Archive for February, 2008

My Big Writing Mistake (and why I should do it again)

February 28, 2008
By Linda Formichelli

My husband and I recently co-wrote an article for a trade magazine. When I happened to look at the text weeks after we turned in the article, I noticed that one of the subheds read, “Insert snappy subhed here.” And we had turned it in that way! When the article came out, however, the...
Read more »

Posted in Personal yammerings | 17 Comments »

Failing Well

February 25, 2008
By Linda Formichelli

I started taking a meditation class at the local yoga studio, and my teacher said it’s her job in life to “fail well.” That really resonated with me, and I think it pertains to writing as well as to the rest of life. As writers, we need to really put ourselves out there and...
Read more »

Posted in Advice, Ass, Observations | 11 Comments »

Interview with Linda on FreelanceSwitch

February 23, 2008
By Linda Formichelli

I am honored to have been interviewed for the fab FreelanceSwitch blog! I talk about how I got started, my advice for beginning writers, and my new organization Creative Professionals for Animal Welfare (creativePAW).
Read more »

Posted in News you can use | 3 Comments »

Using Word’s Auto-Correct Function for Interviews

February 20, 2008
By Linda Formichelli

Renegade reader Alicia Cosgrove (Wordwych on The RW blog) has a great tip for transcribing interviews. I’ll let her tell you herself: *** I write for a small local newspaper, doing human interest stories and local news. This, of course, requires me to interview many people, both by phone and in person with laptop...
Read more »

Posted in Advice, Cool tools | 2 Comments »

Staying Motivated When the Work Is Boring

February 17, 2008
By Linda Formichelli

(Reprinted from Writer’s Digest) by Linda Formichelli My article, for a trade magazine, was called “Sucking Up to Housecleaning Managers: Trends in Vacuums.” Twelve hundred words. On vacuums. With such riveting statements as, “The housekeeper uses an upright with a beater brush and edging tools to vacuum narrower corridors and to do edging. In...
Read more »

Posted in Advice, Observations, Writing | 9 Comments »

Spring cleaning

February 14, 2008
By Diana Burrell

I wish I were one of those freelancers with a perfectly organized office. I long for a clear desk and floor space that doesn’t require fancy footwork to get around. I spend hours looking at organized offices on flickr — and dreaming. Recently I noticed how much the clutter was getting to me. I...
Read more »

Posted in Opportunities, Organization | 6 Comments »

creativePAW: We have our first project!

February 13, 2008
By Linda Formichelli

Hi! Thanks to everyone who signed up for Creative Professionals for Animal Welfare (creativePAW). We already have over 60 volunteers! Most of them are writers, but we also have photographers, PR people, web designers, illustrators, and others. We also have 6 or 7 animal welfare organizations that have signed up. I heard from an...
Read more »

Posted in Help us! | 5 Comments »

Ready, Aim, Specialize in Its Second Edition

February 13, 2008
By Linda Formichelli

The second edition of Kelly James-Enger’s fabulous book Ready, Aim, Specialize was just released by Marion Street press, publisher of The Renegade Writer and other writing books. Here’s the scoop: When you develop a writing specialty, you set yourself apart from other freelancers, save time researching and writing articles and command higher fees for...
Read more »

Posted in Cool products, News you can use | No Comments »

Please Join creativePAW to Help Animals

February 10, 2008
By Linda Formichelli

It’s finally done…the site for my new organization, Creative Professionals for Animal Welfare (creativePAW). The organization’s mission is to help animal welfare organizations find creative professionals (such as writers, editors, illustrators, and web designers) who are willing to do volunteer work to help with the orgs’ marketing, education, fundraising, and PR efforts. Please check...
Read more »

Posted in Help us!, News you can use, Personal yammerings, Writing | 4 Comments »

My Trick for Writing Difficult Articles

February 10, 2008
By Linda Formichelli

Every once in a while, I’m faced with a maddeningly blank screen as I try to get my head around how to write an article. Usually in this case, the topic is unfamiliar to me, or I have a lot of research and interviews and don’t know where to start. Here’s how I handle...
Read more »

Posted in Advice, Writing | 16 Comments »