Master the art of writing for web

Writing for web is remarkably different than writing for print, as the attention span of people on the web is pretty short. You need to write using bullet points, headings, subheadings, images, etc.

Master the art of writing headline

A headline is very important in increasing the open rate of your content. You may get the best ranking for all the keywords, but if you do not have an attractive headline, your article will not get read. You should know how to write killer headlines.

Learn a bit about keywords and SEO

A little knowledge of SEO and keywords is required for all online writers, as keywords are the basis on which the entire web is organized. You should educate yourself on these two.

Prepare a portfolio

Writing is an art, and you are an artist. And an artist who does not have anything to show cannot support his claim of producing a fantastic piece of art. You should, therefore, prepare a portfolio keeping everything that I talked above. This will be your asset that you will need to show your clients.

Write a cover letter

A cover letter is like a direct sales letter. It either persuades your prospective clients to see your portfolio, or it can bore them to death. Many a freelancing assignments are made or broken at this level only. So spend good deal of time in creating a killer cover letter that can literally pull your clients with hands and make them read your sample articles.

You should follow the above given suggestions to start a freelance career. You can add some more items to your preparation, but you should not remove any. Each one of them is important. Very important!

But, as you can guess it, the road less travelled is not nicely paved, so there could be a lot of patches, holes, dust, dirt, broken patches, and even molten pitches, so to speak on the road to freedom. You need to be cautious when faring through such road. That is why part-time freelancing is always a good idea before you embark on this life-changing journey. To help you take an informed decision, I am going to show you the 3 biggest benefits that part-time freelancing offers.

3 biggest benefits of part-tome freelancing

Get an opportunity to test the water

It is always wise to test the water before you leap into it completely submerging yourself up till your nose. By starting part-time freelancing you can test if the quality of your output is worth its salt or not. Based on the feedback you get from your clients and experiences you earn, you can fine tune your skills and yourself to make it marketable.

Extra bucks in extra time

Part time freelancing also helps you put some extra bucks in your pockets, every single day. This money could be used to meet your financial obligations and even you can use it to finance your vacation. Yes, you can earn this much to support your vacation.

Still get to put bread on the table and smile on your kid’s face

This is the biggest benefit of part-time freelancing. It allows you to keep your current job, which inevitably mean putting bread on the table and smile on your kid’s face — well, on the faces of everyone in the family.

Before you utter the highly motivated, adrenaline-charged two-word phrase, “I quit”, you should start your freelancing career as a part-timers, which you can turn anytime into a fulltime venture.

Play your age and tell them it is an asset

You didn’t grow old sleeping. You acquired certain skills and a hell load of experience, which a young person can only imagine to have, but can never have until he or she reaches your age. Play this card well, and tell you interviewer that your age has given you the wisdom and maturity that comes only with age. Convince your interviewer that it will be an asset not a liability for the company.

Smack the stereotype on its head

Your young interviewer has many preconceived idea attached with your age, which you need to dispel. This is necessary, but do not do it violently. Be calm, composed, and in the best of your selves when breaking the stereotypes.

Handle illegal questions well

So what you have grown old now? So what you are 40 plus? It does not mean anyone can discriminate against you based on your age. It is a crime, and if you are given hint of this then either politely move to other question or ask the interviewer to not go in that direction. You can also consider legal action, if it does not stop on that.

You need to be careful when working on the above suggestions. A wrong step may land you in trouble. It is a fine line to walk.

Mantra 1: Prepare to fail

Nothing tastes sweeter than success, and nothing prepares you for success like failure does. Success in nothing but a journey from smaller failure to a bigger one with a scope for introspection and analysis at every juncture. If you want to succeed then do not abstain from failing. The more you will fail the more experienced you will have.

Mantra 2: Persist

What turns a failure into a success? Is it skill or is it tenacity? Be tenacious and exercise persistence until you succeed. A person is not a loser or cannot be deemed  as a loser until he quits.

Mantra 3: Grow

People who are afraid of growing never succeed. To succeed in your chosen field, you need to keep yourself apprise of the knowhow of your field.

Mantra 4: Dare to do

Do not get caught in the analyzing mindset. There will no better time than “NOW” to take action. Do not become victim of analysis or paralysis.

Mantra 5: Help others

There is a difference between one who touches the sky and the one who sniff the soil all their life. And that difference lies in the willingness to help. Keep helping people, and you will learn many things in the process.

Mantra 6: Network

Helping others selflessly is how you build network of trusted friends. Be willing to give, just asking for something in return will not help you build a network.

Mantra 7: Do not lie

Be honest to yourself and others. Do not brag or lie.

Mantra 8: Avoid overpromising

Nothing backfires as strongly as does overpromising and under delivery.  Do more and promise less.

