11/21/2008 Writing Jobs and Links

Posted by John Hewitt on 11/21/2008 under Jobs | Be the First to Comment

Today’s Writing Job Roll

Today’s Job and Writing Links

Does Your Business Really Understand People? It is a good idea to learn about the people your product serves.

Are You Better for the Environment if You’re Tall or Short? An excellent Friday Question

Random Thought of the Day

My wife had a dream about giant bugs in an empty house. “Big freakin’ emtry house being infested by big-assed ants.”

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Are You Having Any Fun?

Posted by John Hewitt on 11/20/2008 under Health, Sustainability, Writing, Writing Business | 2 Comments to Read

Lately I have been talking about building a sustainable writing career. A sustainable career can stand the test of time. It is a career you can be successful at today, tomorrow and years from now. I’ve discussed some of the elements that lead to a sustainable writing career, such as good planning, hardiness in the face of problems, health and marketing. Those are all important, but perhaps the most important question is, are you having any fun?

Don’t Dread Your Days

No matter what career you choose, you won’t have fun all of the time. Every career has ups and downs. If you are going to spend eight or more hours a day doing something though, wouldn’t it be nice to enjoy what you are doing? The opportunity to get up in the morning without dreading the day in front of you should not be overlooked, especially if you expect to be doing the same thing five, ten of fifteen years down the road.

Strike a Balance

It can be difficult to strike a balance between what can earn you money and what brings you happiness. Tradeoffs have to be made sometimes, especially if you have a family to support and bills to pay. Just be sure that you aren’t trading away too much. I’ve spent time at jobs I hated before, and in the end my body just rejects those jobs. The stress gets to be too much and I get sick for days and weeks on end. At some point I can’t make myself go somewhere that I hate, even if the money is great.

Look for a career that can make you happy. If you find yourself in a job that you dread going to, make a change. Either fix what is wrong with the job or find a new job. Do what it takes to make your days worth living, because you only have a limited number of them.

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11/19/2008 Writing Jobs and Links

Posted by John Hewitt on 11/19/2008 under Jobs | Read the First Comment

Today’s Writing Job Roll

Today’s Job and Writing Links

The Difference between Being a Freelancer and Having a Freelance Business: The main question is, do you want to go it alone or team up?

Confessions of a NaNoWriMo Dropout: It isn’t easy to finish.

Random Thought of the Day

So much yawning…

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Building a Sustainable Writing Career: Increase Your Hardiness

Posted by John Hewitt on 11/17/2008 under Sustainability, Writing, Writing Business | 2 Comments to Read

In my last article I discussed the value of hardiness. Hardiness is the ability to handle problems in constructive ways. It is the key to success as a writer. Here are a few ways in which you can increase your hardiness.

Eliminate (At Least Reduce) Poor Coping Habits

People indulge in bad habits when they are stressed. They smoke. They drink alcohol. They eat too much or too little. They take drugs. None of these coping mechanisms are healthy. When you find yourself indulging in these bad habits, stop. Focus on the positive actions you could be taking to fix the problem.

Take Care of Your Health

Ignoring your health, even when you have a major problem to deal with, is never a good idea. Your body is part of your toolset for dealing with problems. Exercise, get the proper amount of sleep, eat healthy food, take the time to relax and release stress in healthy ways like exercise, meditation or an enjoyable hobby.

Focus on Solutions Rather then Emotions

It is important to acknowledge how you feel about a situation, but dwelling on your emotions does not solve problems. Avoid negative self-talk. You need to find positive, logical steps that you can take to solve whatever problems you are facing. While you shouldn’t just take the first action that comes to mind, don’t dwell on your problems without taking some sort of action. The sooner you start taking steps to repair the situation, the better you will feel.

Use the Resources You Have

We seldom have every resource we would like to have. While it would be nice to have an unlimited amount of time, people, money, information, and equipment, most people have to make due with something less than the ideal. In many cases though, people fail to use the resources they do have, or they don’t use them wisely. When you are faced with a major problem, take stock of your resources and think about ways you can creatively use what you have. Sometimes it is as simple as asking the right person for a favor.

