Writing Prompt #752

Okay, here's a writing prompt that will help kick-start your writing day.

Finish this sentence: "Honestly, I don't know who she is. I got home from work, threw my coat on the chair and went to the kitchen to fix myself a sandwich when....."

Have fun with it and have a great day of writing.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Do you ever find that marketing and promoting get a bad rap? When you hear market your product do you cringe?

Marketing, blech, who wants to do that? Don't people automatically know that my stuff is there?

Maybe you see marketing as begging for someone to buy your stuff.

One time, my sister (who is a singer) scoffed at the fact that Cindy Lauper was on American Idol as a judge clearly promoting her new CD.
Well, yeah. What a great way to get your CD out there. I'd do it if I had a CD.

That's what you want, right? For people to buy your stuff so they can read it.

If writing is your life-line and puts food in the bellies of your children, then you want to get your work out there. If you have a 'job' to go to but prefer a full time career as a writer, of course you should market yourself.

As writers, we tend not to get into promoting ourselves. We are all about the writing. Can't someone else promote our work for us? Come on. Anyone? Anyone at all?

The promotion is up to us. That being said, if you have a book that you want to promote and present to the masses, I will put it in a blog entry for you. You can't have too much free publicity.
Of course, it has to be in good taste, not vulgar or racist or anything that has a negative feel surrounding it. I don't want anything disturbing the chi of my blog.

Oh, and keep it brief.

Of course, there has to be balanced reciprocity in life, so I'm asking that, in return, I do some of my own Shameless Self Promoting on your blog.

To kick things off, I will do my own Shameless Self-Promotion:

My name is Tamara Hanson and I have 12 years of writing experience. I do scads of freelance writing, especially home builder brochures and ads, plus editing and ghost writing.

I have written 4 books in total. 2 are currently self published:
Dream Weavers
Description: 'Jenny Harris could sense it nearby—an evil so hungry it wanted to devour her. It hovered, close—too close. Her body tingled. Her skin ached. It moved around her, through her, taking over her body; its energy flowed in and out of every part of her—like some creepy dance. Her choppy breath struggled for air; the lungs fighting, gasping. It’s just a dream. Just a dream, she repeated to herself. But yet it was so real.' Jenny Harris and Matt Carlson are ready for summer vacation to begin. Everything seems to go as planned until Jenny starts to have terrifying and cryptic dreams. Not only that, Matt is also having the same dreams—dreams that reveal a past filled with deception, heartache, and an evil so hungry that it won’t let go until it devours what it’s thirsty for. Together they must unlock the secrets of the past before the entity that haunts them consumes their very lives.

Unleash Your Writing Muse
Description: Take your writing to the next level and become the creative writer that you've always wanted to be! Maybe you have an idea for a book but aren't sure how to get it started. Maybe you're already working on a writing project but are stuck. Unleash Your Writing Muse will help push you past any blocks, give you the inspiration you need and help you to stay passionate about your writing.

I am currently completing another book called Dear Money, a book on how to become friends with money. I think it'll take how we feel about money to the next level.

My websites are: www.thewritersmentor.ca and http://members.shaw.ca/tamara.hanson

The Writing Critic

We all have that judgmental voice in our heads telling us what to do, where to go, and how to do it.
How fair is that? How can we work under these conditions?

Basically, what we know about this voice is that Critic=Ego. That's right. It's just your ego talking. We all have one. Some of us are ruled by it more than others. The ego, when you get to the bare bones of it, doesn't make us feel good. When ego comes out to play, we are indecisive, wishy-washy and full of doubt.

When we are writing, our ego/critic is analyzing everything that is being put onto paper. "You can't say that." "Oh, that's stupid." "Look how you spelled that word." "I guess your fifth grade English teacher was right."

This isn't fair to your creative muse. The muse wants to get past the critic and come out to play. The muse wants to give you all those great ideas, but can't because the critic blocks the door to the imagination.

So how can you squash the critic? It won't happen over night nor will it happen completely. The critic will still hang around; you just won't hear the voice as loudly. With a little diligence, eventually your muse will come through the loudest of them all. Or, at least, you will be able to tell the critic to step aside and let the muse through.

