A Freelance Writer's Blog

Helium's Unsavory Attitude - Has Helium Turned Scam?

2009-03-10T03:25:00.000-07:00

I joined Helium several months back; it could be more than a year, but I am not sure. I was too busy with on-demand writing to bother with revenue-sharing sites. However, I recently wrote an article on Helium, which got sold for $5. The sale excited me, and I decided to spend more time on Helium.

Recently, I tried logging in, but got the following funny message.

"Readers from all over the world are welcome to enjoy Helium's articles. However, we regret we are not currently set up to provide an optimal experience for writers in every country. We are hoping to offer different versions of helium that will attract and best suit all writers sometime in future."

As far as I know, Helium has never been a US-only site. It has accepted tons of articles from foreign writers, and it has generated revenue from all those articles. And now, Helium has successfully blocked a majority of those foriegn writers. Please note the following points:

Helium did not show the basic courtesy of informing these writers that they would be denied access.
Helium has nothing to say about the money these writers have earned.
Helium will probably generate revenue from the content created by these writers, and the writers won't get their share.

Now, I don't care if Helium wants to cater to the requirements UK/US/Canadian/Australian writers only. What bothers me is the rudeness and insensitivity of Helium. Naturally, I wanted to know if a bug in the system was denying me access to my Helium account and wrote the following email to Helium.

Hello,

I have been trying to log into helium since yesterday without success. I keep getting the following message.

"Readers from all over the world are welcome to enjoy Helium's articles. However, we regret we are not currently set up to provide an optimal experience for writers in every country. We are hoping to offer different versions of helium that will attract and best suit all writers sometime in future."

Now, why am I getting that message? Why am I not able to log in? Is this a bug? My handle is "positiveminded1977"

Hope you help me out with this issue at the earliest possible.

Thanks and warm regards
Sonia

Helium sent the following response to my mail:

Greetings Sonia DCosta,

Thanks for your ongoing interest in the Helium site. Unfortunately, Helium.com is not set up to provide an optimal experience for writers from every country. At present, our audience is predominantly US-focused. To prevent frustrations from all writers and to limit staff time spent trying to accommodate, we are not accepting submissions from some locations at this time. Readers from around the world are welcome to enjoy Helium’s articles. In the future, we are hoping to offer different versions of Helium that will attract and best suit all writers. We are currently evaluating the impact this has on a few existing members, and we will settle with them on an individual basis in the coming weeks. Regarding any upcoming sites I have no specific information on that at this time.

All the best,
Jim Logan
Helium Help | Technical Support
W: 978.474.5074 x 230
help@helium.com
Helium. Where Knowledge Rules.
www.helium.com

I am sorry, but this makes no sense to me! When I joined Helium, it was not US-focused.

"Readers from around the world are welcome to enjoy Helium’s articles."

Now, why should they when Helium treats writers from other countries like dirt?

"In the future, we are hoping to offer different versions of Helium that will attract and best suit all writers."

Now, that's great! But, why on earth didn't Helium send us an email telling us about it before blocking our accounts?

"We are currently evaluating the impact this has on a few existing members..."

Hey, I still exist, and you can see the impact it has on me!!

"Regarding any upcoming sites I have no specific information on that at this time."

You see that? Jim Logan has no specific information!!

I smell rats all round, and I tell you, this stinks!!

This is SCAM!!

What about those $5, Helium? I am still waiting for a response to my email about those $5. Once I get it, I will update this post!

Dangers of SEO Writing

2009-03-06T02:50:00.000-08:00

When I started writing for the Internet, clients were taken aback with my academic style of writing. They frantically requested me to use a "chatty, informal" tone. I was to write as if I were talking to my reader. In other words, I was to use the second person narrative.

I used the second person so much that I almost forgot the existence of the omniscient third person. I literally stopped being the all-seeing, all-knowing writer I once was, that magical creature who could see into the past, present, and future of her characters.

Recently, a new client reminded me of the third person. Having forgotten the third person, I sat dazed and confused for a long time. Fortunately, it slowly came back to me. Simultaneously, it alerted me to the dangers of SEO writing for creative writers.

In the course of my career, I have written hundreds of SEO articles. This is what I have to say about SEO writing.

SEO writing is interesting, but it is far from creative.
To write an SEO article, one has to conduct some basic research and stuff some keywords into the article. Simultaneously, the writer has to see that the article is a good chunk of valid information. A writer who does this day in and day out gradually transforms into a "writing machine." In other words, writing becomes mechanical.
An SEO writer can earn his/her living; but he/she cannot get as rich as J.K. Rowling.
Writing ceases to be a creative, exhilarating, energizing, and spiritually rewarding activity for the SEO writer.

Any writer who has fallen into the rut of SEO writing must get out of it asap!! Instead of writing more SEO articles, write a horror story, a poem, a drama, or a romantic novel. At least, write an eBook!

Writing or Rewriting?

2009-03-05T02:10:00.000-08:00

The various ways in which Internet marketers attempt to underpay writers amaze me. Now, I would like at least $2 for rewriting an article. Most Internet marketers offer only $1 or even lesser! In the course of my career, I met only one Internet marketer who was ready to offer $4 for a good rewrite, but since this writer had posted his/her project description on a popular bidding site, one of the writers had kindly reminded him/her that "rewrites are easy" and that the service buyer "need not pay so much for them." Of course, I will rant about the way writers don't mind selling their wares for $0 in another article. Right now, I want to talk about rewrites.

I came upon an advertisement for an article rewriter on craigslist. I responded, and the service buyer told me that he will "hire me only if I agree to $1 per 400-word article." I agreed and got my first assignment. I was asked to go the following site and "rewrite" the matter there in around 500 words and I would be paid $1.5 for it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myositis

Now, if you visit above site, you will notice that there is hardly any matter there that can be "rewritten" into a 500-word article. In short, there is nothing to "rewrite." Instead, there are a number of links. This means that this is not a rewrite worth $1.5, but a research medical article worth at least $10.

