lwidmer | Words on the Page

Celebration and Recovery

Posted on July 5, 2011 by lwidmer

How was your holiday weekend? How was the 4th or Canada Day for you? To paraphrase Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, the time of my life was had this weekend. It started Friday with time alone with the husband. Saturday was the farmer’s market in the morning and the pool in the afternoon. Sunday was…

Worthy Tip: Take This Job, Not That Job

Posted on July 1, 2011 by lwidmer

Rabbit! And happy Friday to you. Good day yesterday – well, before the bad news anyway. I managed to coordinate my upcoming article interviews, work on a personal project, then clean and shop for the writers’ group (I hosted). It has been gloriously sunny, dry, and cooler (79-80) here the last two days, so I…

Monthly Assessment: June 2011

Posted on June 30, 2011 by lwidmer

Busy morning yesterday, but the afternoon was quiet. I took advantage of it. Instead of marketing like mad (my usual routine), I spent time on personal writing projects. I was able to make good headway on a few things, which feels pretty satisfying. If only there were checks involved. Someday… It’s time for the monthly…

Kicking Down Roadblocks

Posted on June 29, 2011 by lwidmer

Interesting day yesterday. I was hard at it contacting folks from the conference when the phone rang. The client who was supposed to give me a call actually did. On time. I’d forgotten. Very strange! That meant I answered as though I were approaching a telemarketer – an abrupt “Hello” instead of my more office-y…

Fee Schedules: Pros and Cons

Posted on June 28, 2011 by lwidmer

Thank you all for your birthday wishes. It was a lovely day punctuated by calls from family and time spent with family nearby. That and some peaceful moments -it’s all I wanted. Despite my best intentions, I did not take yesterday off. I tried. Really. But I sat on the swing writing in my journal…

Balancing Act

Posted on June 27, 2011 by lwidmer

Superb weekend. I spent three and a half hours in the garden Saturday morning and by noon, I was aching in places I never thought could ache. My knees were red for hours. This is all good. The garden looks spectacular and I feel grounded again. I followed that feeling up with a trip over…

Randomness That Works

Posted on June 24, 2011 by lwidmer

Superb Webinar yesterday! Thanks to one and all who attended and asked such great questions. Anne and I were happy for your presence and participation. If you didn’t get a chance to join in, drop either Anne or me a note. We’ll be happy to let you know when the next one is and see…

Simplifying

Posted on June 23, 2011 by lwidmer

Today’s the day! There’s still time for you to register and attend the Unlock Your Hidden Profit Potential Webinar, starting today at 1 pm PT/4 pm ET. Anne and I intend to deliver solid information and have fun in the process. Bring your questions and join us. Click on the link to your left. Busy…

Worthy Tip: Use Your Head

Posted on June 22, 2011 by lwidmer

Don’t forget: tomorrow is the Unlock Your Hidden Profit Potential Webinar! Join Anne Wayman and me for an hour of ideas and exercises to shift your perspective and help capture more opportunities. Click on the link to the left and join us! Thanks to Dr. Freelancer Jake Poinier for alerting me to this informal study…

Begging to Differ

Posted on June 21, 2011 by lwidmer

There’s still time to sign up for the Unlock Your Hidden Profit Potential teleclass. Anne Wayman and I will present our ideas for helping you rid yourself of those habits and roadblocks that keep you stuck and find new approaches that create more clarity. Click on the link to your left and join us for…

Cathy Miller

June 21, 2011

I did a lot of ghostwriting (and still do) at the beginning of my freelancing. I was blown away when I 1st heard the sentiment. You nailed it-it's not our ideas-it's using our skill to help our clients express their ideas.

I beg to differ with anything that suggests it is the only way to do something. Even proven methods may not be right for my business. Thanks for sharing, but I'll decide.

Devon Ellington

June 21, 2011

I don't think ghost writing is selling out at all. However, I do have a problem with celebutards running around saying they wrote a book when, at best, they talked it to someone else. "As told to" or "with" in the byline does not bother me. But pretending someone wrote a book when they didn't — it's a form of lying. Yes, the writer should be VERY well compensated for having to deal with some of these wastes of food, but the celebutard is still a liar. My problem is not with the writer, but with the person who pretended to be a writer. Writing is a very specific set of skills.

