Write Now Editing

Holiday Madness: How to Keep Your Cool and Keep Working

by Leave a Comment

christmasIf your life’s anything like mine, the holidays are a wonderful time spent with family and friends, over several nights spread out over several weeks that encroach upon your normal work/family balance. If you’re a freelance worker (like me), it can be even worse – so many people don’t understand what that means. They just know that you don’t have set hours or a “real” office, so you’re probably available all-day, every-day to help out.

Regardless of your employment status, finding balance during the holidays can be tough. Before you start to freak out, consider a few of these sanity-saving tips:

  1. Mark your calendars. Find out when all of your events are, and put them on your calendars (all of them). Note the busiest times so you can mentally prepare yourself for the chaos.
  2. Prep ahead. Don’t wait until the day before to wrap presents, buy groceries, or cook your side dishes. Find an open day in your calendar to do all of the prep work – not only can you chop veggies and meat ahead of time, you can actually make and freeze a lot of dishes, so you won’t have to rush on the morning of.
  3. Freelancers – plan to work. If you regularly keep working hours, then stick to them. If you work whenever you can, it’ll be easy to lose your work time to cooking, cleaning, and shopping. Instead, schedule some work hours on your calendar so you know exactly when you are and aren’t available.
  4. Say no. If you can normally take on three new clients a month, consider only taking one or two. If you can’t survive without one free day a week, don’t schedule events on every day. It’s okay to say no.
  5. Get help. Don’t be afraid to ask friends, family, and colleagues for help. It can be as simple as a friend helping you clean your house, or as in-depth as asking a coworker to take over an account.
  6. Extend grace. You’re not the only busy person during the holidays. If others can’t help or show up late, remember that they’re probably as busy as you are. You can’t control the situation, but you can control your reaction – why not choose grace instead of anger?

Your schedule might be tight, but if you prepare yourself – mentally and physically – you can have a productive season without losing your marbles.

Have a safe and blessed Christmas!

Make Room for Giving

by Leave a Comment

pie-1460853_1280Thanksgiving – a time to reflect on everything we’re thankful for, but what about the second half of that word. What about the giving?

When you’re running your own business – especially when you’re just starting – you need to track every cent and minute spent. It’s likely you don’t have the time or money budgeted to give things away, but I’d like to suggest that you can’t afford not to.

Some people call it karma, but my spiritual beliefs call it reaping and sowing. 2 Corinthians 9:6 says, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” (NIV)

Regardless of your profession, there are always opportunities to give – you can donate goods or services, your expertise, or your time. You can give to large, national organizations or small, local projects. The recipient doesn’t matter, but there is one important thing to consider.

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

It’s not about how much you have to give, it’s about the condition of your heart when you give. Forcing someone to give isn’t giving – it’s compulsion (and we’re not celebrating Thankscompulsion).

If you want to give but you’re not at a place yet where you feel like you can, then don’t, and don’t feel guilty because of it. Just keep your eyes open for those opportunities to give back in a way that means something to you. I love the arts, so I bought a $20 ad for the program of our local middle school musical. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was a cause I cared about, and it allowed me to participate in my community in a small way.

Maybe you can donate $10-20 to help a student attend a seminar. If you can’t afford that, you could spend 30-60 minutes cleaning up after a fundraiser. Don’t worry about how much or how often you give, just give what you can.

Be thankful for what you have. Sow. Reap. Bless each other.

Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

Top Five Tips for Being a Better Guest Blogger

by Leave a Comment

time-273857_1920Are you looking to spread the word about your business or products? Are you trying to reach more people? A great way to get your name out there is to volunteer to write guest posts for other people’s blogs – you can share your expertise with someone else’s audience.

If you’re going to write a guest post, however, you need to be professional about it. Here are my top five tips for being a better guest blogger.

  1. Follow the guidelines. If a blogger with 10,000 followers lets you write a post, then you need to write the same type of post the readers expect. If they only write top-ten lists, then write a top ten list. Also, use proper formatting and, for the sake of everyone involved, stay within the word limit!
  2. Stay on topic. If you’re a guest at someone else’s house, you don’t go in and rearrange the furniture to fit your style. The same is true of guest blogging. You’re not writing on whatever topic you want to discuss. The content of your post needs to fit within the main topic of the blog. Make sure it does.
  3. Put it on your calendar. If you volunteer to provide a guest post, then it’s your responsibility to know when to submit it to the blog owner. Don’t make them chase you down and beg for the post – write it and submit it on time (early is better!).
  4. Communicate. If the blog host contacts you, respond. Make sure he or she knows that you’re getting the emails and are still available.
  5. Edit. Never submit your first draft. Ever. I’m a writer and editor by trade, and even I never send a first draft. I proofread everything. If you’re not a professional writer, then you definitely need to edit, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have someone else read it for you as well.

If you can do these five things regularly, you can become an in-demand guest blogger. And the more in-demand you become, the bigger the audience you can reach.

Happy blogging!

Editor Interview: Rachel Newman

by Leave a Comment

rachel-newman_1000x1777Do you dream of indexing? I don’t think I know many people who do, but there are editors out there who love it, and one of those editors is Rachel Newman. She entered the editing world through the legal field and knows the frustration of running a home business going while tending to a newborn. Here’s Rachel Newman.

When did you start writing/editing professionally?

When I graduated from college in 2006, I entered the legal field as a support staff member for a local district attorney. Editing legal documents was an integral part of the job. I founded Revisions by Rachel, LLC in June 2015.

Why did you want to be a freelance writer/editor?

For many years, I’ve dreamed of owning my own business. At the point my husband and I bought our first house together, my heart was very much to be working from home. I prayed earnestly that God would show me His plan for my career. He spoke to me in the middle of a chiropractic adjustment, of all things, and told me I was going to be a freelance editor. From that moment, I knew it was my destiny and immediately began pursuing training to become the best I could be.