Needless to say, the service buyer never heard from me again. I really wish service buyers paid their writers for work done, and I know this will never happen as long as there are writers out there who are willing to write a 500-word article for 50 cents.

2 Important Reasons Writers Must Join Social Networking Sites

2008-12-18T07:13:00.001-08:00

When the word “writer” is uttered, the image that usually flashes to one’s mind is that of an individual writing busily in silence and solitude. Creative juices do flow freely in a state of solitude. However, a writer simply cannot afford to be alone. Your life as a writer is fulfilled only when someone reads your stuff and applauds it. This is where social networking sites come into the picture.

1. Promote Yourself

As a writer, you need to be read. You must, therefore, promote your articles, eBooks, books, publications, and so on. For this, you need to have a large list of contacts who are genuinely interested in your niche. The best place to meet these people is on a social networking site.

When you join a niche-specific social networking site, you can meet people who want to know more about your niche, establish yourself as an expert in your niche, and make friends who might later turn into subscribers, faithful readers, or loyal customers. You can not only grow your readership base, but also expand your business.

2. Share Experiences

How long should I take to write a quality article?

How much can I charge for my work?

How can I find out if the company I have applied to is legitimate?

How can I avoid getting cheated?

Where are all those highly paid jobs?

How can I earn more as a writer?

How can I improve my writing skills?

If you want answers to all these questions and more, you ought to know a lot of freelance writers like yourself. How do you meet other writers? Join social networking sites for writers, participate in writer forums, make friends with freelance writers from all over the globe, and share your freelance writing experiences with them. You will learn so many things that you ought to know before you embark on your career.

A writer may work alone, but he or she doesn’t have to grapple with his/her freelance writing problems alone. If you have established yourself as part of a group of freelance writers, you will find plenty of solutions and answers to all the questions that you have.

Recently, I joined MySpace. You can check out my profile here. Feel free to add me as your friend. While browsing the Internet for writer specific social networking sites, I stumbled into this great site. It gives a comprehensive list of social networking sites for writers. Check it out and have fun! I have already bookmarked it.

Article Writing Speed - Debunking A Common Myth

2008-12-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

I must have hooked up with the wrong type of clients right at the beginning of my career. *BIG SIGH*

One of my very first clients asked me how many 500-word articles I could crank out per day. After hesitating for a long time, I said, "Uh...around three!"

She seemed astonished, "Only three! But we need writers who can crank out around ten articles per day."

I nearly fainted. Ten articles per day! I felt that was impossible; yet, other writers seemed to be able to do it. So, I jumped to the conclusion that I must be a rotten writer.

Right then, I must have done a lot of research on how long a freelancer takes to write one quality article. But I didn't. I believed that, in order to be a successful freelance writer, I should be able to churn out excellent 500-word articles at breakneck speed. It was only recently that I typed the million-dollar question "How long does it take to write one article?" in the Google search box and hit enter. I waited for the results with bated breath. Of the results I got, the following interested me the most.

Allena's Freelance Writing Blog

Now, there are different types of articles. Content is used for a variety of reasons. If you want content to drive traffic to your website, or in other words, if you are interested in article marketing, you can crank out around ten or more articles within an hour by saying the same thing in ten or more different ways or by using a speech recognition software.

If you are writing SEO articles for a client who wants fresh, original content for his/her website, you need to put in more time and effort. I certainly don't think you will be able to create a really good article in less than an hour. My own speed, at present, is about an hour for a good 500-word SEO article. Even then, I might need more time for research if the topic is new to me. On the other hand, if it is a topic I am familiar with, I might be able to craft a 500-word article in just half an hour or twenty minutes.

You need more time if you are writing for a standard magazine. After all, you can't just write! You need to do a lot of research. And you can't send the first draft to the editor. You have to edit and, if necessary, rewrite it. Why, you might have to write and rewrite it till you feel satisfied with it. Such an article can take you any number of hours depending on the topic, the length of the article, and the magazine you are writing for. I would certainly require anywhere between 15-30 hours for a 1000-word article of this category.

Do you feel that you are not "up to the mark" because you can't produce articles “fast enough”? I suggest that you join a forum of freelance writers and share your problem. Believe me, you will feel much better after reading their responses. You can't produce a good, original, well-written, high-quality 500-word article in 15 minutes. So, banish the myth!

Your Rejected Articles – 4 Tips To Transform Them Into Winning Articles

2008-12-13T08:30:00.001-08:00

Recently, I had a look at three of my rejected babies. All three were articles on how to quit smoking with hypnotism. The client had rejected them on grounds that they were too “stiff” and “formal” and not “chatty” enough. I had been greatly annoyed because I considered them to be good articles. Moreover, I had worked hard to write them.

Many writers feel that they are no good as writers just because their articles get rejected. I want such writers to realize that they don’t become bad writers just because someone rejects or criticizes their work. Rejection simply means that one person did not consider your work suitable to be used in his or her business. It doesn’t mean that your articles are bad; simultaneously, it doesn’t mean that your articles can’t be better.

What do you do with those rejected babies of yours? You may mourn, but keep the mourning period short! I will tell you what I did with my rejected articles. Feel free to use my method if it suits you.

1. Put Your Articles Away for Sometime

Put those rejected articles in a folder and forget about them for sometime. Don’t make the mistake of deleting them just because a client did not like them. Your articles will come in very useful later.

2. Improve Your Writing Skills

If Shakespeare had concentrated on improving his writing skills, he could have written better plays! I am not kidding…your writing can get better. Now, this doesn’t mean that you aren’t a good writer NOW. It simply means that you can always be better than the best.

How do you improve your writing skills?

· Never stop writing.

· Sign up at http://www.writing.com or Helium or any other online writing community that you know of and share your work with other writers.

· Request your friends and family members to have a look at your articles.