Mantra 9: Own your mistake

Indulging in a blame-game is a typical mindset of loser. If you have erred, accept it, learn from it and move on. There is no point in playing blame-game. As it is, no one is going to believe you.

Mantra 10: Learn to say no

Saying no is very important. If you do not know how to effectively say no without antagonizing the recipients then you will either end up having more foes than friends, or you will end up wasting time doing things that does not matter to you.

Work on Headlines

A headline of any write-up is as important as the write-up itself. Always remember, 70-80 percent of your readers will go away without even reading a single line, if your headline is not attractive. This is even more important for the copy or content that you write for web. I will suggest you to keep a notebook of headlines. Maintain a repertoire of effective headlines.

Comment on your favorite blog

Commenting on your favorite blog will keep you in touch with the blogger whom you like, and it will also make you write on new topics. Make a habit of commenting on 2-3 blogs daily.

Write even when you do not feel like

At times, writing seems like a drag, you just cannot squeeze a word our two out of your damn head. You just want to go away. Do not do that, rather keep on writing. The best way to keep such feelings in check is to write only. Keep squeezing words even when you do not feel like writing.

Make a note to revisit later

A brilliant idea just flashed in your mind but you cannot use it now in your writing, what should you do? Well, do not move on without writing it down. Make a note of the idea before you move on.

Write for publications

Writing for publications is different than writing for web, but I suggest you to try your luck in publication. Pick a magazine and send your writing idea along with a sample of your style of writing to the editor, and see if the editor approves it. Repeat this process until you get an assignment. At this point, do not concern yourself too much about the size of the publication, and circulation of the magazine.

Solitary reaper

The journey of a writer is solitary one. Your decision to start writing has put you on the path where you will not get any company. All you will get is this: your characters to converse with; your ideas to talk to; your plot to develop; your message to convey; your words to play with.

Switch off your cell phone, disconnect your landline phones, grab a cup of steaming tea, close the door, Hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door, and venture out.

When to write

If you feel in the zone at 2 AM in the morning, start writing then only; if the morning breeze stimulates your creative senses then push the newspaper reading for the day and start writing from 5 AM in the morning. The idea is to fix the time that suits your lifestyle as unlike 9-5 office job, there is no one fix time for writing.

Writing schedule

Writing requires dedication. You need to be disciplined to become successful as a writer. Start the journey with making a writing schedule. Fix a time and stick to it. I will suggest you to write daily, but if your work schedule does not give you enough free time to write daily then write at least thrice a week. This regularity will seed writing habit in you. If you are just starting out, you can even start with writing on weekends, and then increase the frequency when the rhythm sets in.

Clean up

Remove all the unnecessary things from your writing desk. The more things you will have, the more scattered your attention will be. Keep only those things (Pen, paper, reference books, laptop, desktop, etc.) that you need while writing.

Set a Goal

How much you want to accomplish in the coming week? Start with setting a weekly goal. Divide the weekly goal into smaller daily goals, if you have planned to write daily. Always stick to the goal, come may what! How much are you planning to write today: 1 page, 500 words, 1000 words or 2 pages?

Freshen up

Before you begin writing, you can listen to the music you like; watch 10-20 minutes of your favorite television show; take a 10-minute shower, go for a walk; play with your dog; read a book; sit alone and feel the wind; or do a light exercise. The idea is to remove the unnecessary baggage from your mind and freshen up before you begin writing. This way you will be more productive. You cannot write well, if you are not feeling fresh.

If you are just starting out your journey of writing movie reviews then having an organized list of elements to look for while writing a movie review will be very much helpful. In this post, I am going to provide a list of elements that you should look for while writing review for a movie, but before everything else, watch the movie of which you are planning to write the review. Once, you are though with the movie and the popcorn, it is time to see which all elements you need to analyze the movie against. The elements of the movie review can be classified into three broad categories. One is plain informative like who is the director, when it was made, who are the actors etc., another is qualitative or descriptive, and the third one is technical aspects. Below is a complete list of elements, you need to keep handy while writing a review.

Informative

1.       Name of the movie

2.       Year of release

3.       Actors

4.       Director

5.       Certification

6.       Running time

7.       Genre

8.       Awards

Qualitative or descriptive

1.       Intended Target Audience

2.       Story line

3.       Sub- plots

4.       Treatment of the story

5.       Major characters

6.       Minor characters

7.       Structure of the movie

8.       Narrative technique used

9.       Sue of turns and twists

Technical aspect

1.       Lighting

2.       Music

3.       Cinematography

4.       Camera use

5.       Transitions and editing

6.       Mood

7.       speed

Warning: In essence, the movie review you have written is your opinion of the movie. Keep this in mind, and while writing a review, do not get tempted to reveal the complete story line. Your purpose is to give only the details that can help the readers of your review to form an opinion about the movie, not to retell the story of a movie.