Communicate Assertively

Don’t avoid problems or people. A hardy person confronts the issues they have as directly and firmly as possible. You don’t have to be a jerk, but don’t turn yourself into a victim either. Say what is on your mind. Say it constructively, but get it off your chest. In many cases, all that is needed is an honest conversation. Half of the problems people have with each other are due to poor communication and misperception.

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11/17/2008 Writing Jobs and Links

Posted by John Hewitt on under Jobs | Read the First Comment

Today’s Writing Job Roll

Today’s Job and Writing Links

To “B” or Not to “B”: It’s like a numb bomb.

FreelanceWritingGigs.com NOT FreelanceWritingGig.com: This is in part a response to my post about discontinuing Google Ads.

Random Thought of the Day

Bring it on down to Turkeyville!

Building a Sustainable Writing Career: Hardiness

Posted by John Hewitt on under Productivity, Sustainability, Writing, Writing Business | Be the First to Comment

Hardy AntWhat is Hardiness?

Hardiness is the ability to deal with stress in a healthy way rather than an unhealthy way. It is the ability to maintain a positive outlook and respond constructively when problems arise. There are always problems to be dealt with in life. How we respond to those problems is what determines both our short term and out long term success. When a hardy person encounters a problem, they tend to see the problem as a challenge rather than a disaster. They believe in their own ability to correct the problem or at least respond appropriately to the change.

Hardiness is one of the keys to a sustainable writing career. The ability to adapt positively to change can mean the difference between success and failure. There will always be problems that you have to deal with as a professional writer - economic problems, work challenges and personal issues. Over the course of a long writing career, you will have both daily frustrations and major career changing events. If you are hardy, you will be able to overcome and adapt to these problems. Hardy people usually respond to problems with what are known as the three Cs: Challenge, Commitment, and Control.

Challenge

Hardy people not only accept that life is filled with change, they look forward to change. They believe that change will educate and stimulate them. They look at change as opportunity. Because of this, they thrive in adverse or difficult situations. Hardy people will often take on difficult challenges precisely because they are difficult.

Commitment

Hardy people are rarely bored. They like the things they do and they have the determination to see whatever task they are doing through to the end. When new obstacles present themselves, they tend to increase their commitment to success rather than give in to negativity and defeatism. Whatever they are doing, they are committed to seeing it through to the end.

Control

Hardy people believe in their own ability to influence the events around them. When problems occur, they believe that they can either fix the problem or at least adapt to the problem. They have a strong sense of initiative, and look for ways to turn potentially negative situations into positive ones.

Don’t Be Intimidated

Don’t feel bad if the three Cs haven’t come naturally to you so far in life. While the three Cs may be automatic for some people, for most of us this is something we need to learn, and keep learning. I’ll be honest. I haven’t felt particularly hardy lately, which is one of the reasons I am writing about this. I wanted to remind myself of what the best ways to deal with problems are. Next time, we will look at some of the strategies for increasing your hardiness.

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11/15/2008 Writing Jobs and Links

Posted by John Hewitt on 11/15/2008 under Jobs | Read the First Comment

Today’s Writing Job Roll

Today’s Job and Writing Links

10 Tips on Querying Magazines and Websites: Read the writer’s guidelines!

The Cryptic Business of Making Money Online: Easy money is no picnic

10 Mistakes That Could Be Killing Your Blog: Flashy or annoying ads

Random Thought of the Day

Spontaneous laughter and humming… Interesting.

No More Google Ads Here

Posted by John Hewitt on under Fiction Writing, Writing, Writing Business | 20 Comments to Read

Keep OutOne of the downsides of being a writer, especially an inexperienced one, is that there are people who will try to take advantage of you. This was true long before there was an Internet, and it is doubly true now that there is an Internet. Just as the web has made it easier for people to get information and publish their work, it has also made it easier for scammers to set up shop and take your money or your work. It can be very discouraging.

I got an email today from someone who was upset with my site. He wrote:

Freelancewriters.com is a scam! They offer you a start-up for $2.98 and then they bill your credit card for a full-month’s membership.

I have filed a dispute with my bank and am going to contact the proper authorities to get them out of business.

Your web site recommended them!!!

