Writing

Al Kaplan, 1953

My dad passed away two years ago. Today would have been his 79th birthday.

Nominate a favorite social media book.

If you receive this post by email, please tell me what’s the best time of the day you’d like to receive these. It used  to go out in the mornings, but I felt overwhelmed by emails in the morning and thought late afternoon / early evening would be better. It doesn’t mean that’s the best time for you. Just reply and let me know. Thank you for reading!

Brain food…

• How to Read a Non-fiction Book: If you want more — The Little Book to Your Well-Read Life is the best book I’ve read about reading books.
• Musings on a Memoir, a Movie and a Two Billion Dollar Story Model: I’ve added Open to my must read list and viewed the captioned trailer of Edge of Darkness.
• 8 Blogs About Book Covers and Book Design: I confess. I never read The Phantom Tollbooth because of its cover. I just finished reading it. I’m glad I waited to read it until now when I am a bigger verbivore today than when I was a kid.
• Product Launches Should be a Big Deal: Don’t let post title fool you. It’s an excellent critique of a Microsoft presentation. Great lesson for the presenters in all of us.
• Publishers: Why Are You Creating Huge Followers for Those Who Might Soon Be Putting You Out of Business: Excellent read from Christina Katz on the partnering (or not) of publishers and authors. I’d love to know what you think. I’m still listening, learning and assessing.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 12 Most Creative Candles: When I was a kid, I made egg candles from a crafts book I had. Probably the only thing I tried.
• 10 Interesting Edibles from the Fancy Food Show: Interesting is the right word.
• How to Use a Semicolon: A comical look at ; [Link: Writer's Digest]. You can also take the Twitter spelling test.
• Movies in Longshot: Comics with dot characters.
• Australia and Stupid Tourist Questions: Should we bring cutlery? [Link: Andy Hayes]
• Replacing World Landmarks with Souvenirs: Clever [Link: Mark Hurst]
• SimplyNoise: White noise for when you need it.

The day before a state-wide math assessment test, my husband humorously asked our oldest who took algebra at the time, “Do you remember how to add, subtract, multiply and divide?”

“I don’t know. When I do a math problem now… if the answer is simple, I think it’s wrong because it has to be more complicated than that,” she said.

That’s how many adults think. We never believe the obvious and forget that it’s possible for the answer to be a simple one.

Simplicity in Writing

A former client contacted me about a new web content gig for a company that sells products outside of my expertise. However, one of my kids LOVES this category of products. So it was an exciting opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone. She asked me to write a sample. I went to work in writing a story around the product. I studied the other products to see how much technical information to provide in an attempt to get in customers’ minds of what they want to know.

In reality, all I needed to do was capture highlights of the products and the experience of using them. After all, the web site had detailed information elsewhere. The client was delighted with the sample as well as the content that followed.

Simplicity in Quoting Projects

How are you with giving quotes to new clients? Is it a struggle? It has gotten easier for me, but I wish I had John Hewitt’s formula when I first started freelancing. His World’s Simplest Freelance Rate Formula is a simple yet effective process that works with new and experienced freelancers — no matter what you do.

For those in freelancing careers outside of writing, substitute “per word” with “per page,” “per design,” “per call,” “per marketing project” and so on. Meet John’s amazing and powerful formula:

1. Start at $20 an hour or $.20 a word. This is a fairly low level. Feel free to start higher.
2. Increase your fee by 5 ($25 an hour $.25 a word) with each successful gig.
3. When your prospects start telling you that you charge too much, don’t raise your rates for six months.
4. Try raising it again.

I won’t begin to quote the many articles I’ve read that recommend avoiding a per hour charge. Some cases may call for it — and I do work per hour for several clients. Why no per hour charge? Let’s look at an example.

A client asks for a quote to blog for him. For an ongoing project, charging per page would be wise. Here’s a very simple example why this works better:

1. Your hourly fee is $50.
2. You write a blog entry in 30 minutes, which is $25 if you charge per hour.
3. Charge $50 per blog entry and you’ll come out ahead.

Of course, not all entries will take 30 minutes depending on the subject and length. But you can see how a per blog entry works better than per hour.

