01 Oct 09 5 More Ways to Improve Your Writing Part-X

Every time I think of ending this series, new questions come snarling at me, and I am forced to keep the series going, and thus the series has reached to this tenth installment. In this part, I will be talking about when to write, and in this sentence “when” meant what occasion. So, let’s get going.

Make a Schedule

This is not only the best writing tips, but it is also the best time management tips you will get. Before you embark upon any project, make sure that you have a proper schedule dealing not only when to start and when to finish, but it should also have the details like what time of day are you planning to take this on. This is necessary unless you have nothing else to do.

Write when you are in the zone

The time I choose to write may not be right for you, and the time that suits you may not suit Cathy, or the time that Susan has chosen for her to write is may be the lunch time for you; therefore you should find the right time for you when you are in the zone. When you are in the zone, you tend to be more productive.

Write like a detective

Well, you do not need a focusing lens and cigar, I didn’t mean that when I said write like a detective. All I meant was this: go to the scene and write there. I know this will not be possible every time, but do it when possible. If you have to write about how youth interact in the real world then go to Starbucks and see what they do there, and overhear what they talk about.

Location, location, location

No. I have not attended any retail marketing classes, nor have I gone to any seminar, lately. The reason why I emphasized so maniacally about location is to bring your attention to understanding your surroundings. Go to a shopping mall, cinema hall, restaurant, train, bookshop, school, sports center, coffee house, etc., and take a seat from where you can see things in detail. Observe the surrounding and write about it using as much detail as you can. This will give you an understanding of creating a background for your fiction.

Write in the presence of a distraction

Create an environment that is distracting and stressful for you, and try writing in that environment. This is an exercise to check your tenacity. The more tenacious you will become the better it will be for you.

Tags: Best Time, Best Writing, Cigar, Cinema Hall, Coffee House, Detective, Location Location Location, Lunch Time, Mall Cinema, Retail Marketing, Right Time, School Sports, Shopping Mall, Sports Center, Starbucks, Surroundings, Tenth Installment, Time Management Tips, Time Of Day, Writing Tips

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27 Aug 09 Freelance Writing Checklist Part -1

If you are starting out as a freelance writer then there must be many things bugging you, or is there anything about freelance writing that can possibly bug you?

These questions are the two aspects of the same story, but with different protagonists: do you know what it takes to be successful as a freelance writer? This blog-post and the coming ones will provide you with a list of things that you must accomplish before venturing out for freelance writing.

I have organized this list of items to verify before jumping on the freelancing bandwagon based on the closeness of the topic to a freelance writing fresher. We (You and I) will begin this journey with you and your attitude towards writing, then will move ahead to see how the market is and what all you need to know before you commit. So, let’s get going.

Have you rounded of your writing skills?

Writing for someone else for money or without money is entirely different from writing for yourself or your term papers. The former requires precision in writing techniques, which may or may not require in getting the latter job done. I do not doubt your writing skill. I just want to say is go and brush up your grammar and writing skills to prepare yourself for better gigs.

What type of writer you are?

This is the second basic question you need to ask yourself. Are you a fiction writer or a non-fiction writer? If fiction is your genre, do you write stories, or poems? If you are a story writer, do you write short story, very short story, novella, or novel? What kind of story on that: crime, detective, erotic, historical, psychological, etc.? If you are a non-fiction writer, what kind of non-fiction you write? Do you write articles, press releases, sales letters, blogs, website content, political essays, term papers, magazine articles, news stories, or what?

As you can see this is a huge question, and you must have guessed, you will require a soul searching to know which genre fits your type. Not everyone is a “writing Leonardo “who can write on anything and everything with equal gusto, and produce equally mesmerizing output. Some people can do that, and rest of us can just hope to.

Where is your portfolio?

If you thought only a designer (graphic, fashion, web, hair, or any kind), a model, or a photographer, etc., needs a portfolio then it’s time for me to break the news: “A freelance writer also needs a portfolio!”

Build a portfolio that consists of writing samples from all the genres you want to get work in. yes, you can write in more than one genre!

Give me your URL?

C’mon, don’t say, you don’t know what a URL is!

Just joking.

When you are starting out, you many not feel the need to have a website, but once you move up the ladder, you will feel the need for one, and then you might think, “Why I didn’t have it yet?”

You are going to need it eventually, then why not now?

Tags: Bandwagon, Closeness, Detective, Fiction Writer, Freelance Writer, Freelance Writing, Grammar, Latter Job, Leonardo, Magazine Articles, Many Things, Non Fiction, Novella, Political Essays, Protagonists, Sales Letters, Short Story, Story Writer, Term papers, Writing Skill, Writing Skills, Writing Techniques

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01 Oct 09 5 More Ways to Improve Your Writing Part-X

Make a Schedule

Write when you are in the zone

Write like a detective

Location, location, location

Write in the presence of a distraction

27 Aug 09 Freelance Writing Checklist Part -1

Have you rounded of your writing skills?

What type of writer you are?

Where is your portfolio?

Give me your URL?

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