Essay Online

People interested in other freelance writing careers usually look upon copy editing with disdain. Copy editing doesn’t involve attention to the actual structure of a piece, they say, and involves little research and fact-chasing necessary to create a lively, memorable article or story. However, copy editing carries its own unique challenges; such as:

1) you need to pay careful attention to the basic mechanics of writing; and

2) you need to pay attention to accuracy, both in facts and in language.

Freelance copy editing isn’t just a simpler offshoot of freelance writing in general, but an important discipline in its own right — and a rewarding one.

To become a successful copy editor you need to know how to use style guides. With some exceptions, editors of newspapers, magazines, and other print publications require you to write in a homogeneous style, both to compensate for writers with occasionally sloppy spelling and usage and to ensure consistent terminology over time. (This is important with newspapers: the names of foreign leaders, organizations, and other foreign-language nouns are often subject to variant spellings.)

The most commonly used style guides include AP (Associated Press), MLA (Modern Language Association), and Chicago. Any budding freelance copy editor would do well to own a copy of each of these, and to become familiar with their use before applying for jobs. Prospective employers will not hire copy editors who lack knowledge of style guides. Use a product like StyleEase software to help with style.

Fact checking is another prime skill for copy editors, as it is a publication’s first line of defense against accusations of libel or misrepresentation. Fact-checking is a simple procedure: call the author of the article, ask for his or her sources, and, if warranted, call the sources directly to confirm quotes or statistics. Different publications will have different procedures for fact-checking, all of which should be explained when you take a job.

Beyond that, all that it takes to become a successful copy editor is a sensitivity to cumbersome phrasing, grammar, and spelling, as well as a sensitivity to an author’s personal style. Many novice copy editors take a far too forceful approach to their work, effectively rewriting a reporter or other writer’s article for them in line with style guides and their own ideas about what makes good writing. This isn’t the function of a copy editor. Yes, clarity, grammar, and other issues with writing mechanics are all important, but a writer’s ego is important as well, and a too-free hand in the editing process can alienate a publication’s staff reporters and foster general enmity.

Since rewriting someone’s article causes you more additional work as well, why would you want to do it? Instead, just try to achieve sufficient clarity while leaving as much of the original article “as-is” as you can. If there are any substantial portions of text that inhibit clarity or exhibit serious mechanical errors, talk to the writer personally before making any changes. Yes, it’s an extra step, but one that ensures professional respect in the workplace.

If you don’t want to work for a publication, there are plenty of opportunities available for freelance copy editing, both for corporations and for private individuals. Educational publications, in particular, are always looking for good copy editors, and book publishers and literary journals always have a few spots available. You can find out about these opportunities through classified ads, or by making inquiries directly to the company. There’s typically a lot of competition in these sorts of jobs, so a solid interview technique and some excellent samples are mandatory for securing work. Once you have your foot in the door, though, corporate copy editing can provide a stable — if occasionally dull — source of income.

Copy editing projects offered by individuals are another option, and one which can bring you a more varied body of work and a much more informal attitude toward style guides and format restriction. But this option carries with it some heavy caveats. Often, copy editing projects given by individuals amount to ghostwriting without appropriate compensation, and pay rates can be sketchy as well, ranging from low to nonexistent (with a promise of “resume experience,” maybe.) Although when work is consistent, low pay isn’t necessarily a problem, individuals can rarely guarantee a sufficient volume of work to ensure your livelihood and a decent career.

Before you accept individual copy editing projects, make sure that you know how much you’ll need to make per hour to make the project financially worthwhile (as well as an estimate on how many hours the project will take), and don’t accept less than that hourly rate. You may get less work with this approach, but clients won’t rip you off either — an important consideration for professional copy editors.

Copy editing is a good, low-stress writing job, enjoyable on its own merits or as practice for other freelance writing goals down the line. You can succeed as a freelance copy editor if you familiarize yourself with style guides, and have a good grasp of grammar, spelling, and style usage.

Becoming a successful freelance public relations writer requires you to write persuasively and analytically. The key to persuasive writing is the key to good writing in general: know your audience. Public relations work requires you to address various audiences, such as:

1) Your customer base. Your customers already have some idea about what your client does;

2) Potential customers. Most won’t know about your client directly, but they might be familiar with similar products, services, or programs;

3) The press. They are interested only in whether the service or product your client has to offer is worthy of mention in their publication.

When you get a public relations assignment, your job is to take in all the data related to whatever your client has to offer. Maybe your client is offering a new product line, a new community outreach program, or news about a change in ownership. Your job is to: 1) analyze that data for key points; 2) determine how the data might affect the marketplace and consumers; and 3) communicate the data in a clear, concise form.