I was upset by this, so I went to check it out. There is no site at Freelancewriters.com, so I looked at the current ads running through Google on my site. I spotted one for freelancewritinggig.com. This caught my attention because I do frequently recommend articles at freelancewritinggigs.com (note the s). That site is run by Debbie Ng, and is an excellent FREE resource for writers. I typed in the link (I don’t click on my own ads) and quickly found myself at a site that demanded my email address before I could even get beyond the first page. I know better than to enter my own email address for such a site, so I used an address from my favorite temporary email service, mailinator.com, to get through, and there it was “Get Started Today For JUST only $2.95!” Just Only? Yeah, there’s some good writing.

It didn’t take me long to figure out why the person who emailed me thought that he had gone to freelancewriters.com. The graphics on the site could easily give you that impression. In fact, the site is a mirror of another site, freelancehomewriters.com, which I also found among my ads. I don’t know what you get for your money on these sites, and I don’t want to get into a fight over their quality, but I know that I don’t want these sites advertising at PoeWar. At this point, I was starting to wonder if any other ads were for these sites, so I followed workathometop10jobs.com. Here the fun REALLY began. This site presents itself as a site that exposes work-at-home scams. In actuality, the site was there to recommend the above sites, a little more digging found yet another one, home-job-opportunities.org.

To make a long story short, I no longer trust Google’s ad service to deliver advertising for this site. I followed several other links, and in my opinion at least half the ads that run through the Google service are for companies that I would actively dissuade people from using.  That is a shame, because there are also ads for some very good services, but I am tired of fighting the battle. I get the feeling the names will keep changing and I just don’t believe that Google has enough quality control on their ads. I am eliminating Google Ad from this site. This move is going to cost me money. At this point I don’t have another advertiser lined up to take their place. Google ads provided me with over half of my site’s income, but the integrity of the site has to come first.

If any legitimate advertiser out there wants to pay $400 a month for a 300×250 Medium Rectangle ad on the top slot on my site (which gets about 1000 NEW visitors a day), let me know because as of now it is OPEN.

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I Do Prattle On…

Posted by John Hewitt on 11/13/2008 under Blogging, Writing | 6 Comments to Read

There will be no new article from me today. I hate to compete with myself. Instead I’m going to ask you to move on over to Quiet Rebel Writer and read her Greatest Hits and subscribe to her RSS Feed. You’ll be glad you did.

Building a Financially Sustainable Writing Career: Body Work

Posted by John Hewitt on 11/12/2008 under Creativity, Health, Productivity, Sustainability, Writing, Writing Business | 4 Comments to Read

Everybody Hurts

My career as a writer has not been good for my body. I weigh far more than I should because I spend most of my day sitting. I have a perpetually bad back and stiff neck from poor positioning. At the end of a long day in front of a computer my vision starts to get fuzzy and I have to increase the size of the text on my screen. For almost a year in the nineties, I could barely type due to a repetitive motion injury to my left elbow. During one particularly tense stretch at a company that shall remain nameless, I developed a tick in my right eye that nearly drove me crazy and an earache that didn’t go away until the day after I quit that job.

Writing is hard, not just mentally but physically. It isn’t professional athlete hard or standing on an assembly line hard, but there are plenty of hazards to be had. If you want to build a financially sustainable writing career, you need to take care of your body. Fixing your body is expensive and doing without it impossible, so taking care of it is your best choice. Here are some keys to building a sustainable writer’s body.

Think Locally, Act Ergonomically

Seek out chairs that are kind to both your butt and your back. Invest in a trackball or other ergonomically designed mouse. Get the largest, crispest monitor you can afford and make sure your text is clear enough to read for hours. Make sure everything is the proper height and distance. For more information read here.

Get Up Off Of That Thing

Try to get up, stretch, and walk around at least once every hour. No matter how comfortable a chair might be, it isn’t meant to hold you all day. When you maintain the same position for too long, tension starts to build in your body. Movement helps to relieve the tension.

You Can Dance If You Want To

You don’t need to be an athlete, but for the sake of a sustainable body, you need to get at least three sessions of moderate exercise in every week. There are hundreds of ways to exercise. If nothing else, go for a walk. Try to sustain some exercise for at least a half hour, three times a week.