· Be prepared to receive negative as well as positive feedback.

· Use this feedback to improve your skills.

· Invest in some good writing courses.

3. Read Your Rejected Articles after a Few Months

What do you feel about your rejected babies NOW? Don’t you feel that you can do a much better job now? Since you have become a better writer, you can write the same articles in a better way.

When I read my articles after a few months, I felt that they were written for a text book, not the Internet. Most Internet users want something simple, conversational, and readable. My articles, though divided into paragraphs, looked like a block of text. Moreover, the paragraphs were too long.

I rewrote my articles employing a simple chatty style and inserted a number of side headings and bulleted lists. Needless to say, my article looked much better than the original.

4. Use Your Rewritten Articles

If you have a buyer ready, you can sell your articles. Alternatively, you can submit it to myriad revenue-sharing sites such as Triond, Associated Content, Helium, eHow, and so on. You can also participate in a writing contest and bag a prize.

You must have heard the ancient tale about the ugly duckling turning into a swan. Ugly articles can turn into great bits of writing too. You can easily transform any rejected article, story, or poem into great stuff. It is just a matter of time.

Challenges Of Freelance Writing - 5 Powerful Tips On What To Do When Your Writing Gets Rejected

2008-12-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

I have been writing ever since childhood. My first pieces were children’s stories written in the Enid Blyton style. Then, I fell in love with a popular children’s magazine of the time, "Tinkle." The character "Suppandi" caught my fancy, and I dashed off a Suppandi story and sent it to the editor of Tinkle. After a few weeks, the editor returned my story with a polite letter saying that my story was good, but could be better. That was the first time my writing got rejected. My mother grumbled that the editor lacked taste. I, of course, didn’t know what to think and hanged up my writing activities for a long time.

My work got rejected yet again when I was working as an SEO writer for a Philippines-based SEO writing company. The client wanted some articles on hypnotism, and he wanted them “yesterday.” A team of writers were set to work on this impossible deadline, and the articles so produced were dashed off to the client. Since the client was in a hurry and wanted a project that he had started "today" to be completed by “yesterday,” the articles lacked quality and contained a dozen errors. The client, not realizing that it was his fault, was angry and decided to “reject” the articles. Needless to say, he refused to pay! We received no pay for our hard work, and I remember putting in a lot of hard work to finish around 10 articles in just a few hours...just because this dumb client wanted fast work.

Recently, I had to face another “rejection” that fair pissed me off. I was asked to write 50 articles on a particular topic. My dumb client wanted me to write these articles in just FOUR days!! I feel ashamed to say that I actually agreed to write these articles for a dollar a piece. I will eternally kick myself for rating myself so low, but it is too late now!

However, I started writing away on Monday, December 1, 2008 and had the entire package ready by the evening of Friday, Dec 5, 2008. My client has no right to fuss over the quality because he did not give me the time to write quality stuff. Moreover, with a slow Internet connection, I couldn’t research this little-known topic that effectively, and my client knew this. Besides, he had assured me that he wanted only “rewrites.”

The aim of the project was to create SEO stuff that could attract traffic to his website, and the keywords I had used were perfectly alright! The articles covered various aspects of the topic and, in my opinion, were great for ONE DOLLAR PER ARTICLE. My client seemed pleased and credited $50 to my PayPal account, and I considered the chapter closed.

Imagine my horror when my client told me yesterday, Dec 9, 2008, that he “did not need the articles,” and that I could take them back and sell them. He even demanded a refund. I had never experienced such a situation before and was devastated. I even rushed off to my PayPal to refund the amount only to realize that the skunk had raised dispute on the payment on grounds that he “never received the articles.” And since he had raised dispute on the payment, PayPal had my $50 on hold. What I decided to do about this is another story, and I will relate it some other time as I want to focus on the subject of “rejection” in this article.

How can you, as a freelance writer working alone from home, deal with such a situation? Here are a few tips for you:

1. Before you actually begin working for a client, submit several samples of previously published work. Let the client decide if your style and the quality of your work are acceptable for his or her business.

2. Never agree to monthly payment modes. Request your client to pay you daily or weekly or per project, but never monthly. A month is too long to wait, and unscrupulous clients can cheat you of the payment that you richly deserve. Moreover, if a client decides to “reject” your work, you don’t lose much in terms of energy, money, and time spent on creating content for this particular client.

3. Now, for the most important point! If your client has accepted your work and paid you for it, the project or that particular part of the project is over as far as you are concerned. If your client approaches you a few days after accepting your work, approving of it, and paying for it and says that he/she wants a refund because he/she doesn’t “like your style” or doesn’t “need your articles” for his/her business, you DON’T HAVE TO REFUND EVEN A SINGLE CENT! NOT A SINGLE CENT! Since the client already paid for the articles, the articles are sold. And goods once sold are not taken back!

Moreover, you never know if your client has already used these articles somewhere. If you use them believing them to be unpublished, the same client might accuse you of plagiarism. Your client should decide whether he/she “likes your style” or “needs your articles” before he/she pays for your work, not approach you and demand a refund several days after s/he paid for your work.

4. As long as you are working for your client, and even for a long time after you complete your client’s projects, retain each and every copy of the emails exchanged. Once you have sent a completed project, ask your client to email you confirming the receipt of the completed work. Later, if he/she accuses you of never having sent it, you must have your proof ready.

5. If your client has raised a PayPal dispute and gotten your funds frozen, approach PayPal and tell them you would like them to settle the dispute for you. Provide proof that you have really worked for this client and submitted your work. Prove that your client paid you only after he/she approved your work.

Clients have absolutely no business rejecting work. They are supposed to view samples before hiring a writer, and if they are not able to judge a writer’s work based on the samples provided, then it is their problem, not yours. They have no right to make you work hard on a project and then say that it doesn’t meet their expectations. It is up to the client to hire a writer who meets their expectations. That is why we show them our portfolios and samples of previously published articles.