Taking in the data is the easiest part. Your client should provide you with all the data you need, plus any contact information you might need to interview people for quotes, statistics, point-of-views, etc. You need to think about how to connect what your client is offering with the needs and desires of his audience.

Example 1:

If a high-end brokerage firm wants to distribute a press release about their response to a recent rise in gold prices, you may need to research the stock market to determine what that means to investors. If you know your target audience, then you know exactly where to look to find out their typical concerns. Typical research methods may include Internet searches, investor forum posts, guides to investment, etc.

Example 2:

If you need to generate PR aimed at a particular trade group or a segment of an industry, such as promoting a local cleaning service, then you need to brainstorm ways in which your client’s cleaning service provides cheaper or better care than his competitors.

Once you’ve done the background work, writing PR is simple. Your client should provide you with all the pertinent information about length and venue. What you need to do is communicate the details, connect it to audience’s desires, and present any information that links the audience back to the client with the use of contact information, store locations, event dates, and so on.

Since there’s an expectation that PR is persuasive, advertisement-like material, you have slightly more leeway with the writing than you might with informative, research-based material; but again, the audience comes into the balance.

If you’re writing a report on the release of a new video game aimed at a teen-centric gaming magazine, a dry style won’t be of much use to you. If you’re writing about the breakthrough of a new control chip for an overseas microprocessor, you don’t want to make too many assertions about how this will “revolutionize the industry,” or anything that a highly-trained engineering department can’t back up. In general, stick to the facts as closely as you can. Your articles should have the blend of rational restraint and promotional zeal so you communicate effectively.

Where do you get public relations jobs? Corporate PR departments are your best bet for well-paying, steady work. Some large corporations will have their own in-house staff of marketing writers, and may not be interested in taking on freelancers except at certain times. Another good choice would be local non-profit groups, political organizations, or social clubs. These rely on effective PR to grow and thrive, and you can pick up a good deal of work from just one or two groups. A drawback to non-profits or other groups is they may not have a big budget or they may not be able to pay consistently. Make sure you trust the group before you commit to full-time PR work.

Above all, be careful of doing PR for individuals. This type of PR can be among the most enjoyable assignments, depending on your interests. Individual PR projects may include promoting someone’s self-published book or writing press releases for a garage band, and so forth. The downside is individuals typically have little or no budget for PR, and they often want you to work for free, alleging that “it’ll be good for your reputation” or that “once I get successful I can pay you.” Never do PR work (or any freelance writing work) for free. It wastes your time and it won’t advance your career, except for building a portfolio of writing samples. At worst, it can lower average writing rates to the point that good freelancers go out of business. It’s not good for you, for your trade, or for your fellow writers. So don’t do it!

If you have the ability to analyze complex material quickly and convey it clearly and persuasively into words that your audience understands, then you are on your way to having a successful career as a public relations writer.

When you are a writer, you cannot separate your writing from your life. Writers cannot not write, so writing for you is like breathing. It is so natural you don’t even think about it. I think it’s a shame that so many writers treat their writing as anything from “special time” to the last thing on their to-do list. Writing is life. And so the principles of life, or the truth about life, are also the principles of, or the truth about, the writing life.

I recently re-read a favorite spiritual book, and in it I found a quote from the author’s high school drama teacher. This drama teacher must have been a wise man because he always taught his drama students the following:

The Truth About Life

1. Leave your personal problems at the stage door.

2. Treat the material with honesty, dignity and without embellishment.

3. Show up fully no matter how many people are in the audience.

I was suddenly struck with a simple thought: The Truth About Life is exactly the same as The Truth About The Writing Life, and so many of us forget these simple truths, as often in our everyday lives as we do in our writing lives.

So as a reminder, for all the writers out there, here is my version of The Truth About (The Writing) Life

1. Leave your personal problems at the stage door.

When you are writing, IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU! What? Not about me? Well then who is it about?? It’s about your view of the world, your take on things, how the world appears through your own unique lens, and yes, you need to write from your own emotional experience, or at the very least you need to write about something you care about. But that’s where it ends. While you are writing from a place within yourself, or you’re channeling something from the depths of your unconscious, you are still doing it with one very important proviso. You are disengaging your ego, and writing from some deep inner truth, or emotional place. Get out of your ego and into the soul or spirit of your characters. You are a writer. You are there to serve the story. It’s not there to serve you.