There’s The Rub

Massages are a great way to reduce stress and keep your body healthy. I try to get an hour massage about twice a month.  It is one of the things I can look forward to that keeps me sane during the high-stress times.

Doctor Feelgood

Preventing health problems is always easier and cheaper than fixing health problems. Get that annual check up. Figure out if there are any danger signs that you need to deal with before they become major issues.

Crack That Back

On New Year’s Day, 1987, I drove my car off of Dead Man’s curve on River Road. I flipped the car and although I “walked” away, I suffered from severe back pain and decreased mobility. It took me two months to talk myself into seeing a chiropractor. By the end of the first visit I felt almost like myself again. When your back gets into trouble, a good chiropractor can help, especially if you go before it turns into a crisis.

Get a Peaceful, Easy Feeling

Stress release is the key to long term health. Stress builds up in many ways and for many reasons, from the way you sit to the pressure of a project to personal problems. Find a way to release that pressure when you need to. Learn to meditate. Find a relaxing hobby. Take a hot or cold shower. Get some sleep. Do what it takes to manage your stress before it becomes a problem.

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11/12/2008 Writing Jobs and Links

Posted by John Hewitt on under Jobs | Be the First to Comment

Today’s Writing Job Roll

Today’s Job and Writing Links

Books that sell vs. books with literary merit: Should Publisher’s care more about literary value than profits. No. Until the public cares, literature is all but dead.

Worst Idea Ever: Ridley Scott is Directing Monopoly: In case you were hoping that films would pick up the literary slack.

Random Thought of the Day

How many IQ points would you trade to make yourself 30% happier for the rest of your life?

Building a Financially Sustainable Writing Career: Marketing

Posted by John Hewitt on 11/11/2008 under Sustainability, Writing, Writing Business | 3 Comments to Read

Sustainable Writing CareerMost freelancers already know that they need to market themselves. Bloggers usually know this too, although they sometimes focus on their blog as their only marketing tool. Marketing is for all writers though, and in fact for anyone who wants to have a sustainable professional career. A fully employed technical writer or business writer might not see the need for marketing themselves, but even a “permanent” job can suddenly end, and the more well-known and respected you are, the easier it will be to find the next job.

If you are out of work, you need marketing even more. Sending out your resume in response to a job advertisement is just one way to get a job, and it is the way that ensures you have the most competition. Building a solid public reputation opens many doors and helps bring people to your door instead of you having to hunt for them. The best job search is the one that is already being done before you need the job.

Create a Portfolio

The first, most basic step that every writer should take is to create a personal portfolio. Collect samples of your best work and have them ready to send out at a moment’s notice. Be ready for print or electronic distribution. The more professional your portfolio looks the more professional and qualified you look. Don’t forget to add a business card, a well-designed resume and a professional biography.

Build a Web Site

It should come as no surprise that I recommend every writer have a web site. Even if you don’t want to be a blogger or web publisher, having a small, attractive site that has samples of your work makes you much easier to find. That is the key to marketing, making sure that when people are thinking of a writer with your skills, they can find you. The site isn’t just for prospective employers. It should be media friendly as well. Make sure it has a contact form or at least your email address so that it is easy to get in touch with you.

Be Social

One of the best ways to get your qualifications out there is to join social groups, both online and in person. Almost ever writing field has an organization that caters to it, from the Society for Technical Communication to the Public Relations Society of America to the Direct-Mail/Marketing Association. Beyond those groups, there are general groups of business people such as The Toastmasters, The Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce. Online, of course, you have services such as LinkedIn and Xing, which allow you to exchange resumes and professional contacts all over the world.

Advertise

When I needed freelance work to get me by while I was getting my Master’s Degree, I put an ad in the local newspaper. It has a professional services section and no other writer has a listing, so I put one in and I almost immediately got work. The ad paid for itself and more within two weeks. I also advertised on my web site, and generated some business that way. This was passive recruitment. I didn’t have to call a single person or send them my resume/portfolio. They came to me. It is amazing how many people are looking for your skills but just don’t know where to find them. Advertising in print publications is generally cheap. Advertising on a relevant web site can be an even bigger bargain. Sometimes you’ll want to do this even when you don’t need the work right away, just to make sure people remember you.