Writing For The Internet - 3 Golden Rules For New Writers

2008-11-19T21:42:00.000-08:00

Internet users are busy people. They want information really fast. While writing for the Internet, you must remember these points and cater to your readers’ requirements for quick information.

You can easily write great articles for the Internet. All you have to do is follow these 3 golden rules for new writers.

Rule 1: Your Title Should Be Attractive

Nobody is going to read your article if the title is not attractive. In fact, the titles of the most-viewed articles on the Internet are real attention grabbers.

Ideally, the title should tell the reader what the article is all about; it should promise to give the reader exactly what he/she is looking for.

Rule 2: The Body Of Your Article Should Deliver What The Title Promises

Many Internet writers cheat their readers by following an attractive title with absolute nonsense. If you want to be a successful writer for the Internet, don’t disappoint your readers with bad content.

Your readers clicked on your title hoping to find some useful information. Give them the information they require. Your article should be well-researched, informative, and interesting.

Rule 3: Your Article Should Be Focused, Concise, And Easy To Read

Internet users just don’t have the time to read through an article twice or thrice in order to understand it. So, follow these simple rules to enjoy greater success writing for the Internet.

· Use simple words and phrases.

· Keep your sentences and paragraphs short.

· Use bulleted lists to make your points clear.

· If you don’t use bullets, number your points.

· Be informal; your article should look as if you are having a face-to-face chat with your reader.

· Remove all the unnecessary details, and provide only the information.

· Run a spell and grammar check.

If you have digested all these points, you are ready to write great articles for the Internet. Just start writing, and you will soon find that you have joined the ranks of successful Internet writers.

Become A Successful Writer - 2 Secrets To Earn More Money With Your Blog

2008-11-19T21:32:00.000-08:00

Do you want to earn money as a freelance writer? Here is the first step you must take … start a blog! Now the prospect of starting a blog can terrify many people. However, the good news is that you don’t need to know any codes or special computer language to start a blog. At Blogger, even a child of three can start a blog in less than five minutes.

Let us now explore how you can make more money as a writer with your blog. You can use your blog to publish your articles and to advertise yourself as a writer.

1. Publish Your Articles

Right now, write as many articles on a subject that interests and excites you. Avoid writing stories about your life. However, you may write about your hobbies, interests, and work. For example, if you are an avid gardener, you can writer dozens of articles about gardening. You can even add photos of your garden to your blog.

Now, your articles can be read by anybody in the world. Doesn’t that excite you? Your writing has worldwide readership!

I bet you get the point now. Now that people can read your articles, they can contact you if they like your articles and ask you to write for them.

2. Advertise Your Skills As A Writer

Once you have posted around 10-20 articles on your blog, you can advertise yourself. Post a notice on your blog’s side bar that you are willing to be hired as a writer. Add a link to your resume and contact details.

Now, potential clients can easily contact you if they have any writing jobs to be done.

Earning your fortune as a writer is that simple. Just start a blog, and you are a writer. Now, all you have to do is to keep on writing. Remember that the Internet is loaded with writing jobs for you.

Write an SEO Article – 3 Great Tips

2008-11-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

Even if you are a talented writer, you need to do a lot of research in order to develop the knack of writing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) content for the web. The Internet is packed with hundreds of websites that will teach you how to write SEO articles. All that you need to do is search the Internet thoroughly for all the information about SEO that you can get.

Here are some great tips to write an SEO article:

1. Be Brief

Keep your SEO article short. An ideal SEO article is between 350 and 700 words in length. SEO articles are short, focused on one topic, brief, and to the point.

2. Insert Keywords at the Right Places

When search engines crawl for specific information, they watch out for keywords related to this information in four major parts of your article—title, subheading, first paragraph, and last paragraph.

So, if you want a search engine to lead traffic to your article or web content, make sure you insert specific keywords into the title, the subheading, the first paragraph, and the last paragraph of your article.

You can be informative and creative with the rest of your article.

3. Avoid Keyword Spamming

Search engines have a way of identifying keyword spamming, and you can get penalized for this. A keyword spammer literally overloads his or her article with keywords.

Your SEO articles must be informative with just the right number of keywords. In other words, you must see to it that your keyword density is not less than 10 percent of your entire article.

To explain the term “keyword density” better, it is the number of times a specific keyword is used per 100 words of the article.

A great way to avoid keyword spamming is to use the synonyms of your keywords, instead of the keywords themselves, between the first and the last paragraphs of your article.

As you see, writing an SEO article is an art in itself. If you wish to write SEO articles, you must first do a lot of research about the subject and develop the required skills.

Find SEO Writer Jobs - Five Great Tips

2008-11-07T20:28:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my previous article, writing SEO content is a great way to make money as a freelance writer. If you have decided to become an SEO writer, you have to find a good job or a gig. How do you find great SEO writer opportunities?

Here are five excellent tips to get you started.

1. Bid for Jobs

Have you heard of websites such as Elance and Getafreelancer? Hundreds of clients who require SEO writers frequent these websites and post their requirements in the form of projects. All you have to do is register at one of these websites or all of them and bid on these projects. Most of these websites have escrow facilities to ensure 100 percent client and writer satisfaction.

2. Join an SEO Writing Company

If you are not comfortable with bidding for a project, you can easily find a position as a freelance writer in an SEO writing company. These companies hire a large number of freelance writers and cater to the requirements of several clients. To find these companies, simply do a Google search for SEO writing companies.

3. Offer Your Services to New Websites

New websites always require fresh, original SEO content that can attract a lot of traffic. Keep an eye open for such new websites. One way of doing this is to watch out for press releases announcing the launching of a new website in news sources such as Google News. Contact the owners of these websites and ask them if they need any writing to be done.

4. Job Portals and Writer Resources

The Internet is loaded with job portals such as Monster and Naukri. You can register at these websites and post your resume free of charge.

