reading Freelance Switch as much as anyone, I assumed that the book would be must a re-hashing of what I’d already read there and elsewhere. But, curiosity finally got the best of me, so I decided to check it out. Here are my thoughts, for what they’re worth.
For Experienced Freelancers
In many ways, I was right. How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer didn’t teach me anything I didn’t already know from five years in the field. It did, however, reminded me of some of the basic lessons I’ve learned in that five years. I can’t say I’d recommend How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer to anyone who’s been at the Freelance business for more than a year or two (unless your business is in the tank, in which case you might give it a read). If you’re already a successful freelancer, it is a good read and a pleasant reminder of the basics, but your $30 would probably be better spent elsewhere.
For New Freelancers
If you’re just getting started out as a freelancer, How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer will give you more than what you need to jump-start your freelancing career. If I had this book when I first started freelancing, I probably could have saved a good year’s worth of headaches, and would be a full year closer to realizing my ultimate dream of writing solely for myself. If you haven’t yet taken the freelancing plunge, How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer can help provide you with an accurate picture of the field and the lifestyle so that you can decide if it’s for you.
From practical issues like setting up your workspace to big ideas like branding, the folks at Freelance Switch offer up a ton of useful information. There’s information about how to figure your hourly rates, how to increase your rates over time, getting leads, managing clients, marketing, and subcontracting.
What’s Not There
I’d like to have seen more Information on Internet-specific writing and marketing. How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer is probably just slightly more useful for the print freelancer than the Internet freelancer, although both can benefit. To be sure, Internet writing is my thing, so I’m partial to seeing this sort of content.
Where It Excels
How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer is awesome at providing the basic principles from which you must operate to be successful as a freelancer. What How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer lacks in tactics and small-picture questions (although there is quite a bit of minutia there) it more than makes up for in strategy and big-picture ideas.
———-
Overall, I give it a 9.5/10 for new freelancers, and a 7/10 for those who’ve been at it for more than a couple of years. Oh, and yes, by way of disclosure, it’s an affiliate link. You buy it, I get a pittance 
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How Freelance Writing Is Like Selling Cars
I want to take a minute to thank a commenter on the blog by the name of “Andy the Expat.” Andy the Expat left this little gem of a comment on one of my Helium posts:
Call yourself a writer? You sound more like a second hand car salesmen. Get a life
Now, I admit it: At first, I changed his comment to: “Great advice, I chek it out. I lik u write guy.” Realizing that was probably not appropriate behavior, I marked it as spam and went on.
Today, though, it dawned on me: Andy just gave me the perfect opportunity to talk about something near and dear to my heart, and an important part of the freelance writer’s life: sales.
The thing is this: while good writing matters, it isn’t the only thing you need to succeed as a freelance writer. You have to be able to make a living from your writing, and an important part of that process is selling your writing. That’s why just about any freelance writer’s blog has a “services” page (or pages): they want to make a living from their writing.
Now, some folks like Andy automatically bristle when they think about sales. They think about the “second hand car salesman” stereotype we’ve all heard about. They picture a balding, rotund and mustachioed man in his late 40s wearing a plaid leisure suit trying to get them to buy a broken-down lemon. In short, they think Danny Devito’s character from Matilda.
Some folks like Andy have a different view of a writer. A writer is someone who sits around being inspired. He gives his writing to the world to enjoy, out of the kindness of his heart, and he asks nothing in return. In short, they think Michael Caine’s character from The Quiet American.
But Andy’s stereotypes are plain wrong, about writers and about salesmen. Writers and salesmen have a lot in common. Both writers and salesmen are honest folk. Sure, there are some dishonest salesmen. Heck, even Hasbro can be misleading in their marketing. But most people in sales, and most freelance writers, aren’t dishonest. They believe in their product, and they stand behind it. They are willing to let potential clients take their product for a spin, to see how it feels. They are willing to haggle a little bit on their pricing. And, at the end of the day, writers and salesmen both go home, kiss their wives and play Monopoly with their kids. Both writers and salesmen go to sleep, believing that they have made the world a little bit better by providing someone with something they desperately needed.
I don’t think Andy will be back here, but that’s all right. There are plenty of wonderful folks reading my blog, and most of you get it already. Many of you already make your living writing, and others want to, and you all realize that sales is an integral and even enjoyable part of the bigger picture.
Next time you hear someone talk about a “second-hand car salesman,” make sure to tell them about Andy the Expat.
Photo by KB35
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178 Ways to Improve Your Internet Writing
We talk all of the time about writing well. We talk about how it’s important to master the language, to write with feeling, to be compelling in our prose. Yet these generalities all too often fail to give us practical ways to achieve those goals.