Pick Up the Phone

Do you know why cold calling works? It works for four reasons:

  • It is quick
  • It is direct
  • It can be done from anywhere
  • Most people don’t have the guts to do it

You can spend all day telling me why you can’t call people. Yes, it is hard to do. The only reason to do something that personal and risk individual rejection is that it works. You can get rejected a hundred times in a day. Getting rejected takes almost no time at all. The sale you make is what matters, especially when you absolutely have to put food on the table.

Get Your Name Out

There are literally hundreds of marketing strategies. I highly recommend reading a book or two on marketing so that you understand the general concepts. There are also companies (and writers) who specialize in doing this for you. The important thing about marketing, especially if you aren’t the type to cold call a company, is to be working on it while you have work so that opportunities are easier to find when you need them.

A key to sustainability is to avoid having limited resources. When it comes to a career, your resources are personal and professional contacts, advertising, marketing materials, marketing knowledge and a high profile. Having all of these instead of just a few will help you sustain a long-term marketing career.

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11/11/2008 Writing Jobs and Links

Posted by John Hewitt on under Jobs | Be the First to Comment

Today’s Writing Job Roll

Today’s Job and Writing Links

Blog Writing Series: Quit Qualifying Your Words and Just Say it Already: Yeah, I should maybe kinda work on this, or not.

Handling Feedback Elegantly and Easily: “Have a stock comment ready for negative critiques.” I understand.

Random Thought of the Day

Confidence

Building a Financially Sustainable Writing Career: The Emergency Fund

Posted by John Hewitt on 11/10/2008 under Sustainability, Writing, Writing Business | 4 Comments to Read

Make More Money than You Spend

Let’s face facts. It takes money to get started in almost anything. Whether you are a freelancer, a contractor or a full-time employee, it takes money to make money. Freelancers must maintain their own offices, equipment, and communications. They must also market, heavily. Contract workers have to maintain a fairly constant job search, sometimes pay for relocation, and have enough money to cover periods of unemployment. Full-time employees have fewer expenses, but they often make less money. It can be easy to get lured into thinking that your steady income makes up for the fact that your debt keeps increasing. It does not. No matter what your income situation is, the first priority should be to either increase your revenue or decrease your expenses until your income exceeds your expenses. A ten percent cushion is a good start. Twenty percent is better.

Start an Emergency Fund

The main reason you need your income to exceed your expenses is because you need to have money set aside for emergencies, and there WILL be emergencies. Freelancers and contractors tend to learn this lesson much faster than regular employees, but the rule applies to all. Emergencies happen. You may find yourself facing medical problems, legal trouble, or income issues. If you don’t have money set aside, your only option will be debt, and that is never a comfortable option. Set income aside. People like to give figures such as six month’s pay, but few people get to start out with a fund that is so solid. Pick a percentage of your cushion, perhaps half of it, and put it in the fund. It will grow with time.

Get Protection

One of the key ways to prepare for emergencies is insurance. Insurance is basically an emergency fund. You pay money in, with the hope that you will not need to use it, but knowing it is there if you need it. Medical insurance is clearly the most important. Medical emergencies can be among the most costly. Prepaid legal aid is another good idea. Paying a small monthly fee will give you access to an array of free or cheap legal advice and basic contract assistance. Other insurance areas to consider are dental, vision, short-term disability, long-term disability and credit-card protection. I list credit card protection last because the best protection is not to run up credit card debt in the first place.

Know the Difference Between a Problem and an Emergency

An emergency fund is for emergencies. It isn’t there to deal with minor issues. It is money for times when there is no other choice to be had. You don’t use your emergency fund to replace a working computer (or one that you can live without), look for a new job when your old job isn’t in danger, or take a vacation because you “really need one”. The emergency fund is your fund of last resort. It is not only there to fix serious problems, it is there to give you confidence in your everyday life. Knowing the money is there allows you to feel less fearful of the future. When the fund is strong, you can feel more confident in taking the occasional career risk and setting off on a new course. Every time you use that fund, especially for something that could have been covered otherwise, it reduces your options and makes it harder for you to adapt to future changes. The best emergency fund is one you never have to use.