Update: A Twist with the Youngest Child

My six-year-old brings home a math pack every Thursday. It consists of games and puzzles related to math. The latest one required he pick one of the word problems to solve. Then three of us (11-year-old joined us) create a solution using words, numbers and pictures and share it. We had to list how our solutions were the same and how they were different. A great lesson because it shows there is more than one way to solve a problem.

The 11-year-old took the easy way out and simply wrote, “7 – 3 = 4.” So our only option for the “same” was that we all used numbers. My six-year-old didn’t like that. “It’s too obvious. It’s too easy,” he kept saying. Really, the simple answer was the only answer.

I started reading The Little Prince and it makes a references about how children look at things differently from adults. Much like this theme. The narrator drew a picture that looked like a hat. It was a python swallowing an elephant, but adults could not see that. The Little Prince did.

What I learned from my daughter: Sometimes the answer is a simple one.

What problems have you come across where the answer turned out simple?

This entry is part of Middle Zone Musings: What I Learned From… Children groupwrite project.

Image credit: Fastfood

I haven’t entered a writing contest in ages. Then I came across Editor Unleashed/Smashwords “Why I Write” essay contest and gave it a go. Popular ranking is now open for you to rank the many submitted essays. You can vote with 1 to five stars where 1 is terrible and 5 is excellent. To rank a story after you read it, click “Rate Thread.”

All stories are posted in the Editor Unleashed Forum. You might notice that all the latest entries have rankings and the earlier ones show very few. That’s what I get for submitting my story in November, which I have copied below for those not interested in voting. I would appreciate your honest vote on my story. Texas-sized thanks. I hope you don’t think title sounds cheesy. I tried to be different and play on “Olly olly oxen free.”

Folly Folly and Fumble-Free

I trip over spoken words more often than the worst football player fumbles the football. Not only do my thoughts and lips fail to synchronize, but also when they do, people sometimes gape as soon as they hear nasally sounds stumble out of my mouth. They mistake “ride” for “wide” and “rare” for “wear.” With writing, I don’t dodge words beginning with “R” in fear of committing “W” follies.

That’s because I have an accent. No, not a foreign country accent — I wish. I was born and bred where the West begins in Fort Worth. Nope, it’s not a Texas accent or even a Southern one. It’s a deaf accent. This accent sounds muffled or like someone who has a cold with a touch of monotone thrown in. Sometimes I miss sounds especially when I talk too fast. When I’m trying to sound excited, my voice grows louder.

In writing, I can have any accent. Readers read whatever I wish them to read. Fumbling doesn’t happen unless I do it on purpose. No nasally accent appears in my written thoughts unless a character suffers from a cold or can’t hear like me.

Writing lets me be part of the conversation. It lets me listen like a good listener should. Furthermore, I don’t dominate a written conversation.

Sure, sometimes like my speech, I accidentally type “fill” instead of “feel” or “your” instead of “you’re.” Yes, sometimes my fingers and brain fall out of sync. At least, they don’t have the added weight of an unusual accent not associated with any country. (Although one person thought I was from France, and that was a nice change from the deaf accent.)

I love reading comments from readers like:

“Superb advice!”
“Great article and a timely reminder!”
“Great specifics on how to maximize xyz.”
“I never thought about that!”

These words of praise tell me I have done my job of sharing new and useful bits of information, something I work to do in nonfiction writing.

Sometimes readers even say I made them laugh. I treasure that.

Writing puts me on even ground with the world. If anyone fails to understand what I wrote, it’s my fault. Bad writing is in my control. My speech is out of my control.

The best part comes when I reread what I wrote after publication. I do this to learn from the editor’s editing, not to admire my work. Sometimes I am in awe and ask, “Did I really write that?” Those moments clear away any doubts I may have about my ability to be a writer, at least until next time, as situations inevitably arise that make me doubt my writing ability again.

When I speak, too often, strangers look at me and are clearly baffled. They judge me on the sound of my words instead of the information I share or questions I pose.

When I write, no one judges me except by the quality of my writing, as it should be.

And that’s why I write.

Why do you write?