In addition, a large number of writer resources such as Freelance Writing are available. Search for such resources and avail of their services.

5. Advertise Your Services

Do you have a blog or website of your own? If you don’t, you can always get a blog free of charge. Try Blogger!

Post your resume on your website or blog and thereby advertise your skills. A client who stumbles into your resume might decide to hire you.

Google is the best friend of all job seekers. Use search terms as “writer jobs,” “paid for writing,” “freelance writing,” “content writing,” “writer resources,” and so on, and you will come across hundreds and thousands of resources that you can use.

Writing SEO Content – Great Way To Earn Money As A Freelance Writer

2008-11-07T02:34:00.000-08:00

Do you want to become a freelance writer? You can easily start with SEO writing and make a lot of money too. SEO writing is in great demand, and if you decide to become an SEO writer, you will find a large number of jobs waiting for you.

What Is SEO Writing?

SEO can be expanded as Search Engine Optimization. The purpose of SEO writing is to drive a steady stream of traffic to your client’s website, increase page rank, and promote your client’s products. SEO writing is not really that informative and entertaining. On the contrary, it is stuffed with keywords so that it can be easily found by people doing a Google search. The purpose of SEO writing is to lead search engine users to your article and ultimately to your client’s website.

However, this doesn’t mean that clients do not demand high-quality, informative work. Most clients want you to write in a “chatty,” easy-to-understand style. And many writers manage to weave a lot of information around the required keywords to produce a well-written, high-quality, informative piece of SEO content.

Some SEO Writing Facts

· SEO writing is in great demand, so there is no dearth of jobs for SEO writers.

· The best way to start earning as a freelance writer is to create SEO content.

· SEO content will not make you a famous writer, but it can make you a great earner.

· When you start with your SEO writing job, you will get a topic and a bunch of keywords. You might even be required to maintain a specific keyword density.

· SEO articles could be anywhere between 125 words to 1000 words in length. However, an ideal article is around 400-500 words long.

Remember that SEO writing is not for you if you want to use your literary talents to win a literary award and become famous as a writer. However, if you want to earn a living, you can start creating SEO content anytime.

Before you get started, do your homework on search engine optimization, page ranks, traffic, keywords, keyword density, and other terminology related to SEO writing.

10 Tips to Write a Great Story

2008-10-02T05:09:00.000-07:00

There isn’t a single writer among us who hasn’t suffered from writer’s block, and there is plenty of literature scattered around to tell us how to get over this problem that doesn’t allow us to pen anything decent for hours, days, weeks, and sometimes, years altogether.

Recently, I started a discussion on story writing on a popular forum I am active at. Nearly twenty members responded. As a writer, I found most of these tips absolutely great and worth trying out. That’s why I decided to write an article compiling all these tips. So, next time you suffer from writer’s block and long for fresh inspiration or ideas to write a story, novel, poem, or article, you could try one of the following tips.

1. Meditation and Relaxation Techniques

The creative energy is blocked when you are in a tense or stressed condition. When you relax and meditate or, in other words, when you free your mind of thoughts, your visions become clear, and you open yourself up to unique ideas.

2. Mull over the Incidents of Your Life

Think about your life. Replay the various incidents in your mind. What would have happened if life had taken a different turn? What would have happened if a particular incident had different results? What if you had taken that step you never dared to take?

Twisting the simple events of your life in different ways is not only a creative exercise, but also can result in a great short story or novel. If you remember your dreams, you can even use dream material to weave a great tale.

3. Blend Real Life Incidents

Using real life incidents to create stories is a common technique. What’s happened in your home, neighborhood, city, and country? Did some human interest story in the newspapers move you in a special manner? You can change the event slightly, give different names to the characters, and create a great piece of fiction.

4. Notebook and Pencil

Put a notebook and a pencil in your handbag or pocket and take it wherever you go. Ideas are in the habit of flashing at the oddest possible moments. If you don’t make a note of them immediately, they tend to vanish forever. Your notebook and pencil can prevent this tragedy. Make a note of your ideas as soon as they flash.

5. Use Online Resources

Certain websites focus on writer’s block and contain great prompts for ideas. Google for such websites and become a member of some of them. Whenever you need an idea, you could use the website’s services. Here is one of them: http://shortstoryideas.herb.me.uk

6. Keep Your Eyes Open

Great ideas for short stories lurk in the most unexpected places. So be alert when you watch the television, browse the Internet, or read newspapers and magazines. A news item or a website or even a silly soap can be the source for a great story.

7. Talk to Friends

Tell your friends you need a story. You may not get any results. However, one of your friends might be able to give you a great idea for a short story he or she can’t write.

8. Create Exciting Surroundings

Most writers hate monotony. So, ideas might not flow if you write at the same old table during the same old hours. Create magical surroundings get the creative juice flowing!

Place a bowl of fresh flowers to give the table a new look. If you are in the habit of writing in the morning, try writing in the light of candles on a moonlit night with your favorite music playing softly in the background. Or write in your garden, near your favorite tree or bush with the music of birds in your ears.

9. Scribble Whatever Pops into Your Mind

Place a pen to paper or your fingers on the keyboard and just write whatever pops into your mind. You will be surprised to observe a form in the midst of the gibberish. Later, you can polish it into a wonderful story. Or, you could use some parts of it to develop into stories.

10. Go for a Long Walk

The best ideas flash into your mind when you go for a long walk. Soak in the beautiful countryside, watch the activities around you, ponder over the mysteries of life, and stay open to inspiration. When you return, you will surely be able to write something.

Wired Flame - Get Paid for Forum Posting

2008-09-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

You will love Wired Flame if you love writing. Visit Wired Flame and explore the site. You will discover for yourself that the site offers the services of forum posting and content writing—great news for writers like you and I who are always seeking genuine paid-to-write opportunities.

