Writing Advice

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Recently, I received some tweets and messages from folks asking for writing tips. Many are starting out and wanted to gain some insight. I was happy to oblige and thought I would share some tips with you here.

First things first, I don’t simply “blog” as others do. I have been writing since I was a child and always knew it was the career I wanted to pursue. I worked on my high school newspaper and wrote for the local county newspaper as a senior in high school. After graduating, I was unsure where to go with my passion. I started college and found a site hiring freelancers. I did not think I would get accepted, but I did and I did relatively well starting off for my first gig. I recently graduated college and have been fortunate enough to pick up a few other writing gigs along the way :)

Yes, I do write a lot of ‘Teen Mom’ related news and, to be honest, that happened on accident. I landed a job writing celebrity gossip and had the freedom to choose my topics. I have always been a pop culture fanatic and wrote a few about the hit MTV show here and there. Soon, I realized that so many people were slamming these girls for whatever reason, without ever knowing them. Having worked on sets, I know that a lot goes on with editing that you do not see and it bothered me that so many believed the few minutes that they saw on television was what 100% true. So, I decided to go against the grain and adopted a ‘Stay Positive’ attitude in regards to the series and it has paid off. I may not have the largest Twitter following, but honestly, it isn’t about the numbers. Sure, you may have 20,000+ followers or even 100,000+ followers, but are they reading your work? Are they interacting with you? Most importantly, are YOU interacting with THEM?

I have been fortunate enough to make some amazing friends online and some wonderful enemies (I know you read this :) Hello!)

So, I am going to give those of you who have asked some advice to start writing in bullet list form (because I get bored reading long, drawn out paragraphs, too)

  • Decide WHY you want to write. Do you have a hobby, just want to blog, or is it going to be a career (in which case, I recommend the book How To Start An Internet Business by Malene Jorgensen. It has helped me out so much.)
  • Don’t give up! When I started out, I was lucky if I got 40,000 a month. Now, there are times I can bring that in a day if I am lucky. It is all about being committed and not getting too down when it seems like things aren’t going anywhere.
  • STAY POSITIVE. People can be downright hateful on social networking sites and try to make you feel worthless. When a person feels threatened by you, they will set out to destroy you. Don’t let them. If they are THAT insecure to try to bring you, a stranger who by no means is significant in their life, then they have the issue, not you. Try your best to ignore it and to do what you are doing – writing!
  • People make mistakes. You will misspell a word once in a while or use improper grammar. Others will slam you and try and make you feel uneducated. Mistakes Happen. If someone points one out, don’t take offense to it. Simply fix the error so that your writing shines.

These are just a few tips. I by no means a professional in giving advice (hence why I suggested the book), but these are a few little things I have learned along the way of writing. I hope it helps you out :)

Comments Closed

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Sorry for the lack of updates; Also, I apologize but I have had to disable comments for now. I was being harassed on Facebook and once I reported and blocked the user, they moved on to harassing me here. I think that is means for a restraining order.

Grateful <3

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Today has been a great day writing wise. It means a lot to me when people tell me they like my work. I don’t do my job for the money, I do it because writing is my passion. It is a great feeling when your work gets noticed by the person that it is about. For instance, I had Tyler Baltierra, Chelsea Houska, and Momma Dawn Spears all retweet one of my articles today. It is an amazing feeling to know that they approved of the work enough to share it with their fans. For that, I am truly grateful.

On top of that, I have been working with a fellow writer who I have tremendous respect for on a new project. Things are looking good and I will soon be devoting more of my writing time to that project. I am so excited!

Also, one of my good friends from high school (side note: I talked to a total of three girls in high school. These were the only three who were not excited over a new flavor of lip gloss every week and who did not fit the character description for one of the Mean Girls) is helping me to start my novel. I worked on the outline and have several scenes in my head. I really appreciate her taking the time to help me because I know that she is busy, but her encouragement truly helps.

One other thing that I have learned is that there is a lot of drama in the writing field. I learned this a few months ago when I was having issues with a fellow writer. It truly is a “dog-eat-dog” world and I really dislike that. Since I started writing professionally, I have made some awesome friends and some formidable foes. Unfortunately, that is something that you will experience in any field that you go into and I never realized that I would have to deal with from behind a computer screen. Honestly though, I love my job and wouldn’t change it for the world.

On a final note, it appears I am updating my blog daily.

2 AM and I Am Not Happy

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I don’t write on her often because, well, I don’t have time. I freelance write for three sites (and an up and coming fourth one), but most importantly, I am a mother to my son. Being a work from home mom may sound glamorous, but it is just as hard as going to a regular 9-5. If you don’t believe me, try it. I wouldn’t trade it for the world though because my son is my world and writing is my passion.

Now, about writing. I understand that with all of the online technology, nearly anyone can start a blog. I think that this is beyond great because it gives people a way to connect and express themselves. Not everyone is a writer by profession, but rather do it because it is a fun hobby. I encourage anyone who loves words to write and I love reading my fellow writers work. However, one thing that really irks me is complete copy and paste.

I have an Associate Degree and am working on my Bachelors. No, that absolutely DOES NOT make me better than you by any means. However, it does show that writing is more than just a hobby to me. It is my career and what I love. I take it incredibly seriously.

I couldn’t sleep Monday night/Tuesday morning (I have a lot on my mind and a lot going on at the moment.) Even though I knew I would regret it in the morning, I turned my computer back on at 2 am to write one more article. See, I was in bed, scrolling through Twitter and saw something that piqued my interest. One of the girls from 16 & Pregnant had given birth to her daughter. I decided to write about it quickly and back off to bed! During the course of my writing, I realized that I was unsure of a couple of the facts, specifically the dates as to when Ebony lost custody of her first child. Anyway, I googled “Ebony Jackson-Rendon” and came across an Examiner article. I clicked on it because I write for the Examiner and don’t mind citing my fellow writers as a source. However, when I read through the article, I was kind of in shock.

The first part was okay, but when I got to the end, it sounded like an article that I had read earlier in the day. I went back to check, making sure that the early morning hours weren’t playing tricks on my mind, but I was write. Someone had legitimately copy and pasted two whole paragraphs from another site. At first, I didn’t want to believe it. Why would anyone do that? It’s disrespectful for one. Taking word for word, someone’s hard work?!

When it comes to celebrity news, you are always going to come across a lot of similar articles. However, even though, say ten writers, write about the same topic, they always tend to put THEIR OWN THOUGHT INTO IT. The idea may be the same: “Teen Mom” goes on a date or “are they back together.” The idea is obviously the same, but you need to add in your own commentary.

I try my hardest to always do this. I am not perfect and have had errors pointed out to me in the past. If I write something that isn’t true, is spelled wrong, anything, please tell me. I do not get offended, I fix it. I know that, if I want to grow in my craft, I need to listen to feedback and learn from it.  I always cite my sources, even if they are from Twitter.

Anyway, this has gone on way longer than I wanted it to, but I needed to get this out of my system. Maybe I can sleep now lol

Zebra Print

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If you haven’t noticed, I have changed the background and a few other things on this site. I get bored if things are the same way for too long. I don’t know, I always have, especially with furniture. I have the urge to rearrange things every other month, if not sooner. I suppose the same goes for graphics. I am pretty much done with zebra print.   So, making the necessary changes with that print and I literally had it everywhere… sigh.

 

Let Go

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It’s like your life flashing before your eyes.

You’re not dead, nor are you dying.

Your mind, floating away.

You see the past. The hurt and pain caused by your words.

You see the future, bright and shining. What could be, if you could just let go.