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24 Jan 10 Freelance Writing – What to Do When Work is Slow

Everyone goes through a lean phase, and indeed, it could be very worrying. But, if you have a proper plan in place then you will take the lack of clients as an opportunity to do something big. I am serious. It is as easy to do as it is to write, if you do the proper planning.

What to do when clients are hard to come by?

  • Look for more clients: This is the first thing you should do, but do not waste inordinate amount of time on client searching. 2-3 hours a day should be more than sufficient. Scan twitter, job sites, and freelance boards and see if you can land up in a good deal.
  • Work on the basics: There are some shortcomings in your writing which you have noticed earlier as well, but due to unavailability of time, you could not work on improving them. Now as you do not have many works, why do not you take it as an opportunity to improve your writing skills? You may want to revisit English grammar, or you may want to read some books on writing, or attend some class. This is the right time to invest in improving your skills.
  • Start you own project: In the years or months you worked for your clients, you must have thought of starting some exciting project: may be write an e-book or create an informational product, or a course, or a website, or a blog. This is the time to execute the plans you were making. Why do not you start working on the stuffs you have been planning for long?
  • Spend time with your family: It often happens with us that when there are lots of works to finish within a tight deadline then we tend to overlook our family. As you do not have much work, you should spend your time with your family, and recover the lost family-time.
  • Take a vacation: If you have sufficient bank balance to pay for your vacation then cash in on the opportunity you got and take your family for a long due family vacation.

These represent just tip of the iceberg. There are many more things that you can do. Just be creative and plan out something.

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23 Nov 09 5 More Reasons Why You Should Join Twitter

he 140-character magic has made us more creative. Now we know about our power to express whatever we want in 140 characters. Before twitter, it was unbelievable. We thought we can never say anything by spending so less letters. Even our text messages used more letters than that. Twitter came and showed us what all we are capable of, but not everyone believed it. There still are people who do not know why Twitter is such a phenomenon. In the last post, I gave 5 Reasons in favor of Joining Twitter, which I think was not sufficient, therefore, I am writing 5 more reasons here.

Reason 1: To express what you feel

We express ourselves, we do it daily, and we do it in huge chunks. We talk about how we feel about certain government decision, certain blog, certain people, certain ideas, certain system, etc., but what about “what are you doing” questions? Well, twitter asks you this, and it gets all sorts of answers in maximum 140 characters. This is a great way to express yourself by giving bit-size information, rather than bearing the burden of need lot to say

Reason 2: To listen what others have to say

A good communication is the one in which you listen double as much as you speak. People will listen to you only when you will listen to them. It holds true with twitter communication as well. This tool help you listen to what people has to say, and to understand their point of view on the matter as well.

Reason 3: To strike conversation

Twitter is not Instant messaging (IM) service, but still you can strike conversation here, Use @your friend’s name to send a reply to what your friend has to say, or send a direct message (or DM them in twitter term) and begin the ping-pong game of conversation.

Reason 4: To know where is your friend

In most of the cases, your friend will tell on her own that where she is and what she is doing. If you are following your friend closely then I am sure she will tell you all about her there. As the news has come to me, twitter is going to allow geo-stamp (geographic location stamp) on the tweets, which means you can tell from where your friend has tweeted.

Reason 5: To sound knowledgeable

You do not need to be an Einstein to sound knowledgeable, you just need to be on top of the news, and what too is better than twitter in achieving that? Follow what you love most or what your peer group wants to hear from you and talk as if you own the information. Twitter can help you in doing all this.

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05 Nov 09 Finding Ideas To Write About

One of the huge problems being a writer, is finding your ideas.  You have to be able to create an influx of ideas, even when you feel stuck.  Part of having the longevity to have a writing career is knowing how to work past the tough days.  As a writer, not having an idea of what to write about just isn’t an option, so here are a few tips to make sure you always have fresh ones aplenty.

Something that people are usually able to write about at any time, is an issue that bothers them.  Whether a story in the news, or in your personal life, write about something you dislike.  This can be a useful exercise, as it’s easy to let yourself rant.  Once the words start flowing about something, they’ll start flowing about everything.

If you have a personal blog, which all writers should have, try writing about something different.  If you mostly focus on your current daily life, try writing about your past.  Think about the way things were before you are now.  Confront some hardships, or an aspect of your life that you miss.  Anything that moves you, to get those creative parts of your brain moving and working.

Try to challenge yourself.  Write outside of your comfort zone.  Anything that forces you to think outside of your normal box.  That’s a useful activity to help you constantly see scenarios in different ways, so that you’ll always have new ideas.

The more you can force yourself to write about different things, the  more you’ll be able to write.  Part of writing is letting yourself write content that you aren’t confident about.  You don’t always have to submit that work for someone else’s approval, but progress is progress.  At least getting something out will make you feel better, and less stressed for the next time.

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