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Showing posts with the label editing

10 rules for writing

Inspired by Elmore Leonard's 10 rules for writing, The Gaurdian came up with 10 points shared by various authors. I'm sharing my favourite, Ms. Atwood's. Margaret Atwood's rules for writing fiction 1 Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can't sharpen it on the plane, because you can't take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils. 2 If both pencils break, you can do a rough sharpening job with a nail file of the metal or glass type. 3 Take something to write on. Paper is good. In a pinch, pieces of wood or your arm will do. 4 If you're using a computer, always safeguard new text with a ­memory stick. 5 Do back exercises. Pain is distracting. 6 Hold the reader's attention. (This is likely to work better if you can hold your own.) But you don't know who the reader is, so it's like shooting fish with a slingshot in the dark. What ­fascinates A will bore the pants off B. 7 You most likely need a the...

Top Ten Reasons Why Freelancers Freelance

A lot of people think freelancing means you are 'free' to do anything for them, for free! They'd like to believe you have hours of unoccupied time and they are doing you a favour by giving you work...I have news for you, HELL NO! If I am working on a particular assignment, I do expect to get paid for it! Manic deadlines, racing against the clock, weekend plans, bills -- I have them too, the only difference is that I'm not tied to a corporate office like most people. But make no mistake, I take my work very seriously. So do me a favour, don't give me your resume for 'free rewriting' and don't ask me for help with letters to bank managers or senior associates. I hate, no, I loathe writing them as much as you do. But I'd never ask my neighbour to write them just because they know how to spell. And hate to burst the bubble, that is not what I do for a living. If you want to risk sending me work, with a 'please help me this one time,' go ahead. Ch...