Saturday Writings

I love Saturdays! I'm not sure why. I guess because on Saturday you're not expected to do anything on that day. Many people think that Sunday is the day that you're not expected to do anything, but that's not completely true. Sunday's you're expected to go to Church, at least in most cultures you are. Saturday is my day. I was born on a Saturday in fact, so I feel I have the right to claim it as my own. I know I'm rambling, but its better than sitting here staring at a blank screen.

I'm a bit stuck in my novel, 5,402 words in and I can't figure out how to take it to the next scene. I can see it in my head, but when I go to type it or jot it down in my notebook, it just doesn't come out like it should. So, I figured I'd stop in and write a post. Maybe it'll get the scene jumped started.

Don't you hate it when you have all these ideas and just can't get them out of your head in the way they're supposed to come out.  I know I hate it.  I figure my book will be around 75,000 words (possibly more). I've been thinking of somehow leaving it open to be a sequel, since the ending I see in my head leaves that as a choice. I figure if I write 1,000 words every day (since I have written 5,000 in 3 days) I can finish my first draft of my novel in 75 days on average. Seventy-five days is... about 2 1/2 months. I'll say 3 just to be safe cause you know how things come up that can't be avoided. :)

Oh and only 79 more followers needed for the end of the 150 Followers Contest.

Maybe I'll write the ending or the part before the ending. Maybe that'll help me to move to the next scene. :)

UPDATE @ 7:39PM EST. I have just hit 6,036 words. I'm so happy. I've only been working on this novel for 3 days and WOW I can't believe it. I'm so proud of my self.

Moving Along...

I hope everyone is having a great Monday morning! So far so good on my end although I'm still exhausted from the events from the weekend. Saturday we (my boyfriend, his father, mother, sister, and myself) knocked down the wall dividing our (used to be) dining room and our living room. Our house was built in 1973 and back then apparently every room was separated and had a door on it. Our house is just like that. Our living room was small and cramped - not anymore. We decided to make our sun room into the dining room - it works great as that and Saturday we had our first lunch party. The picture above is the first hole and "We have light!". It was so great to see light coming through into this room. I just can't wait until its completed and we can enjoy it. Right now it is completed other than the tape and floating of the drywall and the paint of course.

Yesterday afternoon I was cruising the job boards for freelance writers and noticed such disappointing and down right insulting ads. Some clients are only willing to pay anywhere from $.50 to $1.50 for 500 - 1,000 words. I remember a time when you were paid by the word even if it was only a penny for each word. This is ridiculous! Why are people so cheap. I hire writers and due to my budget can only pay them a penny a word, but I would never ask someone to write on a per article base of such a low rate. My writers write from a template where all the information is given to them and all they have to do is put it into words. No researching for various material needed. I'm hoping to find much larger projects with a much larger budget so that my two writers and I can bring in a much larger income. 

Ah, the good old days when clients were willing to pay what a writer was worth at least come close to it. I hope those days haven't vanished. If they have, I may have to change my line of work. I enjoy being a freelance writer. I love working from home and having time to do what I want to do while still being able to complete my work. It has been a bit tough in the last few weeks due to the renovations, but that will be done by next weekend and my office can be placed where I can get some work done and I will be able to take on much more work than I currently can. 

I came across this posting Liquid Silver - Geeks Need Love To and thought maybe I'd post it here and I myself may attempt this. Considering one of my MS in my novel is a geek per say.The deadline is in June, so it doesn't leave much time to finish it. I do not know anything about this company, so before you submit (if you choose to) please do some research on the company to find out if they are legit or not. 

This is going to be such a busy, busy, busy week. I'm in the process of selling my truck so that I can buy a 4-cylinder car (2002 VW Jetta). We have to complete the renovations on the house and I have quite a few projects due before the end of the week as well as searching out for new clients so the income will begin to flow. Then there's my novel which I'm not so sure I should write in first person present tense. I think I may change it to first person past tense and the book I'm wanting to finish reading, "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer. I want to finish it before I watch the movie.

Projects await, so I'm off. 

To Reuse or Not to Reuse - That is the Question

As I sit here eating a chocolate chip cookie, listening to American Justice on A&E, and searching website after website for information on writing a query letter to an editor. I can't help to notice that page after page that I read has basically the same as the one before it. Each paragraph says about the same thing as the previous pages paragraphs and so on. This makes me question and a light bulb go off above my head, that is if I were animated, of how I too could reuse and refocus my articles I have previously written.

Can it be done? I say yes it can be done. As long as you do not word each rewrite of the article exactly the same as the previous and add in some new information on the topic. This is a great way to use the left over researched information you have laying around from the first article you wrote about that topic.

By rewriting the articles you have stocked in file folders you can double your income and on those days where your creative juices are drained, you will always have something to post on your blog or to query to a potential magazine. Give it a try and see how it all turns out.

Getting Back In the Game...

Well, its been a few years since I've written full time. Sure I've picked up a few projects here and there over the last couple of years, but now I think I want to get back into full time again or atleast 35 hours a week. Things have changed a bit I've noticed and it takes a bit more to get yourself out there and noticed by editors. I'm guessing it was always like that, but there are more writers trying to launch their careers as journalist or full time freelance writers now than there ever were. I feel I have enough skill and patience to work myself back into this world though.

The way I ended up in the writing world was just a fluke as it was. I only started as freelance writer because someone told me that there was no way in hell that anyone could make money on the internet by writing website content. So to prove them wrong I started my research and started applying for writing gigs. Keyword articles at first, then I moved onto columns and e-books without having to pause. In my free time, I researched everything I could on freelance writing and eventually was able to support myself by writing fulltime. Yeah I'm stubborn and I learned a very important skill by proving this person wrong. I can always fall back on it when I need some extra cash.

Well, anyhoo, I'm getting back in the game and hope to be just as successful as I was before.