A great idea is to have an imaginary hat stand, coat rack or even a cardboard box outside the door of the room where you write. Every time you enter the room to do some writing, mentally drop all your baggage, problems, ego issues and any other personal issues into the box or hang them on the racks and walk into the room unencumbered. Then, while you are writing, imagine that someone or something comes and whisks all your baggage, problems and issues away, so that when you’re finished, the doorstep is empty.

2. Treat the material with honesty, dignity and without embellishment.

I firmly believe that when you are writing, you are co-creating with a force larger than yourself. Whether you call that force God, the Universe, the collective unconscious, the spirit of your dearly departed grandmother, Allah or simply your Higher Self, when you truly enter the creative imagination you are only one element in many that go into making up the totality of your story. So when the material comes through (when you write it) you do need to treat it with honesty, dignity and without embellishment. Let it flow through you honestly. Don’t try and change it as it flows. Just let it flow, get it down on the page, and if there are changes that need to be made, address them in the rewriting and editing processes. Dignify the material with your time and your skills, and for goodness sake, don’t embellish. There is nothing worse than a wonderful story and good writing being asphyxiated by attempts at literary high-mindedness. If the character gets hit in the head, tell us he gets hit in the head. Don’t tell us that a large object projected itself into his cranium. Be blunt and use simple language. You will find the greatest writers do that. At the risk of sounding like another American self-help guru, you’re best served to “tell it like it is”. Thanks Dr Phil!

Go back over some of your own writing and see where you may have been guilty of embellishment. The beauty and complexities of great novels come from the story, the narrative, the rich drawing of characters and their relationships to each other, not from using lots of big words.

3. Show up fully no matter how many people are in the audience.

Write for the sheer joy of it, the pleasure, the beauty, peace and satisfaction it stirs in you. Write because you have to, because you can’t not write. Write because there’s a story that’s bursting to get out of you. Don’t write to please editors, publishers, readers, your mother, teacher or partner. Write for the sense of abundance it brings into your life. Turn up at the blank page or screen and write just for the heck of it. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the only one who’ll read your words or whether you have a print run of 1,000,000 books ready to roll when you finish your manuscript. What matters is that you show up fully at the page, every day. Because writing in and of itself, is all that matters, isn’t it?

So next time you’re sitting at your page thinking “what am I doing here?” have a look at these 3 simple Truths About (The Writing) Life and remember how simple it really is. You write because you can’t not write. So leave your personal problems at the door, treat the material with honesty, dignity and without embellishment and show up fully at the page, no matter how many people are in the audience.

And watch your writing improve.

Many writers aspire to write books. Writing a book is a long, involved, difficult process. Book publishing is harder. A writer may submit his book repeatedly only to be turned down. The writer may eventually succeed. Wouldn’t it have been easier to get published the first time? Is that possible?

You can improve your chances of a publisher accepting your book manuscript if you understand more about what happens at the publisher’s desk. Book publishers are busy people with several projects bombarding their desks every day. They must decide quickly about what will sell. They must also delegate their time efficiently to keep the business running. Only occasionally do publishers actually seek out work. Let’s look at a typical work day of a publisher to help you understand book acceptance and book publishing.

PERSIST AND PERSEVERE

Writers must be persistent. Regardless of how many times a publisher rejects your book manuscript and throws your ideas in the trash, you have to keep going back for more discouragement. Eventually you’ll make it in the door. If you can get all the way through, you will finally get to a place where publishers accept more of your work. When working with a book publisher, the rule is the same. If you have a book that you know will sell, you must persevere to get the publisher’s attention. Most likely, you will be sending excerpts of your book, not the entire book, to a publisher. As you continually send your manuscript or book excerpts to publisher after publisher, you should try to market it in different ways. Publishers seek a particular kind of writing; they will dismiss anything that doesn’t meet their criteria and high standards. Variation in your marketing techniques may turn a rejected book into an accepted book.

WHAT DO BOOK PUBLISHERS WANT?

Book publishing is a strange business. People’s tastes are somewhat fickle. A book publisher has to keep up with what kinds of books will sell. It seems mysteries will always have a place on the bookshelves. Crichton and Grisham may tie up the book market until they are finished. That is just one example from one genre of books. Publishers have to keep track of what is selling in all areas of literature. The best way for you to get your work noticed is to make it look similar to what is already selling in the marketplace. Be careful not to imitate style or voice of another author. Write with your own unique words while imitating the use of popular public opinion. Another way to improve your chances of getting published is to find out who’s publishing what.

ARE YOU MARKETING TO THE RIGHT PUBLISHER?