What follows is a list of writing tips I’ve compiled, over time, for my own use. Now, they’re yours as well. Master all 178 of these tips and you’ll be the best damn writer in your niche:
1. Subscribe to The Writing Journey via RSS or by Email.
2. Take a Comp 101 class at your local community college.
3. Develop your vocabulary by learning 3 new words every day.
4. Buy a huge dictionary, thesaurus and grammar book.
5. Use that dictionary, thesaurus and grammar book every day.
6. Proofread other blogs to practice your editing skills.
7. Swear off using the word “great.”
8. Do the same with “nice.”
9. And “beautiful.”
10. And “wonderful.”
11. And “just.”
12. And “really.”
13. And “quite.”
14. And “that.”
15. Memorize the 8 Internet Writing Mistakes.
16. Avoid them.
17. When your spell-checker finds a misspelled word, write down what it was. Learn to spell that word correctly.
18. Experiment with writing tools like Q10, dictation software or (I know it’s revolutionary) a pencil.
19. Learn to use commas and apostrophes.
20. Stay on topic.
21. Subscribe to and read at least 2 monthly magazines.
22. Read at least one each of fantasy, horror, suspense, crime and romance novels.
23. Read prose frequently.
24. Read your writing out loud after you write it.
25. Turn off spell-check and grammar-check for a week, and check your writing manually.
26. Ask other writers for their advice.
27. Ask other writers for their help.
28. Help other writers, and offer them advice.
29. Practice active voice.
30. clear your writing area of distractions.
31. Write to express, not impress.
32. Connect with other writers.
33. Outline before you write and revise as you go.
34. Practice different writing voices.
35. Learn capitalization rules.
36. Put punctuation inside quotes.
37. Use simple strong verbs.
38. Let your writing sit 24 hours before publishing whenever possible.
39. Avoid superparagraphs.
40. Write interactive dialogue.
41. Join a peer writing group.
42. Submit writing to a peer-reviewed journal or website.
43. Read your writing in reverse.
44. Cut or replace words, don’t add.
45. Learn the rules of logic.
46. Use them in your argument.
47. Learn the names of 23 different colors.
48. Aim to write at an 8th-grade reading level.
49. Fail in your writing, but learn from your failure.
50. Avoid redundancy.
51. Don’t write the same thing twice.
52. Learn and defeat the 7 Deadly Fears of Writing.
53. Use transitions.
54. Practice clarity.
55. Brainstorm frequently.
56. Watch spacing.
57. Use strong verbs when appropriate.
58. Use cliffhangers in your prose.
59. Learn comma rules and use them.
60. Write your own life story.
61. Write your own life story from the perspective of your left ear.
62. Take a writing workshop.
63. Get a writing mentor.
64. Brainstorm.
65. Read Hugh MacLeod’s How to be Creative.
66. Hire an editor.
67. Use adverbs sparingly.
68. Practice a conversational tone by writing a conversation about your topic.
69. Don’t write to impress.
70. Eliminate awkward phrases.
71. Write what you know.
72. write what you enjoy.