Image credit: Karl-Erik Bennion

I had a whole box of party favors leftover because I overestimated the number of kids attending. I contacted the company to ask if I could return the unopened party favors for a refund. The company said to keep it, and they’ll issue a refund. Sure, it may cost more for me to send it back and for the company to deal with the return. But to me, the company surprised and delighted me. I have made more purchases after that.

My daughter is a hostess and waitress at a nearby eatery. She had a great day until our family dined there. We were her last customers and she messed up our order. We did not complain. Instead, we told her it was OK and we know mistakes happen. Nonetheless, our drinks were free.

I’ve posted other customer service experiences. In looking at how I land new clients, I find the majority come from word of mouth recommendations. That tells me customer service must play an important role in my career as a writer. I represent me and what you get is me. Customer service is more than just doing great work with a smile. Customer service is also a marketing tool.

I believe the following actions make up the customer service element of a writer’s business:

1. Provide excellent results: You can be the nicest and easiest person in the world, but it won’t save you if you repeatedly submit poor quality work. The client will give up. This isn’t the same thing as perfection. I could keep perfecting this post, but I had to stop and let it go.
2. Meet deadlines: Are you on schedule? Late? Or constantly asking for deadline extensions? Good writers plan ahead so they don’t fall into the last minute trap, which could lead to sacrificing quality.
3. Listen: Let go of what’s on your mind and listen to what the client says so you can understand. Don’t be in a hurry to share your thoughts and experience. It’s easy to miss what the client really wants. Respond by reflecting on what the client said instead of turning it around to make it about you. I received an article request from a client, but the client didn’t like the direction the article took. Several colleagues reviewed the article request and the article. They all agreed I met the request. It doesn’t matter if it was the client’s fault or mine. I collected more information from the client and rewrote it. (See #7.)
4. Make it easy to work with you: Are you easy to work with? Do you fight every edited word? Are you listening to the client’s preferences and styles? Do you follow the client’s process? Are you accessible? Some of the busiest authors are also the most accessible. More accessible than plenty of unknowns.
5. Stay cool: No matter how the client behaves or acts, your attitude and response to the client should never burn bridges. Even if you go separate ways, the client can still talk about you. Sometimes your personalities and styles don’t mesh. It happens. One client wanted web content that didn’t reflect content standards. It was better to separate than to give the client what he wanted. What he wanted wasn’t what I could deliver. Furthermore,  I would not have enjoyed the work, which brings us to…
6. Enjoy the work: Do you hate the work? That will affect your attitude and everything else about the project. Maybe you need to let go. It’s OK to work toward assignments you love and enjoy. Your passion will shine through and make a difference in your outlook, which in turn affects service. I find I procrastinate more on work that I dread. I’m lucky that’s not an issue anymore.
7. Fix mistakes: Problems happen. We all make mistakes. Really. It’s HOW you handle those mistakes that can make the difference between great and lousy customer service.
8. Respond quickly: How quickly do you return calls and emails? Even if you’re swamped, at least acknowledge you received the message and will get back to the person.
9. Solve problems: Do you work to help clients with their problems? Find another or better solution? Some people try to push their solutions on the clients to make it work rather than adapt to clients’ needs.
10. Be honest: A client overpaid me. I emailed the client to let him know and subtracted the overpaid amount in the next invoice. Yes, it’s hard to be truthful in some situations. Telling the truth can do less damage than telling lies and getting found out. Besides, you feel better about yourself. It also creates goodwill.

Regarding perfectionism, Christina Katz said it better than I could. “I’ve given up the tireless quest for perfection for a looser, friendlier style of working with myself and others. I also no longer worry, inordinately, about what other people think of me. I don’t fret about whether they think my service is or isn’t up to snuff. Instead, if my service isn’t momentarily the greatest–because I’m human, so of course this happens from time to time–I apologize and move on,” she says.

How do you provide great customer service?

Image credit: Stephen Eastop

Can You Be Personal and Professional in Social Media? discusses how to balance the personal with the professional. Mixing the two makes sense for most freelance writers because we’re in business for ourselves. Who we are is what makes us unique. No one can copy our formula that makes up our human brand. And that brand includes our personality that comes from both parts of our lives.

Many writers comment that they’re not sure how to handle the personal and professional in social media. Some have a Facebook page for business and share their personal page only with friends and family. Some have two or more Twitter identities where one has the personal tweets and the other is all business.