This is how it works. Forum owners place an order on Wired Flame, which becomes a forum-posting job for Wired Flame’s team of writers. The job is to post on this particular forum and bring it to life. It is a very interesting and simple job for those who love writing, and the best part of it is that you get twenty cents for a twenty-word post. Or a client places an order for some articles, and you can grab that job and earn money for it!

To become a Wired Flame writer, you should have an excellent hold over the English language. You should be honest and dedicated and be willing to write quality posts. You need to have a passion for writing. If you fit the bill, simply visit Wired Flame register there. Use the writer application link on the site to submit your application as a writer. If you get selected as a writer, you can start posting and earning immediately. You can even be in touch with the other writers through the Wired Flame forum.

Yes, the site is genuine, and they do pay. Needless to say, I am a satisfied Wired Flame poster myself.

How to Earn More on Mylot

2008-05-15T01:49:00.000-07:00

Here I am, back to my little blog after a long time and wondering if I have anything worthwhile to say. I have been very, very busy wearing out the keys of my computer keyboard—writing, rewriting, and editing! These activities have added a substantial amount to my humble bank balance. They have also made me ultra sensitive to . . . ahem, commas!

So, what shall I tell you? Shall I tell you about how I finally made $22 on Mylot? I should have made more since I joined Mylot ages ago. I was just a bit too busy trying to earn real money to pay bills, instead of posting lengthy messages on Mylot for peanuts.

Yet, I am excited. Mylot is the first online paid-to-post program that has actually paid me! So, though the amount is peanuts, it still excites me, and I feel I have to write a few tips on how to enhance your Mylot experience. Now, this does not mean that I am a Mylot expert. Still, let us not forget that I have actually made $22 over there.

So, here goes:

Make plenty of friends whose interests are the same as yours. Establish a bond with them by responding faithfully to their discussions.

Post images along with your text to earn more money. Please don't steal them. Use your original pictures or those in the public domain. There is a chance of you getting into serious trouble if you steal someone else's pictures.

If you don't have anything to say, don't say it. In other words, say something that is worthwhile and make sure you say lots. Long, informative, quality posts earn more money on Mylot than single liners that say nothing.

Log in every day and make your presence felt. Respond to as many discussions as possible and post as many discussions as you can. Trust me; you will be delighted to see your earnings the next day.

If you have a functioning blog, which you update regularly, add it to Mylot.

Be polite and tolerant when you post.

Refer as many friends as possible to Mylot. If they join and earn, you earn a percentage of what they have earned. You don't have to worry; your friends won't lose anything!

Mylot is fond of stars and ratings. As soon as you have posted 100 posts, you will get a star. The top star is blue with a 10 inside it. It means that you are very popular in Mylot.

If you haven't joined Mylot yet, join it now! It is a free, genuine, and honest site. I use it as a stress buster whenever the commas in my copy overwhelm me.

Elance - Great Way to Find Writing Jobs

2008-03-06T20:50:00.001-08:00

I have another bit of news of all freelancers. It’s about Elance. I joined it a few months ago when I stumbled into it while surfing for writing jobs. To describe Elance in a single sentence, it is a great site not only to find writing jobs, but also to find qualified professionals to do your work.

This is what Elance says about itself: “Have you heard of Elance? It's where work gets done—a virtual workplace where qualified professionals provide their services, and small businesses post work they need done. The breadth and scope of work at Elance is amazing—you can work in or post projects in dozens of categories, including Web & Programming, Multimedia & Design, Writing & Translation, Admin Support, Sales & Marketing and more.”

The first thing I did after spotting Elance was to sign up. I explored it for sometime after joining and then logged off. I caught a few projects elsewhere after that and almost forgot Elance. However, Elance did not forget me. It would send me updates, and I would then log in to the site to check it out.

Elance is unique in that it helps you build a wonderful profile. It also gives you a link with a special referral identity attached to it, which you can use in your blog, website, or your e-mail signature in order to get others interested in it. When a referred user spends $1,000 as service buyer or earns $1,000 as a service provider, you will be paid $50.

So, here is a list of advantages of joining Elance:

Find well paid freelance work.
Find qualified professionals for your company.
Build an eye-catching profile.
Pass an admission test by taking the special Elance course on how to build a winning profile and the best ways to use Elance.
Earn money as an Elance affiliate.

Click here to check my Elance profile and sign up free.

4IndianWoman - Excellent Earning Opportunity for Indian Women Writers

2008-02-29T01:09:00.001-08:00

All starving female writers will love this. You can write about any topic you wish and get paid for it. Please don’t say, “Oh, another one!” 4IndianWoman need not be “another one” of those sites if your writing gets selected. If you are blessed with a creative bent of mind, which you wish to cash in on, submit a short story, a poem, a piece of flash fiction, or a true life incident and earn more money.

To explain the words “female writers” used earlier, the site is for ladies only, though a sentence on the site claims to accept men’s writings too. But I have visited the discussion forum, and several ladies do not want any men in the picture for a variety of reasons.

4IndianWoman publishes a web magazine every Friday. Every web magazine comprises seven blog posts on a variety of topics related to current events and social issues or flash fiction, poetry, and true life incidents; four chapters of a novel, and a short story. So, as you see, there is something for everybody. The great news is that you will be paid 1,000 INR for a short story, 500 INR for a chapter of your novel, and 500 INR for a blog post. Before you submit, please familiarize yourself with the site’s terms and conditions to avoid getting into trouble later. Your write-up should be original and unpublished.

According to the “About Us” page at the site, 4IndianWoman “is a Silicon Valley startup based in San Jose, California.” What did you say? Yes, they pay! I know because I submitted a short story, which got selected, and I received my 1,000 INR via bank transfer.

English Language - Everything You Wanted To Know About Commas

2008-02-20T00:31:00.000-08:00

I never knew I was so bad in using commas till I became a copyeditor. That was when the ‘grammatical third eye’ opened, and I finally noticed all the commas that were inserted in places where they had no business to be. I do not claim to be a comma expert, and a more expert eye might be able to spot a stray comma or two in this write-up.

