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It’s My Monday

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I’m kicking off the new year with a new-to-me concept: taking one workday per week to focus on my own creative writing projects. I dubbed it It’s My Monday.

Lessons you can learn from an independent contractor

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Freelancers and independent contractors can learn a lot from each other. Sometimes we learn things directly. Sometimes indirectly. I’ve recently had a series of tradesmen repairing exterior and interior storm damage to the house. A team of at least a dozen roofers descended early one morning to replace the garage roof and a flat roof … Read more

Concision Counts

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Writing 350- to 500-word articles for Emmy taught me to quickly convey the essence of a person or subject, but writing 50- to 100-word bios for Cablefax and Variety proved a crash course in concision. Writing tight involves more than cutting extraneous words. It requires sharp focus and the ability to delete potentially fascinating details. Even editors who … Read more

Time Flies

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I know. It’s been a while since I posted here or wrote a blog post that wasn’t for a client. Maybe it’s because I was busy juggling client work and finishing a feature length script, but that script was completed and entered into screenwriting competitions last fall. Maybe I didn’t feel I had anything to … Read more

New Year, New Goals

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This year my professional goal is to ghostwrite more articles, columns, and blog posts for businesses.

Guest Posting

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When Lori Widmer decided 10 years was enough for her annual Writers Worth Month celebration, she decided to sprinkle guest posts throughout the year. Today it was my turn to share a guest post at her blog, Words on the Page. You can find my take on saying no to clients and potential clients here. … Read more

Conveying Your Message Through Laughter

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In previous posts, I explained how creative writing can help improve your business writing and told you that a 10-minute play I’d submitted to the 2018 Rockford New Play Festival was one of the plays chosen to be read at the event.   Organized by The West Side Show Room, the festival was held August 23 … Read more

The Pros and Cons of Dealing with Publicists

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Dealing with publicists is a big part of my job. Most publicists understand there’s a symbiotic relationship between themselves and writers. (With editors, too, for that matter.) But every so often you encounter a publicist with a superiority complex. Close encounters with unpleasant publicists Years ago a publicist set up an interview with one of … Read more

Countdown to Writers Worth Month

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I don’t even remember how it happened. I probably read about Writers Worth Day on LinkedIn or Twitter. But the moment I read those words something clicked. In addition to following Writers Worth creator Lori Widmer on social media, I became a regular reader of her amazing writing blog, Words on The Page. By the next year I was badgering Lori, saying, … Read more

A Community of Writers

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Being part of a supportive community of full-time freelance writers is a wonderful thing. Not only are the other writers kind, funny, and insightful, they aren’t afraid to share their own challenges with others. A couple weeks back one of those writers, Lori Widmer—creator of Writers Worth Month—was neck deep in deadlines and asked if … Read more