As much as I love old school – old school hip-hop, pen and paper interviewing, in-person interviewing, library research, etc., I have to admit, the new school is pretty darn fun too. Everyday there’s a new blog on how writers/freelancers…

The Internet is an awesome piece of technology. The phone was a world changing invention, but person-to-person contact is still king. We humans are community-oriented beings. We desire to connect with others on a regular basis. We writers have become…

There’s this place with books and periodicals, a staff that has an acute expertise for researching just about every subject and best of all it’s free! It’s the public library. This installment of “Don’t Forget the Old School” will take…

It’s the end of the month so it’s time to recap some of the stories you may have missed: The Columbia Journalism Review had a rather interesting blog post commenting on ZDNet’s post about printing and things that are making…

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to talk about some oldie, but goodie elements of article writing that are still important for writers. It’s easy to dismiss some tried and true techniques because of all the fancy, technological…

Over the next couple weeks, I’m going to talk about some oldie, but goodie elements of article writing that are still important for writers. It’s easy to dismiss some tried and true techniques because of all the fancy, technological whiz-bangs…

This week my family is moving some things around and one of the places I dreaded attacking was my clip file. Wait, I should call it my clip bin, like one of those storage bins people store knick-knacks or winter…

I talked to a friend and mentor the other day and she stressed the importance of being persistent and consistent in whatever you do. Initially, I was inspired to apply those key terms to another area of my life when…

A killer article has a few key components: developed, compelling lede, thought provoking closing, thorough research and smooth transitions. Writers will spend hours, if not days, combing over their research. They will take a hard look at their lede and…

Freelance writers and editors often are portrayed as having an adversarial relationship. The long suffering writer has to bow down to the editor – supreme being of a publication. The editor has unfair demands and a fickle finger. One minute…

Success is going to happen. As a freelance writer, if you keep plugging away, success will happen for you. Sometimes it will hit all of the sudden. A deluge of articles, projects and client meetings suddenly appear in your email…

5. How do you write a great lede? The lede is one of the most important components of an article. It hooks the reader, tells them what the article is about and encourages them to continue reading. Before writing the…

If you missed the first Popular Query Questions post, be sure to stop by and take a look! 5. What is a good query? A good query is like a old school burlesque show. Take the lady with the giant…

Piggybacking again off of Deb’s popular Frequently Asked Questions and the first part of 10 Popular Article Writing Questions, I’m also tackling query questions. If I miss one of your burning questions please let me know! 10. What is a…

The FWJ mailbag is always pretty full and there are a few questions that pop up regularly. Deb reposted her super popular Frequently Asked Questions and made me think about the most popular questions I receive over here at the…

Coming up with article ideas or interesting angles is one of the challenges of being a freelance writer. Throw out the thoughts of being in competition with other writers, your main competition is yourself. Can you continually come up with…

Back again! Here’s media news you may have missed this week: Edmund Lee from AdAge has a great post about papers/publishers using “content mills” to supplement their news and opinion articles. Demand Studios and Associated Content are mentioned: More Publishers …

I was clicking through the Freelance Writing Jobs web site reading articles and coming up with ideas for May’s editorial calendar when I came across this old blog post of mine: “There’s Rejection and Then There’s REJECTION!” I found myself…

Is it because the rent’s due? You like to see your name in print? It’s a part of a bigger plan of total world domination? You’d anything not to go back to a corporate job? Think about it, we write…

On my web site and in bios everywhere I tend write “freelance writer/journalist.” Sometimes I alternate – freelance writer for one publication, freelance journalist for another. I feel compelled to highlight the difference, but I have to wonder does it…

Happy Easter FWJ crew! If you don’t celebrate Easter then, of course, happy Sunday. It’s been good week in media news: Where are the Women? – Alicia Shepard asks an all important question about NPR & it’s diversity or lack…

Hey FWJ community! I was sent this by a friend and thought it would be a great opportunity for those interested. I am pretty sure it’s unpaid, however the perks are many – a published Kirwin Institute author (article) –…

Earlier this week I gathered up a bunch of interesting media and industry news from the past week for the FWJ community: “This Week in Media News.” While several stories are worth delving into, one story in particular had kept…

Often an article will have a topic that is like a giant buffet or one of those burgers loaded with everything under the sun. While impressive to look at, it is best to break the whole thing down into manageable…

There was a lot of media news this week from trouble at the New York Times to The Plain Dealer’s ethics quandry, here’s my weekly recap. New York Times Staffers Furious Over The Huge Raise Executives Gave Themselves – Gillian…

I’d been thinking about writing this post for next week, but today I was reading through Deb’s job posting for the day and came across an article she linked to: “Driving Rules for Getting to the Point with Your Lede”…

Is there anything more fun than typos that are both hilarious and ones you personally didn’t make? Huffpost has some doozies that I’d like to share with you: This is for the sixth grader in you. Wow. I bet his…

After my post “Three Tips for Killer Web Headlines” Cheril Vernon asked a great question about SEO or search engine optimization in headlines: I would like to see more suggestions for headlines and making them SEO friendly. Is it better…

The other day I wrote “Down with Deb Ng! Headline Writing 101” where I touched on misleading headlines and basic, across the medium rules for writing headlines. The responses are still coming in, many people tuned in to see what…

The other day I wrote an informative little article “Down with Deb Ng! Headline Writing 101” where I touched on misleading headlines and basic, across the medium rules for writing headlines. The responses are still coming in, many people tuned…

Headlines are an important, often overlooked part of article writing. They are what prompt readers to click the link, pick up the magazine or buy the paper. Blog posts, magazine articles and news articles have unique characteristics that will be…