I have put together a few comma rules for the benefit of all those people who are struggling with their commas. May this blog be of help to you!

· Does your sentence have two independent clauses separated by and, but, for, or, nor, so, or yet? If any of these conjunctions are used, a comma is required.

He said that he loved her, but she slapped him.

· Use a comma after introductory clauses, phrases, or words. Does the introductory clause begins with words such as after, although, as, because, if, since, when, or while? Is there a participle and infinitive phrase, an absolute phrase, a nonessential appositive phrase, or a long prepositional phrase? Is there an introductory word such as yes, however, or well? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, a comma is required.

To go on a round-the-world trip, you need a lot of money.

· You need to set off certain clauses, phrases, and words within a sentence with a pair of commas. Ask yourself the following questions to determine if a pair of commas is necessary:

Does the sentence make sense even without the portion you wish to set off?
Does the sentence make sense if you change the position of the clause, phrase, or word within the sentence?
Does the clause, phrase, or word affect the readability or the flow of thought?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, a pair of commas is necessary.

The writer, in her book, stresses the importance of a comma.

· You need a pair of commas to set off “nonessential” elements.

The boy, wearing the red shirt, is my sister’s new boyfriend.

· Insert commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series.

She ate a loaf of bread, a pound of butter, and three bananas.

· Insert commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun. Ask yourself the following questions to determine if a comma is required:

Does the sentence make sense if you reverse the order of the adjectives?
Does the sentence make sense if you insert ‘and’ in between the two adjective?

If your answer is yes, you need a comma.

She was an old, cranky woman. (Comma required between old and cranky)
The old, cranky woman wore a red woolen shawl. (No comma required between red and woolen)

· A comma is required to separate elements than contrast each other or to indicate a pause or shift in thought.

She is just inexperienced, not moronic.

· If there is a free modifier that can be placed anywhere in the sentence without killing its sense, use a comma before it.

She threw a heavy book at his head, screaming with rage.
Screaming with rage, she threw a heavy book at his head.

· A comma is required to set off geographical names, items in dates and addresses, and titles in names.

April 26, 1977 is my birthday.
I was born in Mangalore, India.
Dr. Radhika, MD, gave away the prizes.

· You need a comma before a quotation.

After she slapped him, he said, “I still love you.”

· A comma is required in question tags.

Sonia lives in Mangalore, doesn’t she?

· You need a comma before interjections, such as please, thank you, yes, and no.

No, thank you.
Yes, please.

· Commas are required in large numbers, as follows:

123,456,789

· Last, use commas wherever necessary to prevent confusion or misreading.

A Few Don’ts

· Don’t use the comma after the main clause when the dependent clause follows it

She got off the bus because she discovered that it was the wrong bus.

· Don’t set off essential elements with a comma; for example, clauses beginning with ‘that’.

The book that is on the table is mine.

· Don’t use a comma between the month and the day and between street number and name.

I was born on April 26, 1977
I live on 32 Cunningham Road.

· Don’t use commas to separate the subject from the verb.

He cooks great food.

· Don’t use commas between two verbs or verb phrases.

He stared at his teacher and grinned idiotically.

· Don’t use a comma after a coordinating conjunction

She got into a bus, but it turned out to be the wrong bus.

Popular Punctuation Jokes

An English professor wrote the words "A woman without her man is nothing" on the chalkboard and asked his students to punctuate it correctly. All of the males in the class wrote: "A woman, without her man, is nothing." All the females in the class wrote:
"A woman: without her, man is nothing."

***

A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.
"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
"I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up."
The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.
"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

***

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy - will you let me be yours?

Gloria

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?

Yours,

Gloria

***

I detest liars like you, I believe that honesty is the best policy.
I detest liars; like you, I believe that honesty is the best policy.

***

This one is from http://www.myspace.com/: When Liz was at camp, one of the rules in the rule book said, "Do not wear clothes, which your parents would not approve of."

Visit Brian Sack's language humor weblog

Read an interesting article regarding the use of serial comma

Writing Book Reviews - How To Write An Excellent Book Review

2008-02-07T00:06:00.000-08:00

What is a book review?

• It is your personal reaction to the book.
• It is a piece of writing that focuses on the author’s purpose of writing the book; how well he/she has succeeded in achieving this purpose, according to you, and your arguments in support of your views; the quality of the book; its meaning; and significance.

What isn’t a book review?

• A book review does not tell the story.
• A book review does not wreck the element of suspense for the reader, but rather gives the reader a better understanding of the book.
• It is not a summary.

The essentials of a book review

• Write a paragraph comprising the basic information about the book—its title, name of its author, copyright details, genre, subject matter, any special features, price, and ISBN.

• Write a paragraph about the author’s intent. The author might state the reason for writing the book in the preface or the first chapter of the book. If the author has not directly stated any reason, you come to an understanding of it by reading the book thoroughly.

• What is the book about? Write a statement or statements about the subject matter of the book. What is the author’s idea about this subject? Write a paragraph about the author idea of the subject and the philosophy of the book.

• How has the author handled his/her ideas or beliefs about the subject matter in discussion? Examine the methodology used. This is the time to support your remarks with specific references and quotations.

• Examine the work for interest, accuracy, objectivity, importance, thoroughness, and usefulness to its intended audience. Has the author left any unresolved issues? Do you agree with the writer? Or do you beg to differ? What are your reasons?

• Compare the book to other books written on the same subject. Has the author borrowed heavily? Has the author refuted previous positions? What makes this book different? What gives it its literary value? Examine these issues.

• Find out if any biographical details about the author have special relevance to the book. Is there a relationship between the writer’s life, beliefs, and the book under review?

• Check the front matter, back matter, index, notes, bibliography, and illustrations for points of interest. Do these matters tell you anything interesting about the book?