Some publishers specialize in a certain kind of writing. If you are writing a novel, you’ll look stupid (and get rejected) if you send it to publishers who publish technical manuals. How do you find out who is the most likely candidate to publish your work? There are reference manuals, such as Writer’s Market, at your library that will tell you who’s publishing what and what publishers are seeking. It will contain valuable information leading you to children’s book publishers, novel publishers, and textbook publishers. If the handbook at your library is not up to date, your next option is to check out the new releases and best sellers rack at the bookstore. Buy a few books and read them. You’ll have a much better feel for the book market as a consumer first, and book writer second.

Book publishing is difficult to break into. It can be helpful to approach the issue from the direction of the publisher. Before you submit your manuscript again, improve your chances of acceptance by following these tips:

1) Change your marketing style so that you grab attention;

2) Make sure you are a book consumer yourself. You’ll get a better feel for what’s selling and what a publisher will buy. You’ll also find out who is publishing which types of books.

3) Finally, by buying the product you are trying to sell, you will improve the book economy all together. Publishers need to see people buying books before they can commit to publishing more.

Many authors begin their careers with the single goal of getting their book published by a reputable publisher. Book publishing is difficult to accomplish. It takes many months of work and extensive preparation. Writing a book involves intricately woven ideas. A book is a project, and it may contain many other projects that involve research, development, and marketing. Most authors are disillusioned about the intensive process of creating a full, coherent book. Writing a book and finding a publisher is like nothing you have ever done before. It will take extensive and intensive work and development. It will also probably include much of everything you know, and more.

As more and more old-growth trees are cut down, and we face the reality of having to wait close to 100 years or more to replace them, the need to recycle paper becomes increasingly important.

Paper, of course, includes books and magazines. Although paper products are nearly 100% biodegradable, it is pointless to send these resources to the dump to rot in the landfill when we can recycle and reuse them.

More than any other material we hope to recycle, books and magazines represent knowledge. We find wisdom in the pages of old books, and learn about culture in the pages of old magazines. Because of these factors, the best thing to do with old books and magazines is pass them on.

Your local library or college library will accept donations of old books, and sometimes magazines in good shape. This allows other people to benefit from the publication as well. Once you have enjoyed your book, donate it to a library rather than letting it sit on a shelf to collect dust.

The second choice, for both books and magazines, is to sell them to a used bookstore, at a garage sale, flea market, or on eBay. Other people may be looking for the exact book or magazine you have; passing it on is a win-win scenario for you and the new owner.

If you wish to reuse publications in a creative way, magazines make good colorful craft supplies for children and adults. You can cut out parts of pictures to make collages by pasting the picture pieces to a cardboard backing; or make hanging mobiles by cutting out shapes, stringing pieces of thread through holes at the top, and attaching the strings to a clothes hanger.

You can also cut out whole pictures to construct a dream board or a vision board, which helps you to think about and visualize the goals and dreams you want to achieve; for instance, a Hawaiian vacation, a certain type of job, or a new sports car.

As for traditional recycling, some areas will let you place books or magazines in your blue bin for pickup as well. Many publishers print magazines on glossy paper. It is more expensive to recycle glossy paper because the demand is low for this type of paper. This will change in the future as the need to recycle paper becomes more important.

The biggest challenge with recycling books and magazines is separating the paper from the adhesives or staples used to bind the pages. Forward-thinking recycling companies have a way to remove the waste from the bindings magnetically; in the future we should begin to see growing opportunities to recycle all kinds of paper products.

Next time you’re thinking about throwing away some books or magazines, think first about how you can pass them along for others to enjoy. If that doesn’t work for you, try to reuse them creatively. If you still can’t find a use for them, look for places to take them where they can be recycled into new paper products, so we can save more trees.

Ask any published book author about writing a book, and they will tell you it’s a monumental task. The process is long, drawn out, and grueling. Even if you enjoy writing &ndash and don’t mind writing on the same subject for an extended period — the writing process will, undoubtedly, exhaust you. Getting your book published, however, will take even more time and effort than writing the thing in the first place.

Are you thinking about writing a book? Have you already written one? Do you wonder how to get your book published? If you so, read on. Here are some hand-picked tips on how to publish your book.

WRITING YOUR BOOK

To write a successful book you need to start out with some original thought. You probably have plenty of originality, but you may have trouble creating a coherent flow of ideas and information that the public will digest. The first step is to create the skeleton (or blueprint) of your book. You need to organize your thoughts into a progression of chapters.

If you are writing a non-fiction book, start with a table of contents. Write chapter headings and sub-headings. Organize your chapters so you build each chapter upon one another. If you can brainstorm more chapter headings than you will use, you will find it easier to fill your book with a series of short articles that flow into one another.

