I’m a writer. I like words. I also hate words. What people say in daily conversation rarely makes sense on paper. Using acronyms and emoticons are infuriating—especially to an editor.

Here’s an example: I teach undergraduate journalism courses at a couple of universities in the area. I once had a student hand write me a note and used a colon and parentheses to create a smiley face at the end of her letter. How did shorthand typing evolve into writing?

Another pet peeve of mine is when I get emails (usually from college students looking for an internship) using strange shorthand and emoticons. Talk about unprofessional!

I recently wrote a post listing words that should be banned in 2012. I’ve found en even better list on PR Daily by Arik Hanson on 28 shorthand words to eliminate from our lexicon forever. I had to share—and add my own two cents of course!

“29 terms we obvi need to totes elims from our lexi forevs.”

Did you understand that? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

I know we’re turning into a texting culture full of shortened and unintelligible words. But we’re destroying our language. At some point, we need to draw a line in the sand. Today’s the day. —PR Daily

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I was tickled when I found this list of 12 words that should be banned in 2012 on PRDaily.com. What started in 1975 as a publicity ploy at Lake Superior State University in Michigan has turned into a phenomenon.

The List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness gets submissions from around the world. The word with the most nominations this year? AMAZING. It’s the first time the word has made the list.

Here’s a list of all 12 words (some of them are more than one word phrases) that made this year’s list, in order of the number of submissions they received:

• Amazing
• Baby bump
• Shared sacrifice
• Occupy
• Blowback
• Man cave
• The new normal
• Pet parents
• Win the future
• Trickeration
• Ginormous
• Thank you in advance

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Starting out as a freelance writer is not as easy as it appears. Learning how to become a freelance writer requires business considerations, not just writing chops.

Beyond getting out there and securing contracts, you need to be self-motivated and organized. This is a difficult transition, especially if you don’t have colleagues or friends who have been in the field and can help you along.

If you’re just starting out and hoping to make your livelihood writing, take a look at the seven tips below. Keep in mind that these are geared toward beginners who are pursuing freelance writing as a full-time job—not for those who simply do a little extra writing on nights and weekends. Continue Reading

So often when people think of writing, they picture novelists or journalists. But have you considered medical writing?

There is a great deal of opportunity to thrive as a medical writer, and build a career in this arena, for those that take the necessary steps, such as getting to know the field, attending conferences, and networking in this niche.

Cyndy Kryder, a medical writer hailing from the Philadelphia region, got into the field as a way to leverage her health industry experience into a flexible career. Along the way, she’s helped others get into this booming industry. Meet the “accidental medical writer” herself….

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If you’ve tried cold-calling to get clients, you know it’s the most painful, soul-sucking way to advertise yourself. But it doesn’t have to be.

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Copyright is as old as printing and as new as today. As freelancers, whether writing, designing for print or the Internet, broadcasting, filming, or creating music, you should be aware of your rights of ownership of your work as well as when you actually can’t retain full ownership — the down side of selling your work for a living.

Note: You cannot copyright an idea or name, only an actual creation; and the item does not have to be published to hold a copyright. The minute you create it and even if you don’t mark it with a copyright symbol, it still is fully owned by you.

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Many freelancers think that posts on writing are for the benefit of freelance journalists and copywriters alone. You can’t really blame them — if your trade is based on the excellent design you deliver or your skill as a programmer, then it might seem that the ability to piece words together in a pleasing and practical way isn’t necessary for you to master.

I’m a writer so my opinion might be biased, but many others in all sorts of trades and careers have discovered the value of the written word as a tool for relationship building, problem solving, and idea expression. You can learn to use the deceptively simple tool of writing to your advantage as well.

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Photo by piccadillywilson.

Among other things, I’m a ghostwriter. Not the sexy kind that sits down with Sarah Palin or Oprah or that guy who killed his wife and married his daughter (I’m sure there is one!) and writes their story, getting an “as told to” or even “with” credit on the front cover. No, I write articles that appear in publications large and small under someone else’s name.

My reasons for doing this are plentiful, and not worth getting into in depth here – what it boils down to is that the money is good, the work is easy, and it saves me the time I’d normally spend querying editors and thinking of ideas. Since I teach a full-time schedule, that time saving is important.

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Photo by SantaRosa OLD SKOOL.

“Drat!” echoes in your mind. You’ve found superb sources for what you’re writing, chock-
full of information you would absolutely love to use. How do you paraphrase the
information?

First, why should you paraphrase? If you use someone’s information and its wording as if
it is your own, it is plagiarism. If you use someone else’s unique information and do not
credit it, it is plagiarism. Plagiarism is illegal. It also tends to have nasty side effects on your
reputation, be it for work or school.

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Image by foundphotoslj.

A constant problem in the life of every freelance writer is the requirement to promote your writing services while allowing enough time to actually provide them. Time management is tricky enough when working from home, and it’s very easy to become swamped in marketing activities, thereby taking away valuable writing time from your busy schedule.

So how can you free up more writing time without letting your business disappear into obscurity? And is it possible to keep new business coming in, without infringing on the copy production line? This article illustrates five easy-to-implement marketing methods that will help you strike that all important balance.

1. Create Standard Templates

It sounds rather obvious, but creating templates for frequently used documents can not only provide huge time savings, but also enhance your company’s professional profile.

For example, press releases all contain the same basic information: who, what, where, why, and when. A template can have the “who” and “why” completed in advance, and sometimes even the “where”, before you sit down to write the release. Continue Reading

It’s been about a year since I began blogging, and during that time I’ve started paying a lot more attention to writing. Not so much that I have gotten any good at it, mind, just enough to realise what an art it is.

Write To Done

Fortunately there are some good places on the web to help improve your writing skills. In particular, Leo of ZenHabits has launched overnight a new site called WriteToDone aimed at sharpening your technique.

He’s had a few great posts already: Continue Reading

As a writer, teacher, author, and speaker, Cynthia Morris stays pretty busy. But she’s also a coach and has made a career guiding creatives through their career ups and downs.

We caught up with this Colorado-based freelancer to find out how she does it all—and what’s next!
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