Naturally, I asked writers in Twitter how they handle the personal and professional in social media. They responded:

Gina Blitstein (@ginabee): My personal and professional are one and the same so to quote a famous sailor, “I yam what I yam & that’s all what I yam…”

Allison Winn Scotch (@aswinn): I keep FB totally personal-whittling it down now in fact-but embrace blog, Twitter, etc as way to meet readers. FWIW, publicist told me two accounts on FB is pointless, as people friend both.

Karen Cecili (@karen_cecilia): Separate accounts. Don’t respond to a professional account after logical business hours. But personal ones yes.

@WarLordwrites: You might need separate accounts unless your writing blends your life and professional interests.

Linda Dessau (@lindadessau)>: I’m still separating them – Facebook = personal, Twitter & LinkedIn = professional. But I may start a Facebook fan page.

John Easton (@jeaston1): I handle the personal/professional but keeping separate accounts.

For me, as a freelancer with different clients, I combine the two. Content can spill over even behind closed doors and with strict privacy settings, so I take care in what I say online — no matter my career. I lean toward a 75:25 business to personal ratio in my Twitter postings during the week and the other way around on weekends or maybe 50:50. Facebook updates split in the middle between business and personal.

How about you? How do you handle the personal and professional in social media?

Find me on Twitter @merylkevans.

Sunday is my middle child’s 11th birthday. The biggest of my three babies, he weighed 9lb, 1oz and measured 21 inches long when he made his arrival one Sunday morning. This big guy (he’s the older of two boys) loves sports cars with his favorites being the Lamborghini, Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Aston Martin and Saleen.

Vote for your favorite books on writing.

Nominate a favorite social media book.

Brain food…

• How to Build Conversations in Social Media Using the 3 P’s
• 7 Ways to Add Flavour to Non-Fiction Writing: I’m reading The Blind Side by Michael Lewis, which is based on a true story. The story has captivated me, so I’m paying attention to how the author tells the story because I want to work on storytelling.
• The 7 Sins of Writing: Wonderful poem that focuses on online writing.
• Flex Your Literary Fast-Twitch Muscles Writing Twitter-sized Stories: And they pay! [Link: BubbleCow]
• Qualifiers … for People Who Don’t Like to Be Told What to Do: You’re the expert, but the client isn’t receptive to your ideas. So how can you work around that? Bob Burg explains.
• Are exclamation points unprofessional? I tend to watch my use of !!! even though I’m a friendly Texan. Research says that 32% use it to express thanks and friendliness! OK, that was overboard. I’ll stop now.
• Addictomatic: Search for your name, brand, competitor, stakeholders or anything and it’ll pull it in from many resources.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Star Trek phaser that works: In honor of my husband, the Star Trek fan who says he wants this for his next birthday.
• If You Printed Twitter… infographic [Link: Kristin Burnbaum]
• How to Good-bye Depression: This title is not a typo. Just read the full title, summary and reviews. Half-tempted to order it as a language lover. [Link: Mark Hurst]
• Dave Barry on the money, madness and misery of 2009: Yeah, the describes 2009 for me, too.
• Wedinator: Prime directive – Trashing your special day.

Related articles by Zemanta

• ‘The Blind Side’: When A True Story Is Hard To Tell (npr.org) I love the story so far and it’s been tough not looking up Michael Oher.

Image credit: Hans Thoursie

Martin Luther King Day is an important holiday as well as a school holiday. I had planned to complete my usual work activities. Instead, I spent the entire morning working on one story and didn’t finish it. Writing the story felt clunky, awkward and pointless despite my knowing first drafts were supposed to be like that. Even though the kids weren’t loud or disruptive, the setting was different from my daily work environment.

Panicking

It’s a scary situation because I feel like “I’ve lost it. I’m not going to be able to work the next day.” No matter what I told myself about the day being different, nothing comforted me. I couldn’t check off one thing on my task list; a nightmare for me.

Tuesday came. I fell right back into my routine. My fingers flew as I threw up words on my screen to create a few new articles. I checked a few things off my work tasks for the day. I felt in the zone and full of satisfaction. It was as if Monday had never happened.

