23. February 2009 by Jennifer Dunn Saunders.

I am swamped with work. Literally swamped. So swamped I’m sure there must be an alligator in here some place.  Not to mention I also have a presentation due in my Grant Writing class tonight, and I’m nervous as, well… a writer who probably has an alligator lurking somewhere in her apartment. All gators aside, though, the presentation due in a few hours really is giving me the shakes. There’s a reason I’m a writer and not a politician.

So, due to my obsessive need to practice my presentation in the mirror, instead of giving you a witty blog post extolling the virtues or lamenting the travails of freelance writing, I will instead link to a post by another fabulous freelancer, Jenny Cromie, who writes the Golden Pencil blog.

Her post today, “Do You Have a Writer’s Brain or an Editor’s Brain?” asks us to consider whether we are over-editing our first drafts and provides us with a few exercises we can do to shut up our inner editor and get to writing. I confess I’m guilty of the editor’s brain. I’ve already edited this blog post five times, actually. So don’t be like me – let Jenny straighten you out posthaste. 

(Edit: I sure hope the alligator isn’t hiding murklins!) 

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20. February 2009 by Jennifer Dunn Saunders.

In my post The Freelance Writer’s Guide to Writing Proposal Letters, I blithely advised to read all ads carefully before applying. I guess it’s time I took my own advice, huh? I misread an ad earlier this week that almost led to quite a bit of wasted time on my part.

I read that a freelancing job in my city advertised, “We can offer an array of services and compensation.”  Now, the wording of the whole ad was a little clunky, but hey, I was very qualified, it was in my city, and I don’t expect my clients to be professional writers. That’s why they’re hiring me, right?

But when the client immediately emailed me back and said there would be a group meeting for all applicants at a certain address. This struck me as a little odd so I asked for more about the position. As it turns out, the ad had read “we can offer an array of services as compensation.”

The compensation I would have received included hair styling (which of course I could use, have you seen this mop?), and black hair products (for which, unfortunately, I don’t have a use .)  I almost drove across the city at rush hour for a job that doesn’t actually pay in cash. And while I’m all for barter (it’s environmentally friendly!), that isn’t the direction I’m taking my business at the moment. And one little word caused all that.

So yes, do as I say, not as I occasionally do. Read the ads carefully. 

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17. February 2009 by Jennifer Dunn Saunders.

Have you ever wondered what to do with all those old books piling up on your shelves? You know you’ll probably never read them again, but maybe you heard from former library aides like me that most donated books get recycled instead of entered into general circulation, and you don’t want Trixie Belden’s 50’s-era adventures to end up as some poor office schlub’s TPS report.  Good news for you then that my new favorite site Paperbackswap.com is here to help.

PaperbackSwap allows you to upload your old paperbacks in exchange for credits. (Hardbacks are welcome, too, but I suppose hardbackswap.com sounds like a different type of site entirely.)  If memory serves, you get two credits for signing up, and then one more credit for every book you send out to another PaperbackSwap member. It costs a little over $2 to ship a book, and you can even pay postage through Paypal and print a shipping label right from your computer, meaning no need to stand in line at the post office. Then, armed with your handy dandy credits, you are able to search for all those books you’ve been meaning to read among the 3 million available on the site.  Basically, for less than the price of a used book, you can have books shipped directly to your mailbox. Becoming a reclusive shut-in has never been easier!

The site also allows users to post book reviews and ratings, and communicate with one another through message boards, PMs and all the usual Web 2.0 suspects.  By far my favorite side feature is the “wish” system where you tag books that aren’t available yet and the site emails you immediately when another user posts them on the site.

Does it work? Well, let’s just say that the postman at my new place knocked on my door the other day to tell me how busy I’ve been keeping him. So far I’ve shed old textbooks, well-intentioned Christmas gifts, and books that I love but know in my heart I’ll never read again.  In return, I’ve received half of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s bibliography, my favorite book as a child, and a really cool book about serial killer profilers, among many, many others. Now I just have to make time to read them all.

 One of the author’s many overflowing bookshelves. Yes, I made it deliberately small to obscure any embarrassing titles. 

(And before I forget: murklins, murklins, murklins!) 

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5. February 2009 by Jennifer Dunn Saunders.

As freelance writers, or one might even go so far as to claim, a wordsmiths, I think it’s important to have many words to work with, don’t you? But what you might not know is that many of our beloved words are in danger! Yes, it’s true.  Every year lexicographers analyze the English language and decide which words have fallen out of usage, then summarily kick them straight out of the dictionary.

So this means we are in danger of losing words like cloakitively (adj. superficial) or succisive (ajd. of spare or extra time.)  Now, regardless of your opinion on language and how they all evolve, you have to agree that antipelargy (n. reciprocal or mutual kindness) is a pretty darn cool word and it would be a shame if it had seen its last printing in ol’ Webster’s.  Too bad there’s nothing anyone can do…

But wait! You can help. Visit Save the Words and adopt a word of your very own. Pledge to use it in conversation and keep it alive through, as the site suggests, bestowing it as a name on your pet or even hiring a sky writer to well… raise awareness. Or better yet, know any lexicographers? Send them a text message and casually throw in the word senticious (adj. prickly or thorny)

I adopted “murklins,” an adverb meaning “in the dark.” I can’t wait to get started saving it with the likes of, “I got dressed murklins this morning.” 

 Happy word saving!

(Bonus: If, like me, you happen to be married to someone who speaks English as a second language, this also has the added effect of driving that person CRAZY.)

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