What’s your specialty/focus? Why/how did you pick this?

I focus on editing young adult speculative fiction, memoir, and children’s books, and I index nonfiction books. These genres are the genres I enjoy reading and have the most experience reading. It’s important to be familiar with the types of books you edit, and so these were the natural choice for me. I chose indexing because I use book indexes extensively in my own personal research. I value a well-written index and I suffer frustration when I encounter a poorly-written one.

What’s your favorite part of this kind of work?

Helping authors produce high-quality works of creativity. There’s nothing like the feeling I get when I see one of my authors who feels like he or she has accomplished a great feat. Knowing I helped them reach that point is very rewarding.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome during your career?

The biggest challenge I’ve encountered so far is trying to run a home business with a newborn. There’s been many times I wanted to give up, but somehow I’ve come through and made it work.

What’s surprised you the most during your career?

The number of authors who have no clue how time-intensive quality editing is.

If you could give a new freelance writer/editor one piece of advice, what would it be?

Stay true to the giftings and callings God has put on your heart.

If you could do one thing differently in your career, what would it be?

I honestly can’t think of a thing I would change. Looking back, I can see how God has used everything to bring me to this point. There are some difficult things that had I known they were coming, I would have chosen not to go through them. But now that I’m on this side of them, I wouldn’t go back and change them. If I did, I’d end up in some bizarro alternate reality like the one the Flash is dealing with on the current TV series.

What’s your favorite kind of work? Why?

This is a tough one, because there are so many things I enjoy about the different aspects of my job. But if I had to nail it down, at the moment I would say indexing. It’s extremely satisfying to develop a reference that is neat, orderly, and functional. It’s like creating a treasure map for each book. Just so much fun!

What does your work space/office look like?rachel-newman

My home has an open concept floor plan, so the kitchen, dining space, and living room is all one big room. My workspace is located in a corner of that. I’ve got a corner desk, a small bookshelf, and a printer. I put my shiatsu back massager on one of the kitchen chairs, and I use that as my office chair.

What is your go-to snack when working?

Organic Granny Smith apple slices smothered in all natural peanut butter and topped with stevia-sweetened chocolate chips.

Excluding the CMOS (that’s a given) what one editing resource would you recommend? Why?

I’m guessing CWMS is also a given? So other than those two, it really depends on what kind of job I’m editing. If it’s fiction, I recommend Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Browne & King and The Creative Writer’s Style Guide, by Leland. If it’s children’s books, I recommend Children’s Writer’s Word Book, by Mogilner, Writing Picture Books, by Whitford Paul, and The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children, by Lamb. If I’m indexing, I recommend Indexing Books, by Mulvany. Sorry, that’s way more than you asked for. . . .

If you could only recommend one writing resource, what would it be? Why?

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Browne & King

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Whatever you’ve set your hand to do, it’s worth doing with excellence. So take the time to make sure it’s the best it can possibly be.

Thank you so much for appearing on my blog! Have a blessed day!

Are You Setting Goals or Simply Dreaming? By Karin Beery

by Leave a Comment

Why set goals? Because you can either control your own destiny or hand it over to circumstance. (James Scott Bell, The Mental Game of Writing)

goalsIn case you missed it earlier this month, I’m reading another book by James Scott Bell. Though most of his books are about writing for writers, The Mental Game of Writing is inspiring my freelance work as much as it’s inspiring my writing. Last week I talked about the mental game of self-employment. This week I’d like to talk about goal setting.

Goals are necessary because they establish absolutes. You can say that you want to be a successful web designer, but how do you make that happen? First you have to know what you mean when you say success (see last week’s post). Then you have to figure out how you’re going to achieve that. Those are your goals.

You can successful set real, applicable goals in two simple steps:

  1. Set Your Goals
  2. Make a Plan

Set Your Goals

Be specific. Coming up with a mental list of things that might work is a good start, but don’t stop there. You need to create an actual list of goals that you can refine and review.

Make sure your goals are also something you can achieve. “Win a prestigious award” isn’t a realistic goal, because you have no control over the nominating or judging process. “Enter a contest” is a great goal – you have the ability to figure out the guidelines and meet the deadline.

Make a Plan

Goals without a plan are just dreams. You need to know how you’re going to achieve your goals. Using the previous example of entering a contest – plan out your steps. For example, if I entered a writing contest, my plan might look like this:

  • Finish rough draft by November 1
  • Finish edit by November 15
  • Have it critiqued by December 1
  • Finish re-write by December 21
  • Proofread on or before December 31
  • Submit to contest on or before January 5

Plans or Dreams?

Don’t leave your business success up to chance. Set your goals. Make plans. Succeed.

ABOUT ME

Editor. Teacher. Novelist.
A passionate lover of fiction, Karin doesn't just write novels, she helps others write their best stories! A certified substantive editor with the Christian Editor Connection, her goal is to help authors to put her out of business by equipping them with the tools they need to become better writers.

Connect

Copywriting

Karin understood my advertising and marketing writing needs and accomplished the project in record time. She asked all the right questions up front to equip herself with enough … [more]

Editing

Substantive Fiction Editing: A substantive edit looks at the big picture. Start here to tackle the big issues before moving on to the nit-picky details. Substantive edits not only point out … [more]

Author Page

Lover of all things fiction, I also love University of Michigan football, the Detroit Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings, kayaking, gluten-free cupcakes, and my husband.

Resources

Press Release Tool Kit Stop waiting and hoping for people to notice you and your organization! With this Press Release Tool Kit, you’ll learn to apply the step-by-step process I use to … [more]