Why I nominated Sharon Hurley Hall for the Top 10 Writing Blogs of 2007/2008
If you haven’t been yet, please visit Sharon Hurley Hall at Get Paid to Write Online. She was my nomination for the Top 10 Writing Blogs of 2007/2008 and here is why she’s one of my favorite writing bloggers:
*She *gets* the online thing. It’s been frustrating at times to deal with writers who are married to freelancing for offline publications. Their reactions to writing online have wavered from verbal stares down the nose, to outright attacks. It’s good to see another web writer who has tapped into the power of writing online.
*Her writing is spot on. It’s engaging, informative and I always learn something from Sharon’s posts.
*Her posts are always insightful and well thought out. Somedays I barely have time to answer all of my e-mail, and I know that her schedule must be just as full as mine….yet she always manages to write informative posts.
Some of my recent favorites are:
Are All Your Eggs in One Basket?
Is It Time to Quit the Day Job?
Guide to Copyright for Writers
*Her blog layout is nice and clean. Even though she recently changed themes, this new blue and green theme is just as nice as the old black and red one.
*She gives back to her commenters. I love that she gives Link Love to all of the people who comment on her blog on a monthly basis. I know it probably takes a lot of her time, but it’s appreciated and a nice feature.
Can everyone write?
There were a few great posts last week on whether writing was something everyone could do, or something that requires true gifts and skill.
Harry and James at Web Content Writer Tips had two differing views (something nice about sharing a blog with someone else - you can have those pro/con posts!)
Deb Ng at Freelance Writing Gigs outlined some of the major problems with assuming freelance writing is easy money.
Lorna at Freelance Writing Parent has some great insights on education (and the lack thereof) and writing.
Even before the Internet, writing was marginalized and undervalued. I remember stories of my dad trying to make it as a freelance writer in the late 70s, back when typewriter tapes instead of modems were the necessary accessory. It’s part of what speaks to the “art” of writing. Doesn’t our society undervalue art in general?
Can everyone write? Nope. Not off the bat. I’d argue that anyone with a *desire* to learn to write can. And learning doesn’t have to mean formal training. My English degree helped me conquer the learning curve of proper writing. But it didn’t necessarily give me an edge when it came to learning about marketing and running a business.
Writing as a career isn’t as easy as it sounds, but it isn’t as mystical as some make it. With a little direction, practice and dedication, anyone with desire can write. Desire can get you through the millionth rejection, the fifteenth rewrite or the client that drops the ball.
This Thanksgiving I’m thankful for…
working at home! In honor of that fact, I wanted to direct your attention to one of my favorite posts of all time by self improvement blogger Steve Pavlina.
Ten Reasons You Should Never Get A Job
Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!!
What does Twitter mean to you?
Inspired by Dr. Mani’s question yesterday, here are my thoughts on Twitter.
I’ve been on Twitter for at least two months. It’s a fun little distraction, I’ll admit. Second only to e-mail, it’s the page I load the most when I’m procrastinating. But Twitter has functioned as:
*A Break Room: Working at home is lonely. My husband works at home too, but it’s still lonely. Especially when his eyes glaze over when I talk about SEO, pinging and memes. It’s nice to pop in and catch up on people who are in the same line of work with me. I commiserate with Pamela Troeppl about finishing ebooks, for example. It’s easier than visiting a handful of different forums or going to different blogs (and more justifiable too - see above). And between Web Word and my Google News feeder, I’ve got plenty of random and interesting sites to visit.
*An Instant Messaging System. There are some folks that I know from around the ‘net that are just easier to reach via Twitter. If I don’t want to try to find an e-mail address or blog location that I’ve bookmarked, I can just direct message them on twitter. For example, I’ve “known” Deborah Ng for a while, but didn’t know her e-mail address. When I needed to reach her yesterday, Twitter worked perfectly.
*A Networking Tool. I knew of Dr. Mani, but never got the chance to speak with him until I joined Twitter. Suddenly, all of these Internet Marketing bigwigs were approachable. And I’ve networked with people that run in the same circles, that I never met before. We all work together, using Twitter, to increase traffic to our sites and encourage one another. Which brings me to my next point….
*A form of Advertising. I ran a special offer on the Warrior Forum several weeks ago for ghostwriting. Mr Lewis Smile purchased the pack, and let me know that he would have never known about it had it not been for Twitter. I’ve seen people use Twitter to advertise their blogs, ask for a page to be Stumbled Upon and get the word out about a new product. (This works best when you mix in some fun stuff with your advertising - no one likes someone who just promotes things all of the time).
*A way to get close, but not too close. I mention my daughters on Twitter, and talk about my day to day activities. But 140 characters lets me do so without revealing too much about my private life.
*A personal organizer. I’ve linked up my Remember the Milk to do list with Twitter so it reminds me every morning about what I need to get done that day.
Twitter works best when you can balance interesting tidbits, personal anecdotes and self-promotion. Besides the people that I’ve mentioned, I also enjoy following HopeWilbanks, imsweetie and dhudiburg.
Some Friday Funnies
I encountered The Writer at Work comic site after someone on the WAHM.com writer’s board listed one of their cartoons. You can’t even believe how much I relate to half of these panels.
Check it out for yourself and have a chuckle!
Are you curious about how to best use Squidoo?
I’ve blogged a bit about Squidoo, mainly because I use it for my main profile site. I know there are dozens of ways to monetize Squidoo, but frankly I’ve never had the time to figure out how to best do that.
Well now I’m in luck, and you are too.
Squidoo superstars Tiffany Dow and Lewis Smile are planning something big, and you can get your burning questions answered. Head on over to Tiff’s Social Marketing Blog and throw your question into the mix.
Brand Spanking New Article Directory!
My good buddy Hope Wilbanks just started a brand new article directory.
Let’s go fill it with our awesome content
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