Writing Domestic Violence

You may be wondering what domestic violence has to do with this blog - well the fact is that a lot of my writing, a whole doctoral thesis in fact has been about domestic violence.

Recently I was invited to add a niche blog on domestic violence to Today.com - if you blog and you have a good idea for a niche blog then it is worth seeing whether they will accept it. You have to be patient because they can take up to 30 days before they either turn you down or extend an invitation.

Get Paid to Blog

One of the reasons Today only has invited blogger is because they will pay you to blog, ok it's not much, just a $1 for a hundred word post, and they only pay that dollar once a day. Today also pays you on page impressions and from time to time they review blogs and your income could go up or down, depending on whether they like what they see.

If you've got a favorite topic that you want to write about then it is worth seeing whether Today.com will offer you an invitation - let me know how you get on.

Writing From the Heart

If you write, or you are seriously condidering becoming a writer, then the best advice is to write straight from the heart. Sometimes the writing will be fun to read and at other times it will make you sad
whatever it does, be sure that it will affect you in some way and this will be apparent to your readers.

Repetitive Writing

Those who already earn an income will tell you that some of the writing tasks you are given can be really repetitive - write about employment law for so long and it feels as though you are pushing through mud. The lesson here is that it is not always easy to write from the heart, but when and if you do, that writing will be more powerful than anything else you write.

Life in the Freelance Lane

Giving Advice

Over at my professional blog I have been writing a series of post on becoming a freelance writer. It all looks so neat and tidy moving from one step through to the other, yet freelancing isn't really that cut and dried. When I look back through my diary my own freelancing life is actually a lot more messy and disorganized than you might think. When I lay it all out as advice for someone who is thinking about becoming a freelance writer, or who has just started and is feeling a bit befuddled by it all, it seems like a series fo logical steps. In reality I did not make smooth transitions from one step to the next.

The Messy Business of Writing

When I look back over the last two years I sort of fell into freelance writing, that is to say while I wanted to write and get paid for it, I didn't, at that point in time, see it as part of my future career - I just enjoyed doing it and it was nice to get some money for something that I enjoyed doing. Since then of course I have decided that as I love to write anyway, getting paid for it is not such a bad idea - but I am not as organized as my advice both here and also here would have you believe. Life in the freelance lane, for me at least, tends to be a bit hit and miss at points.

Starting the Freelance Life

Starting Your Writing Business

If you are thinking about starting your writing business then there are a few things to consider before you start. You need some sort of system, whether you use a notebook, dedicated software or a spread sheet, you need a method of keeping track of clients, deadlines, invoicing and payments - all that as well as dealing with tax issues.

Stick With Your System

Once you have decided on a system then stick with it until you come up with something better, but you must keep track. The writing business is very much hills and valleys and you can find yourself overloaded with work if you're not careful at points (although there is always outsourcing). At other times there may be a work famine. This is the time to promote your business vigorously and to look for other sources of work. Read this book for more ideas and markets - and look out for part two on here.

Take a Look

Blog Hosting

You may have seen my interview with the author Patricia Guthrie a couple of weeks ago, here.

Yesterday Patricia offered to host my (as yet not quite finished novel) Two Women a Week on her blog. Needless to say I jumped at the change. If you want to see the interview, read a clip from my book or wonder what I do when I am not rambling on here then just click this link.