11/10/2008 Writing Jobs and Links

Posted by John Hewitt on under Jobs | Be the First to Comment

Today’s Writing Job Roll

Today’s Job and Writing Links

Is Blogging Dead? I think the realization to be had is that a blog is a tool. it isn’t content. It isn’t a lifestyle. It isn’t a business model. It is just a tool that you can use for almost any sort of small-scale web development.

The Men with Pens Sticky Business Contest: Men With Pens is giving away a bunch of stuff. They also have a new look to their site. Check it out.

Author-it Launches a Blog — An Interview About the Who, Why, and How: Author-it is the content management tool of the year for technical writers. Get to know it.

Random Thought of the Day

Simplification is complicated.

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11/08/2008 Writing Jobs and Links

Posted by John Hewitt on 11/8/2008 under Jobs | Be the First to Comment

Today’s Writing Job Roll

Today’s Job and Writing Links

How Much Does It Cost to Publish a Book? Some good details about the costs associated with self publishing.

An Open Letter to the Republican Party: I try not to get too political here, but if you are interested in my response to the election, you can read it at Just Us Nerds.

Random Thought of the Day

If you do not understand what you are investing in, do not invest in it.

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Is your Writing Career Financially Sustainable?

Posted by John Hewitt on 11/7/2008 under Freelancing, Productivity, Sustainability, Writing Business | 4 Comments to Read

The measure of moneyWhether you are a freelance copywriter, a contract technical writer or a full-time reporter, you should be considering the financial sustainability of your career. There are many types of writing careers, and there are issues to be faced in every one of them. Even the safest sounding of careers can have sustainability issues. Much of it depends on you, and the way you approach your career.

How long do you need your career to be sustainable?

When considering the sustainability of your career there are some questions you need to ask. The first question is how long do I want this career to last? Most people don’t intend to stay in the same job, or even the same career for their entire life. You might want to be a freelance writer today, but you may not want it ten years from now. When considering sustainability, it is good to have a finite period of time in mind. If you don’t have a specific idea of how long you want your career to last, then a good time period to use is twenty years. Feel free to pick your own value though. If you do have an idea of what you want to transition to next, and when, part of your consideration should be about how you are going to position yourself for that next change.

How much money is enough money?

Money will always be a primary issue. You not only need to consider your income, but you need to consider your spending as well. You also need to ask how much damage a major crisis would have on your income.

For almost three years, I managed to live strictly off money I made from my web sites and money I made freelancing. I never had enough money to put much of anything aside. I just managed to meet my obligations and no more. There was more than one point at which I thought I wasn’t going to meet my obligations, but somehow money always came through. That doesn’t mean that the career choice itself was unsustainable. I was very careful with the money I did have coming in, and that helped. I spent money only on essentials, and made do without almost anything else.

Now, I work full time in addition to blogging part time. I make a considerable amount of money, so income isn’t a sustainability issue. That doesn’t mean that finances are no longer an issue. When I hade very little money coming in, I spent very little and I did my best to avoid debt because I knew how difficult it would be to pay back debt with so little money coming in. Unfortunately, the lessons I learned as a frugal freelancer did not carry over when I moved to a full time income. I have acquired debts and spent money on items I never would have considered when I had less income. Financially, there are still sustainability issues in my life.

Can you weather a crisis financially?

One of the key improvements that a full time job has provided, is insurance. As a web publisher and freelancer, I lived without it. If I had gone through even a minor medical emergency, it would have crushed me financially. Now, I have a job with paid time off and good health insurance as well as short and long term disability insurance. I can handle a minor or even a substantial health emergency.

Can you save for your future?

Another advantage of my current situation is that I now have retirement savings. I have access to a 401k, a pension program and even a profit-sharing program. Saving for the short term has been a problem for me, but saving for the long-term has been somewhat better because of all of these programs. There are similar steps that freelancers can take, but it is more difficult.

It isn’t about career choice, it is about career development

It may sound as if I am knocking my career as a freelancer. I am not. Being a freelancer was not the central problem that I had. The central issue was one of income. I did not take the steps that would have added to my income and helped me save for emergencies or get insurance. Had I run my career more wisely then, I may never have needed to move to a “more secure” job.