This happens on holidays and days of personal appointments. The cruel cycle repeats. Can’t work or focus. Panic. Guilt. Next day arrives. Back to normal.

Even though my mental state would not listen to me and learn from the past, one thing is clear: Schedules make a difference.

Scheduling Activities to Create New Habits

I start my day with email, Twitter and blogging. Thanks to this habit, I rarely write a new blog entry in the afternoon. I exercise after 11:00am on most days. Sometimes it’s 11:30am. Sometimes it’s 1:00pm. 1:30pm at the latest. Whatever the time, it’s still a habit because it’s the mid-day / early afternoon time. Most of the writing I do occurs before mid-day with the afternoons devoted to research, revising and other activities not related to starting from scratch.

I check in with social media a few times a day with the bulk of it occurring in the morning and evening. To make the most of my social media time without falling into the trap sticking around too long, I created a habit to check in for a few minutes and get out. I also figured out how much time I should spend in social media.

Since I do my best writing and focus in the morning, it works well. By the time the younger kids come home, I take a break, give them snacks, spend time with them and help with homework. If I had been more of a night person, I would have to work on creating a new habit. According to various discussions and books, it takes 21 days to develop a new habit.

I’ve also kept the same bedtime and wake up time for years, which ensures a good night’s sleep. I stray from the routine once in a while and it’s never for more than a couple of days in a row.

Habits Help Focus

Because I had the habit of working in a quiet home office with no TV, people noises and other disruptions, I could not focus when the kids had a day off from school.

Bet you’re wondering how I handle this in the summer when the kids have a long break from school. Habit. Summer has longer days, so it’s easier to work in the evenings after my husband comes home. I also schedule a few activities for the kids including visits with Grandma.

Christina Katz shares how she refocused. I did a review of my work and didn’t need to consolidate, streamline or refocus. For some, just the act of writing and brainstorming on pen and paper helps focus. Sometimes this works for me, too. But the best medicine for focus for me is schedule.

How do you focus?

Do you believe what you read in Twitter? This is from an ABC News story on Twitter:

Despite the micro-blogging site’s [Twitter] many successes — as a lifeline during emergencies, a direct line between the famous and their fans and an open line for anyone with something to share — Twitter’s instantaneous nature can make it all too easy to pass along fiction as fact.

If writers believe everything they read on Twitter and use it as a single resource, then they would report:

• Jeff Goldblum fell to his death.
• Amber Alert on kidnapped three-year-old in a Mitsubishi.
• Grand Central Station was evacuated.

Nothing on Twitter or the Internet is safe. When I saw the tweets about Zach Braff supposedly committing suicide, I searched for non-Twitter resources to confirm this as I was not going to blindly retweet (RT) the news. Within five minutes, I confirmed it was another cruel hoax.

Foolproof Tip#1: Check tweets before you RT.

These hoaxes and other silly tweets can make the trending list in Twitter. I recall a popular DJ asking his fans to tweet about a topic so it would land on Twitter’s trending list. And it did.

Foolproof Tip #2: Know that Twitter trending lists don’t always reflect fact.

While working on a story, I came across a needed statistic. It sounded valid, but I wouldn’t take the article’s word for it. So I set out to find the primary resource, or another research that produced similar data. I found nothing. I remember my daughter working on a history assignment that discussed the difference between primary resources and other resources. She is learning a valuable skill that needs teaching at an early age as possible because of the Internet.

Foolproof Tip #3: Validate sources with a primary resource and other resources.

Yes, I first learned about the miracle on the Hudson and Iran’s protests on Twitter. When something pops up, I start reading and putting the pieces together before I start believing and retweeting.

As I drafted this post, I received Matt Singley’s Blog Thoughts update. In it, he echoes the theme of misinformation and the problem with assumptions. Short version: Singley refers to Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist MLK Day post. Trunk talks about the All-Star Rodeo event that she calls “racist rodeo” where Ronald McDonald makes an appearance.  At the end of her post, she encourages her readers to tweet: “@McDonalds Racism is not okay and neither is hate. Please stop your support of the All-Star Rodeo.” Tweetmeme records 256 retweets of this message and Twitter search for “@mcdonalds racism” has pages of this. Singley called All-Star Rodeo and confirmed that McDonald’s was indeed NOT a sponsor and posted a comment to this effect.