73. Print out a draft to proofread it.
74. Participate in NaNoWriMo.
75. Be talented.
76. Write to entertain.
77. Follow the rules as often as possible.
78. Avoid cliches.
79. It it isn’t good, get rid of it.
80. Listen to public speeches.
81. Learn another language.
82. Use images effectively.
83. Freewrite.
84. Write first thing in the morning.
85. Write last thing at night.
86. Write first, edit later.
87. Learn what run-on sentences are and avoid them.
88. Write with authority.
89. Wrestle with your writing.
90. Write truthfully.
91. Write some garbage.
92. Stop worrying what others think.
93. Submit your writing until it is published.
94. Write something backward.
95. Listen to real-world conversations to hear how people truly communicate.
96. Don’t use such colorful language that it detracts from your message.
97. Sometimes, write without a message.
98. Watch out for floating body parts.
99. Be consistent in sequence.
100. Be consistent in tense.
101. Read screenplays.
102. Use pronouns clearly.
103. Make subjects and verbs agree.
104. Modify your word order when necessary.
105. Use but don’t overuse alliteration.
106. Watch for wordiness.
107. Avoid vague pronouns.
108. Write with a goal in mind.
109. Consider your reader’s education and expertise.
110. Use headlines.
111. Define specialized terms.
112. Write with standards.
113. Summarize your writing in a sentence or a paragraph.
114. Keep it simple.
115. Use short sentences.
116. Use short paragraphs.
117. Write with confidence.
118. Write with authority.
119. Vary sentence structure.
120. Join professional organizations.
121. Improve your Dialogue.
122. Write poetry.
123. Write a sonnet and a Haiku on the same topic.
124. Show, don’t tell.
125. Be hard on yourself.
126. Write with rhythm.
127. Write with necessary caution.
128. Avoid slang.
129. Avoid abbreviations.
130. Avoid symbols.
131. Use ellipses sparingly.
132. Use apostrophes correctly.
133. Smile when you write.
134. Memorize homonyms.
135. Use section headings.
136. Make an idea web.
137. Cite your sources properly.
138. Stay on topic.
139. Write patiently.
140. Don’t plagiarize.
141. Answer the 5 Ws and the H.
142. Be relevant.
143. Be dedicated.
144. Use an introduction, body and conclusion.
145. Avoid sentimentality for sentimentality’s sake.
146. Sweat the small stuff.
147. Find your own voice.
148. Write real content, not link-bait.
149. Use the semicolon rarely and correctly.
150. Use the colon correctly.
151. Learn the difference between a dash and a hyphen.
152. Understand the difference between parentheses, brackets, and braces.
153. Use the slash correctly.
154. Follow style guidelines.
155. Follow publisher guidelines.
156. Avoid excessive question marks and exclamation points.
157. Avoid weird words.
158. Write joyfully.
159. Verify your sources.
160. Use “its” and “it’s” correctly.
161. Write a 15-word sentence.
162. Write a story using only 3-word sentences.
163. Read daily.
164. Use criticism to your advantage.
165. Write as if you have a deadline.
166. Write in a readable font.
167. Adopt good writing habits.
168. Learn to use “Who” and “Whom.”
169. Write with intention.
170. Use writing prompts.
171. Read Shakespeare.
172. Write with confidence.
173. Avoid using technical terms.
174. Be harsh with your editing.
175. Make an argument in your writing.
176. Be open to criticism.
177. Never quit writing.
178. Ever.
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Brain Dump - Niebu, Helium Contests, and Twitter
photo credit: neurollero
All right, I’ve got so many different things rolling around in my head this morning, and none of them are working themselves into a full post. Let me offer you, then, a potpourri of the things jumping between my synapses:
Niebu
Being an Internet writer (or any other sort of self-employed web worker) means several things. It means sometimes working long or odd hours. It means having clients and colleagues that are, mostly, people you’ll never meet in person. Add the two together, and you wind up with “Niebu.”
How exactly does that work? Simple. You take an Internet Writer like James. James wakes up one morning at 5 AM. He likes to get things done in the morning, before his kids are up. He starts the coffee pot. While he’s waiting for his “jet fuel,” he hops on Twitter to type “Morning” to greet his colleagues and followers. Only problem is, both hands are shifted one key to the left. He types “Niebu” instead.
Two or three weeks later, Niebu is an Internet phenomenon. James and his colleagues (and peers, friends and hangers-on) have their own little inside joke. I think DebNg referred to it as “Men and their made-up words.” We use Niebu to mean “Hello,” “Goodbye,” “Good Luck,” and even refer to Niebu as a sort of tribal Deity, as in “My Twitter is acting up. Quick, sacrifice a virgin to Niebu.”
In reality, Niebu means Community. Niebu is the grand community of web workers and their friends, followers, and anyone else who wants in; it’s not exclusive. Niebu means, in some ways, I get up at 5 AM to work my a$$ off all day so that I can have the afternoon to watch my kid’s Kindergarten play. It means The soul-sucking corporate environment is eating away at my soul. I need a way to escape.
Niebu to you all today, my friends.
For another take on it, check out Dave Navarro’s perspective on What Does Niebu Mean?
Helium Contests
I told you all last time how you can go about earning money on Helium by writing for contests, and I wanted to follow up by pointing you to this week’s writing contest topics. They are as follows:
- 2008 Elections
- Hawaii
- Terrorism
- Antiques
- Online Business
- Trucks & SUVs
- Arthritis
- PC Support
- Christian Teens
- Role-Playing Games
I won’t be writing in the Role-Playing Games contest this week, as I’m the “sub-channel steward” for RPGs. “What’s a channel sub-steward?” you ask? I’ll cover the steward program in more detail at another time, but the basic principle is this: Helium utilizes a community-based system of quality assurance, in a similar fashion to Wikipedia. For each content area, there are stewards. There are sub-channel stewards for the very tiny portions of each content area, and I’m it for RPGs and Wargames. I’ve just really started doing this, though, as my focus up until the last couple of weeks at Helium had been the Reward-athon.
At any rate, good luck to those of you who decide to give the contests a shot. I’m thinking of writing in “Online Business” and probably “PC Support” this week.
Good luck to everyone who gives it a shot this week!
If you’ve not jumped onto the Twitter bandwagon yet, you should really consider it. My understanding is that there is some social networking/marketing value in it, but really I think it’s just a nice little way to blow off steam for 3 to 5 minutes at a time, several times a day. It is, for me, what the water cooler was when I worked in the corporate world.
Follow me on Twitter here.
———-
Have a great weekend, everyone. If you get a chance to see Iron Man this weekend, you should take it. Make sure you stay through the credits, though. I promise a totally geeking-out moment for any comic-book fanboy who does. It’s great stuff.
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