Next time I’ll look into some of the ways that you can make your career more financially sustainable.

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11/06/2008 Writing Jobs and Links

Posted by John Hewitt on 11/6/2008 under Jobs | 4 Comments to Read

Today’s Writing Job Roll

    Today’s Job and Writing Links

    Something weird has happened over at freelancewritinggigs.com. The one blog has morphed into six blogs. None of these apparently has the same RSS, because I’m not getting any new articles anymore. In the long run, perhaps this subdivision is a good move for the site, but it is sort of annoying in the short term. Here are links to the individual blogs. I hope they decide to combine the feeds at some point so I don’t have to look at all of these sepearately.

      Random Thought of the Day

      Growing up it all seems so one-sided
      Opinions all provided
      The future pre-decided
      Detached and subdivided
      In the mass production zone

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      Writing and Sustainability

      Posted by John Hewitt on 11/5/2008 under Sustainability, Writing, Writing Business | 3 Comments to Read

      windmillI’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to sustainability. Sustainability is most often associated with environmentalism and over consumption. Fossil fuel, for example, is a finite resource and therefore unsustainable. There is only so much oil and coal to be had. Whether there is enough to last the world twenty more years or three hundred more years, at some point the resource will run out. An energy policy based on the primary consumption of fossil fuel is unsustainable.

      It isn’t just the Environment

      This is not an article about environmentalism. While that is one of the most common arenas in which sustainability is discussed, sustainability can be applied to any situation in which a resource (fuel, money, time, food, etc.) must be relied upon. When you consume more than you add, you reduce the number of resources that you have. This is true for a society, a family or even an individual. If I make $70,000 a year, but I spend $75,000 a year, I am maintaining an unsustainable lifestyle. At some point, unless a change is made, I will either run out of reserves. I will spend any money I have saved and I will use up any money that people are willing to loan. If I do not change on my own, change will be forced upon me. The situation will grow worse and worse until it either fixed or disaster strikes.

      Some Things Cannot Last

      Life itself, at least on an individual basis, is unsustainable. Your body is a finite resource. Each day on earth, you use a little bit of it up. Even a healthy lifestyle is unsustainable. A well-cared for body still comes with an expiration date. If you’re lucky, you have a hundred years. Most of us have somewhat less. Sometimes, when we think about sustainability, we have to be realistic. Just because a resource, such as your body, is finite, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use it. It just means that you have to use it wisely and well, with the knowledge that it won’t be around forever.

      Writers and Resources

      When you are dealing with a finite or variable resource, you need to plan for that. This is especially important for writers. A writer frequently has to deal with limited resources. Money, of course, is the ultimate limited resource. When you are out of money, it is hard to do much of anything. Time is a limited resource, especially when you have lots of work or a deadline to face. Interest and enthusiasm are variable resources. You can only do work you don’t enjoy for so long before it starts to take a toll.

      Be Smart

      Sustainability is all about smart planning and having the strength to limit your use of things that either need to be replenished or cannot be replenished. In the coming days I plan to discuss some of the steps writers can take to build a sustainable career. For now, think about all of the things that go into keeping your career afloat, and which of those resources are sustainable and which are not.

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      11/05/2008 Writing Jobs and Links

      Posted by John Hewitt on under Jobs | Be the First to Comment

      Today’s Writing Job Roll

      Today’s Job and Writing Links

      • How Aspiring Writers can be Achievers: Do you remember the coffee achievers ads in the late eighties? Linda Ellersbee was a coffee achiever, so were the ladies from the rock band Heart. This article has very little to do with that, but it is good for thinking about how to get your name out there and pull in some business.
      • Guest Post: Tech Writing Careers — The Raw, Unvarnished Truth: If you are thinking of becoming a technical writer, read this. If you still have the stomach for it after you get done, then you just might be able to make it.
      • Affiliate Commissions: Don’t Get Screwed: Once again, a you’ve been warned article. If you still think you might want to use affiliate programs after you read this, then you just might make it.

      Random Thought of the Day

      How seriously is too seriously?

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