Unless you’re working with the primary source, verify secondary resources no matter the medium. Twitter is just one medium that makes it easy to spread fiction that looks like fact.

What foolproof tips do you have to verify your sources?

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday. I wish I could come up with some other way to say this, but it’s true though cliché. I’m lucky to have him in my life and that we grow together as we encounter new phases in our lives. We enjoy spending time together in simple ways such as our recent discovery of Gilmore Girls. What more can a gal ask for? Oh, and he remembers our special dates, too.

Please vote for your top 25 books on writing.

Brain food…

• The 20 Best Productivity and Personal Development Blogs: Glad to see Web Worker Daily on there.
• 7 Ways to Integrate Facebook into Your Online Platform
• Five Ways to Comply with the New FTC Guidelines for Bloggers [Link: Christina Katz]
• 52 Tips for Writers, from Writers [Link: Debbi Ohi]
• What Does Future Hold for Writers? Predictions for 2010 – 2020
• How I Sold 10,000 Copies of my Self-Published Book
• How to Make the Most of Your Social Media Time: By me.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Bizarre Japanese Candy: No, thanks. I’ll pass.
• The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog: Really.
• First-Person Tetris: The rotate feature drives my eyes crazy, but it’s a unique take on the oft-copied game.
• When Gamers Marry: The cakes you might expect.
• Forbidden Words à la Matt Groening: The Simpsons and Life in Hell creator’s view of tired words.
• Support Details: Anger management resource for tech support.
• Found him! OK, so White Snark and Reddit helped.
• 10 of the Dumbest Gadgets Ever Made: We’ve always dreamed of being able to carry remote controls on a headband… I don’t think so.

Image credit: Cecile Graat

In her latest issue of The Prosperous Writer, Christina Katz asks, “On a scale of one to ten, how’s your self-respect? Can you say no? Do you say yes to yield to social pressure and supposed-tos and then suffer for it? Are you catering to too many other people’s needs but burning out in the process? Do you listen to and trust your instincts about what is and isn’t the best way to proceed?”

I aim for balance when it comes to my writing business and personal life. I love the flexibility that comes with my business. Spending time with my family, taking care of my health and contributing to my community are all priorities in my life.

• Family: I chose to have a family and that involves spending time with them. It doesn’t mean spending hundreds of dollars on vacation or expensive activities. It can be as simple as reading a book together, playing a board game or sitting at the dining table.
• Health: If I don’t take care of myself, I won’t perform my best for clients, family and others. I believe in “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” When I don’t get seven to eight hours of sleep, I function at 50 percent the next day, if that. Staying up a couple of hours late isn’t worth the effects it would have on the following day.
• Community: Contributing to my community matters because it takes a village to take care of our world. Without programs and people, many things would never happen to make a difference in people’s lives.

Every year, I gain a couple of new assignments, which often take me out of my comfort zone because they’re new.  Already, I have a new gig that is different that pushes my boundaries while I have fun. I maintain a variety of clients because I enjoy the diversity of the work. Plus, if one should go out of business (knock on wood), my business won’t fall apart because I still have other gigs. I’ve been fortunate that I bring in new clients on a consistent basis.

I thought about creating a course that I’d teach by email. After long deliberations, I opted not to do it. Developing a course not only requires pulling together strong, interactive content, but also promoting it and keeping it fresh. As much as I love the subject, I didn’t have enough confidence that I’d have enough enrollment on a regular basis. Furthermore, I’ve noticed those who do well in offering such classes tend to speak a few times a year and have at least one known published book.

I’m comfortable with giving presentations, but uncomfortable with the answering questions part — a very critical part of the two-way interaction. So that’s not a priority in my business, but I wouldn’t turn down free travel and the opportunity. If it happens, I bring index cards so people can write their questions down or send it  to me on Twitter. Sure, I’ve written two books, but they’re not focused on my expertise.

Because I’m not a high energy person, every opportunity that comes my way receives careful consideration. I do what I can to avoid overwhelming myself and keeping my work streamlined.

How’s your self-respect?