Sources that contain information about how to write a book review

Los Angeles Valley College Library
Writing Tutorial Services
Dal Libraries
LEO: Literacy Education Online
Online Book Review Writing Workshop

Writing Wine Reviews - Tips To Write The Winning Wine Review

2008-01-13T00:49:00.000-08:00

Writing a wine review and tasting a particular varietal go hand in hand. One can’t exist without the other. Writing the review of a wine you have just tasted can be a delightful task. It can be also be daunting because it is not that easy to express your feelings and experiences in coherent sentences, and a wine review springs from direct experience. You require a lot of practice to master the art of writing an effective wine review.

A wine review should be short, but not too short. In other words, you should say everything you want to say about the wine as precisely and as concisely as possible. You will be happy to know that grammar takes the back seat in a wine review; however, your sentences should be coherent and readable. This is because a wine review is highly subjective. No two reviews about the same wine can be alike because all of us have our own tastes and preferences. The result of your notes about the way the wine feels, tastes, smells, or looks could be a collection of short, clipped sentences, which is perfectly fine.

Do not forget to make a note of the bottle, the label, the name of the wine, and the winemaker. This is a very important bit of information in your review. After this, make a note of the color of the wine and the intensity of the color. For example, a light rose.

In a wine review, the discoveries of the nose are the most important. The sense of smell is closely associated with the sense of taste. If you close your nose, you will hardly feel the taste of any food or drink. Make a note of the messages your nose gets when you open the bottle. Your nose is capable of detecting millions of aromas. For example, the wine may smell of cherries, earth, or chocolate.

The next important point to consider is what is commonly known as ‘mouthfeel’ in wine lingo. What does the wine feel like in your mouth? Is it heavy, rough, light, watery, thick, creamy, and so on and so forth?

As mentioned earlier, your tongue is closely associated with your nose. The discoveries of the tongue are not that different from the discoveries of the nose. A sensitive taster can detect several flavors on his or her tongue. What are these flavors? Do you feel the same flavor on the tongue and the mid-palate? Or do the flavors changes as the wine touches different parts of your mouth? Does the flavor match the aroma? For example, the wine could hint of earth, mint, berries, and oak.

Does the taste linger in your mouth? How long does it linger? In wine language, this is called the ‘finish’ and is described in length and flavors. The length of time the taste lingers in your mouth is called the length of the wine. A wine might have a long, medium, or short length. The flavor the wine leaves in your mouth is also called the finish. For example, the wine has a woody finish.

Your wine review is a combination of all the above observations on color, nose, mouthfeel, flavor, and finish. However, this isn’t the end of the story. An effective wine review requires more information. You could include the wine making process. What type of grapes went into it? How was the wine made? Why is it so special for you? How did you get to taste it? What made you buy it? What about the aging details of the wine? And the most interesting of them all, what food does the wine go with?

You can read more about wine reviews and also get an example or two of a wine review at the following sources:

John Witherspoon's Blog

Vinquire

The Inner Life of the Wine Review by Tom C.

Write a Great Summary - 3 Top Tips

2008-01-10T07:27:00.001-08:00

The ability to summarize is essential especially for students and political and corporate employees. Effective summarization of an article, chapter, book, report, or news feature proves that the student or employee has perfectly understood the original writer’s work. It also paves the way for research based on analysis and criticism. It also enables busy people to get a condensed version of the original.

A summary restates the information, ideas, views, or hypotheses presented in the original. Its length depends on the length of the original work. It is definitely much shorter than the original. Although written in your own words, it does not mention your personal views or opinions. Generally, quotes have no place in it. However, an exceptionally good point can be quoted on condition that you provide the required references. Any word borrowed from the author without referencing amounts to plagiarism.

It is not that easy to write a good summary that conveys to its readers a clear, undistorted version of the original. It involves a lot of effort and three major steps—reading and note making, writing, and revising and editing.

1. Reading and note making: It is not possible to grasp the entire article, chapter, or book at one go. Read the headings first. Then read the introductory and the concluding paragraphs. This will give you some idea of what the writer intends to say. If the text comprises sections and sub-sections, read the first and last paragraphs of each section. Finally, read the entire work slowly. As you read, make notes of the important points in your own words. Make a note of the examples and arguments used by the writer to drive home a point.

2. Writing: Write an introductory paragraph that includes the title of the work and the name of the author. The introduction should state the essence of the original work briefly. Restate the important points in each paragraph. Make use of phrases such as “the writer notes...,” “the author contends...,” “according to the writer,” and so on. You can add life to your work by rephrasing one of the examples mentioned by the writer to support his or her views.

3. Revising and editing: Read through your write-up and check if it presents all the important ideas made by the original text. As far as possible, follow the same order in which the points are made in the original. Re-read and edit your work. Finally, run a spell-check.

Forum Posting Tip - Get Paid To Post ANYTHING On Mylot!!

2008-01-08T02:47:00.000-08:00

Many a time, you must have wondered if you could get paid to write about your pet subjects in your own distinct style. The good news is that you can.

I discovered this site a few months ago. I signed up for it and then forgot all about it for almost eight months. I really started working on it a couple of weeks back, and that was when I realized its true worth.

All you have to do is to sign up and post discussions on any topic that interests you, and respond to any discussion that holds your attention. You do not need to worry about your English as long as it is possible for others to understand you. You do not have to post long messages, although longer and well-researched posts accompanied by original pictures earn more money. You can join this site absolutely free, and refer your friends to it. You will earn 25% of your referral’s earnings.

It is not just the money; there are many more joys attached to this activity. You will make tons of friends all over the globe and learn more about other cultures and lifestyles. You can discuss issues that really matter to you. You will learn several money making techniques all over the web. The bonus is that you can promote your blog or website through this site.

All you have to do is to click this link and sign up absolutely free. As soon as your earnings touch $10, you will be paid through Paypal. The site is doing extremely well, and many people have already been paid.

Contact Me

2005-01-01T11:09:00.000-08:00