If you are writing fiction, you will need more of a storyboard. You will need to create cause and effect as well as character sketches. To make your story coherent your characters will need to react to events. Their reactions should become predictable as your readers get into the story. You may need to create some situations for your characters to introduce their traits to the reader.

These are general guidelines on how to construct your book. The complete process will be much more involved as you move closer to finding out how to get your book published. Even after you are finished with the bulk of the content, your goal to publish your book involves a lot more work.

GETTING YOUR BOOK INTO PRINT

The next step to get your book published is finding a publisher. Both the Internet and your local library have many resources. You can tap into these resources to find the best publisher to publish your book. After a series of queries and correspondence with potential publishers, you may get an invitation to submit your manuscript. Then the work begins.

A publisher is very experienced in finding marketable books. He knows what it will take to get your book to sell. Don’t be offended when a book editor tears your writing apart, as this may be a positive sign that the publisher is interested in your book. Expect to enter into a close relationship of compromise and change with the editor as you rework what you have already painstakingly written. When you are finished, you will have a readable, clean, and correct manuscript, ready for print.

The road to getting a book published is a long one, but it is well worth the effort. Trust yourself, and trust the publisher to create a beautiful masterpiece. Don’t be discouraged if several publishers are not interested in your book. You may have to self-publish your first book, and then again, your book may eventually get accepted right away. Good luck and enjoy the process.

The term creative writing is used to discern certain types of inventive or artistic writing from other general types of writing. The field of creative writing is broad and includes many different formats and genres of writing. The broad and general description of it is purposeful in its effort not to limit the imagination of the potential writer, or that of the reader. Creative writing is totally different from other types of writing, such as technical writing, scientific writing, or copy-driven journalism. The discipline of creative writing includes, but should not be limited to, works of fiction, poetry, personal memoir or autobiography, song lyrics, plays and screenplays, and any mixture of the above.

By and large, writing is a skill that is innate to a person. Just like with other proficiencies, most types of writing often comes easier to some people than to others. Therefore, it is often thought that a person cannot be taught how to write, especially creatively. Despite whatever natural talents for writing a person might have, those talents often need to be developed in order for the writer to realize his or her fullest potential in the craft. Learning how to write creatively must begin on the inside. A certain amount of individual experience, opinion, and innate sensitivity must be tapped when taking on the task of creative writing.

Creative writing is an artistic expression, like painting or composing music. It is therefore subject to criticism, both constructive and disrespectful. This should in no way deter a person from writing creatively, or in any other way. Sometimes, artistic expression is done just for the sake of doing it. There does not have to be a reason to create something, and there does not have to be an explanation behind the creation. The personal expression is free. This sentiment holds especially true with creative writing.

Creative writing courses are extremely popular and widely available in various formats. Short-term workshops ranging from merely a few hours to a day or several weekly sessions are available through public libraries, community education centers, and even community colleges. They are for everyone from the beginner to the seasoned writer looking to polish his or her skills.

In a creative writing course, there are many potential topics to discuss and methods to teach at length. These topics include, but are not limited to, techniques on brainstorming and exploring creative ideas, overcoming writer’s block, learning how to structure work, overcoming the fear of people reading/judging the created work, editing completed work, and getting works published. Though some will argue that true creative writing cannot be taught, it is widely acknowledged that certain skills can be mined and honed, as well as certain techniques taught, to make almost anyone at least a fair writer, and not be afraid to unleash his or her creativity.

Many budding writers opt to study creative writing in college. Often it can be an emphasis within a major in English, and a 4-year bachelor’s degree can be earned. This can open doors to many professional opportunities, as well as equip a writer with the skills to either take a stab at freelance writing, or translate his or her creative writing skills into other professional arenas, such as public relations, advertising, or editing.

For those whose writing ambition is to do creative writing as more of a hobby, looking to the Internet for creative writing websites is a good way to get work seen and gain insight into the craft. Many creative writing websites offer bulletin boards where writers can post works to be read and enjoyed, and where feedback can be given reciprocally. Also, writers can find a real community of individuals looking for other writers with whom to trade and share ideas.

Some creative writing websites also offer some of the same lessons and pointers on brainstorming and formulating ideas, editing, publishing, and other techniques that many workshops or writing courses offer, except it often does not cost anything online, and it is more convenient. There is also the appeal of the relative anonymity online, for the shy writer who is not quite ready for the face-to-face public arena. True creative writing might not be a learned talent, but the ability to tap inner creativity is possible for just about anyone.