Yes, I understand what you’re saying about defining who you are as a writer. One thing I never want to do is take on corporate clients, or write annual reports or business reports. I tried it once and hated it — it was awful! I loved my client, who was a smart, successful, savvy female law professor….but just couldn’t stomach writing for her.

You sound so experienced and wise! Thanks for being here, it’s been really interesting .

Laurie
.-= Laurie PK´s last blog post ..8 Ideas for Blog Posts or Magazine Articles at Halloween =-.

I definitely think that letting your writing marinate is crucial to writing well. That’s part of the rewriting process. My favorite way to write is to work on one piece every day over weeks — it just gets better and better.

K.M., thanks for your comment! Objectivity is another reason to take a break from your writing — whether you’re a magazine writer or novelist.

I think I want to be a novelist when I grow up.
.-= Laurie PK´s last blog post ..8 Ideas for Blog Posts or Magazine Articles at Halloween =-.

Hey, did you know what a Gizmo was in tip #1? It’s the cute creature that turns into a naughty gremlin (re article on taming your inner critic).
.-= Gini Grey´s last blog post ..Courage =-.

So I can definitely see the value in taking some work that might not interest you at first. I guess what I really meant was more in regards to work that you’ve already done in the past that you know doesn’t interest you. For example, I’ve been approached many times to write for one particular market that I used to write for, and over the years I realized I didn’t enjoy it because it required me to write in a voice that I didn’t feel was a good representation of the kind of work I do. I even started excluding those pieces from my portfolio. Even though I’m sure there are plenty of writers happy in that market, I know it’s not for me, so I’ve tried to distance myself from it and won’t accept similar new work that comes my way.

I think a lot of it is about figuring out what kind of writer you want to be. There’s no harm in trying new things (on the contrary, it helps us grow). But after I try new things I always evaluate whether or not I’ll continue that kind of writing based on my career goals. If it’s not a good fit, I know to go in a different direction for the next time.

Geez, I HAVE to record interviews. I can’t seem to remember anything after, and my notes are darned near unreadable. Now I make time notations of the questions on my little digital recorder and it really helps with going back and putting all of the pieces together.

George
.-= Tumblemoose´s last blog post ..Books on Fire, Now it Just Takes a Keystroke =-.

Quick Penmanship, what’s a “PLR article”?

Natalia, I’m behind you 100% regarding printing pages to edit. I don’t do it all the time, but I felt I needed to before I submitted my sample chapters to a potential publisher! I usually re-set the margins and font, though, to save paper.

Regarding writing about what interests you: I recently took a job about something I wasn’t interested in, and found that my interest increased based on my research and interviews! So, sometimes forcing yourself to do certain jobs can be beneficial especially if the pay is good.

Laurie
.-= Laurie PK´s last blog post ..14 Tips for Successful Magazine Writers =-.

And I agree that 24 hours is a good amount of time to let your work “marinate” before turning it in. I know this isn’t very earth-friendly, but if it’s a very long piece I’ll usually also print it out and edit it by hand (red pen and all) because there are always things we don’t catch on screen that we catch on paper.
.-= Natalia Maldonado´s last blog post ..They’re no myth: Great clients do exist =-.