Here are some things to remember when you are dealing with the critic.
1) When writing, keep writing, no matter what. Regardless of what is going on inside, just keep writing. Don't look up; just keep going till you are done.
2) If you can, resist the temptation to read your work right away. This is a good idea if your critic is especially loud. If you go back too soon, you will scrap everything and become discouraged.
3) Read your stuff when you feel really good. Give it a couple of days to see things with fresh eyes. You'll be amazed at how good your work is when you let it flow.

Last but not least, have fun. If you can't have fun, then why do it?

Article Writing Sites....Not for the Faint of Heart

Have you ever considered writing articles for those 'quasi-paying' article writing websites?

You know, the ones where they want to hire writers to churn out 3 or more articles per month? For instance, Suite101.com and Helium.com both hire writers to write articles for their websites, usually paying by the click.

The question is, should you write for these websites when you know the pay is minimal?
Well, the best answer to that question is a question: What is your intention when signing up?

1) Is it the money? Writing articles for these sites will not bring great fortune. It not only takes many articles to keep money streaming in, but it also takes the 'right articles'. The big money articles are those that are considered hot topics. Examples: Money, sex, dating, marriage and anything seasonal (holidays, etc).
2)Is it the experience? Maybe you'll find the writing experience to be beneficial or maybe it's all about the writing and fulfilling a need. If this is the case, then more power to you.
3)Is it about the marketing? These sites are a form of advertising. Someone sees your work and wants to hire you. (I'm not sure how often this happens, though.)
4)Is it about the glory? I'm not sure how much glory or fame you'll experience through these websites, but it is kinda cool to see your name attached to a piece of work that you really worked at.

Whatever the reason, make sure you go into it with your eyes wide open and no expectations.

When an Ad Tagline Goes Wrong

Why is it so important to get Ad Tag Lines, or even Ad Copy, right? Here's an example:

Today I saw a Sherwin Williams van driving down the street. As you may know, Sherwin Williams is a large company who specializes in paint. The logo on the side of the van had a can of red paint being dumped on top of the earth with these words: Cover the Earth.

I can understand what these people had in mind when they thought of this logo...they wanted to show that they are covering the earth with colour...which is great.

But it looks really bad. Why? Because it looks like paint is making our earth toxic because it's being smothered in it. This is sending the wrong message, especially with the growing sensitivity to keeping the earth clean and minimizing our carbon footprints.

The solution here is to effectively show what you want to say and do it in a way that people are going to be enticed by it. Why not a picture of the earth with a swirl of colours and the words "Bringing Colour to the World" or "Colouring the World".

When writing copy or tag lines, the reader needs to be enticed to buy the product. They also have to understand what your intention is. Right from the start, there needs to be emotion in the copy. Once people feel that emotion, you've hit the right spot and have drawn them in.

I recently wrote a brochure for a home builder who was including a 'spa-like' bathroom in their homes. Those looking at the brochure needed to be pulled in by the essence of what was being said. The goal here is for the customer to want that spa bathroom and the relaxation that comes with it. And that's what I directed my copy towards. The feeling of peace, relaxation, stillness and oneness.

We'll Be Back

This blog will be back when I return from my writer's retreat on June 15!

What to Pay a Freelancer

Some of you out there may be struggling with how much you should be paid as a freelance writer. Some of you who are new to the business may not feel 'right' asking for a certain amount and decide to go lower than what you would normally charge.

Of course, experience is everything and a strong portfolio will certainly help you win bigger and better gigs. Sometimes you have to take the smaller writing jobs just to get more experience.

This is all par for the course. As long as you are getting paid and as long as this isn't slave labour, then focus on building that that portfolio. Once you start stalk-piling writing projects, you will find more and more writing gigs coming in.

Eventually you'll discover that it's easier to tell clients how much you charge without even blinking or twitching a muscle.

Below are a couple of websites that will give you an idea what you should be charging as a freelance writer.

Remember, freelance writing is a profession, and as such, you should be paid like a professional.

What to Pay a Writer, Professional Writers Association of Canada: http://www.writers.ca/whattopay.htm

Salary.com: http://www.salary.com/

Setting Your Fees as a Writer: http://www.writedirection.com/rprt300e.htm