Where do I beg to differ?
–that novels work well in the present tense. I have yet to read one that pulled it off, and it seems to be the latest trend in lit fiction. All it does is push me farther out of the story, especially if it's set in an historical period.
–that punctuation doesn't matter. Paragraph structure and punctuation are a road map for the reader, so the reader can focus on the content. Every choice of punctuation or lack thereof changes the meaning. I can't read what you meant — I can only read what's actually on the page.

Wade Finnegan

June 21, 2011

Lori I really appreciate the sense of independence you instill through this blog. I have been searching advice throughout cyberspace, but at times there seems to be too much of it, and there are contradictions everywhere.

I beg to differ that just because you're new at freelance writing that you have to work for pennies. "You have to pay your dues." So if I was an electrical apprentice I have to earn below the poverty line? Yeah right! Hopefully, more writers will stick to their guns, and work for respectable wages.

Jake P

June 21, 2011

Want some empirical evidence of your second point? Check out this Newsweek link that I stumbled across yesterday: "The Real Minimum Wage". Freelancers *chose* to take these jobs; no one forced them, protestations by huffy Huffposters notwithstanding.

Word of the day is "celebutard"!

Lori

June 21, 2011

Devon, you've just coined a wonderful new word. And you've made my day. LOL

Cathy, amen. The words "always", "only" and "never" should not show up in advice to anyone, in my opinion. Unless of course the person saying it uses the "in my opinion" caveat. How's that for covering my butt? LOL

Wade, go forth and be independent. 🙂 And you're right – it's not as though anyone new to a career is expected to work for nothing. Ridiculous. New contractors charge like veterans. So do plumbers, landscapers, dentists…..

Jake, the link didn't work for me, but I'll dig on their site for it. Thanks!

Lori

June 21, 2011

And one more thing that's scratching at me like a rash – can someone Justin Beiber's age REALLY tell their life story? Really? Going to be about as long as a Geico commercial….

Jake P

June 21, 2011

Ack, old nimble fingers put an extra " in the code after html. If you can fix it, please delete this 🙂

Here's the correct link:
The Real Minimum Wage.

Paula

June 21, 2011

Celebutard. Love it, Devon.

I also agree 100% with Cathy about the absurdity of absolutes.

I beg to differ with clients who keep assigning work, but when it's time time pay start in with excuses about their "cash flow problems." Um, did you ever thing you wouldn't have cash flow issues if you weren't assigning more work that you know you can pay for?

Unlike you Lori, I'd make a good vampire – except for their, um, dietary habits. And I couldn't give up garlic. But my Nordic skin just doesn't get along with sunlight, I despise sweating, hate hot weather (especially when combined with humidity), and I'm not a very outdoorsy person – bugs, dirt, ick. (However, I do appreciate good soil.)

Lori

June 21, 2011

I found it, Jake. Can't edit comments, so I'll just leave them both. And I'm linking to you tomorrow. 🙂

Remind me not to do a sleepover with you, Paula. I bleed to well. LOL Cash flow – lousy excuse, isn't it? It's why contracts are an absolute must.

Paula

June 21, 2011

Lori a week or so ago you asked to let me know what my next TOR:CON was. Today..we're at 6.

Jim Cantore is in Chicago. When he tweeted that I nearly tweeted back, "Oh, crap!"

Devon Ellington

June 22, 2011

I'd love to take credit for the word "celebutard", but someone else used it first. Wish I could remember who, so I could credit it properly! But it fits the meaning!

Lori

June 22, 2011

SIX? Paula, that's nuts! I heard you had some heavy storms. Hope everything is still where you left it.

Devon, it's like that kid who does the John Williams tribute on YouTube – he didn't create it, but he popularized it. That's what you've done. It's a word I'm going to use going forward. 🙂

Paula

June 22, 2011

We got lucky – the storms just nicked us on their way to Chicago & the northern 'burbs. We were at Tor:Con 7 for the storm that broke my windows last month…3 or 4 small tornadoes (EF1s) skirted town that evening. That's scary enough – I can't imagine an EF3,4 or 5 bearing down.