Fiction Writing

Do you have a book inside of you? You are not alone, if you do! Many freelance writers never even consider writing a work of fiction, while others dream of seeing their novel on the shelf at their favorite bookstore. I definitely belong to the second group.

I have written many short stories over the years, the first one when I was in the fourth grade. My teacher raved about it, and encouraged me to write more. After that, I was hooked! I can remember a story my mother wrote when I was a child, it was about toys that came to life when no people were around. This was way before the days of the Toy Story movies and every time I see Woody or Buzz, I think about that story. I write stories for my kids all the time, although many of them are made up on the spot to help them stay calm while waiting and never actually make it to paper.

Of course, I am writing a book too. How could I not? The darn story entered my mind one day and stayed in there developing until I finally applied fingers to keyboard and let it out. But it is now stalled, not even half way finished, because there are only so many hours in a day and so many of them are full! But it's all still right here in my head, developing...simmering, I guess. I know what is going to happen, I know what comes next and what comes at the end. One day, I will find the time to get it all out of my head and hopefully someone out there will think it is good enough to publish.

What about you? Do you have a book inside you begging to get out? How do you find time to write it while also making a living and taking care of the other responsibilities in your life?

Jumping back in

After an unintentional long vacation from blogging, I am jumping back in with both feet...or at least attempting to! Life has a way of getting in your way and the hours in the day never stretch as far as they need to, so sometimes things on my daily to do list just keep getting readded to the list every day instead of completed.

There are so many things that I have wanted to blog about over the past few weeks that I don't even know where to start!

I will start with something useful...a short list of a few reputable places to find freelance work. I firmly believe that you can never have to many clients, that way if one falls through for some reason, you have more to fall back on. So here is a few:

Media Bistro

Online Writing Jobs

Writers Weekly

Absolute Write

Poe War

There are more, but these are good places to get started.

Summer is not a good season for writers...not this writer at least! The sun is calling me, and it is very persistent. I want to lay outside and bask in its rays. And I want to be in the water! It is hot, we have hovered at 100 degrees the past few days. I even went so far as to print out research for several articles last week and wrote them sitting in the sand watching my munchkins splash around in the river. In between articles, I splashed with them! It was a perfect day. I could easily live right there on that sand, coming home only to send in articles a few times a week. But for some reason my husband is against that idea.

I will never understand that man. ;)

I think I could finish my book, that invasive labor of love that keeps me awake at night begging for my attention, if I could just pitch a tent at the nearest body of water and stay there. Nothing but water, sun and my notebook. If I ever disappear, call off the search party...I am simply hiding away on a sand bar deep in the woods and I will return when I am done. Of course if I disappear in Winter, I am snuggled up in front of a fire in a tiny cabin in Asheville.

Speaking of reclusive writers....I will be reviewing a book of quotes from Henry David Thoreau on Friday. I not only have a passion for quotes, but I am also fascinated with Thoreau. What an enormous strength of character it must have taken to live without the most common conveniences of life, to hide yourself away from the world. I am really looking forward to Friday!

Ok, I am off to write a hunting article...I have never in my life hunted, and never will, so this should be interesting!

My April Goal

I mentioned in a previous post about setting a goal to make a certain amount of money in the month of April. I have been giving serious thought to what that goal should be. I want it to be something that I can accomplish without killing myself, but I also don't want it to be an easy goal. If I can do it without trying hard, its not really a challenge.

And I had to consider the fact that I will not have a lot of help around, and will have a 3 year old at home. Hubby has been really busy with his fire department lately, and may be going back to work soon. If he does, he will be working 12 hour days, so no help from that direction.

I have decided to set a goal to earn $2000 in the month of April, with just one company. That company is Demand Studios, and I have made that amount in one month with them before. But only a few times, and only when hubby was home and doing pretty much all the kid stuff and cooking. To do it next month, with everything else that is going on, will be difficult. But hopefully not impossible. And if I get to stressed out about it, I can always go walk in our woods....



I love our woods, just me and my faithful canine sidekick in blissful silence, surrounded by trees. It is heaven on earth. Sometimes I walk, and sometimes I just find a comfortable log and sit....pondering life, love or nothing at all. I want a little shack back there, with nothing but a comfy chair and a notebook. The things I could write in a little hideaway like that! Until I got my first visit from a snake, then I wouldn't like my hideout anymore. Country life does have its downfalls.

And, I would miss out on this....



My littlest munchkin is snoozing on my lap as I type this. Moments like this make motherhood worth every minute.

Break Studios

Break Studios is fairly new to the writing scene, but they seem to know what they are doing...so far. When I first heard about them, I decided to give them a try. You can never have to many places to write for, in my opinion. That way, when one is slow or just plain getting on your nerves, you have something to fall back on.

The application process was fairly simple. They want a resume and two writing samples. I applied on a Sunday evening and got an approval email the next day. The main site that writers for Break Studios supply content for is Made Man which is basically an online mans magazine that covers everything from cooking to cars to sex. Of course, sex. What else are men interested in, after all? :)

The guidelines are pretty easy to grasp, and the editors that I have encountered so far have been wonderful. And the best part...there is room for creativity. You can inject a little humor here and there, and let your "voice" shine through. That is pretty unique when it comes to writing website content, for the most part.

So, if you are a new writer looking to get started, or an established writer looking to spread your wings a little, give Break Studios a try.

Believe it or not, that is all I have to say today! My pillow is calling me, loudly. :)

Time drainers

You only get so many hours in a day to accomplish what you need to. A lot of these hours are spent earning money, whether you are a freelancer or work outside the home as an employee. When I worked outside the home, it was easier to focus on work because my home life stayed at home. Now, my home and my work lives are intertwined and it's often hard to separate the two. There are several things competing for my attention at any given moment and that makes it easy to find myself at the end of the day having worked for 8 hours to accomplish the work I could easily do in 3 if I had an office.

I know my fellow freelancers know exactly what I am talking about. If you don't, this example should explain it all! :) I woke up this morning at 3 am because our foster puppies were making a racket that you would never expect from such small creatures. When they want food, they mean now! So I drug myself from my nice comfy bed and made bottles, fed the little monsters and changed their bedding. I then made a pot of coffee and played on facebook until I was awake enough to focus. I wrote one article and then it was time to get kids up. Now the kids morning routine is my hubbys job, since I normally write late at night. But since I was already up, I let him sleep in. We live in the middle of 5 acres, and our driveway is looonnnggg :) Normally I would have enjoyed the stroll to the road with my 5 year old chattering away next to me. But at 6:30 am it is dark in the middle of the woods...and I do mean dark! I don't like dark, or rather I don't like what could be in the dark. That was the first time in years that I have wished we lived in town!

Once I get back to the house my little guy was awake, so I made him breakfast and got some kisses. He still has those fat little baby cheeks at 3 years old, so his kisses are extra sweet! Sat down to write another article, but the pups decided they didn't get enough to eat the last time. Back to making bottles and feeding squirmy little furballs. Once I got that done, my hubby made his appearance, so I was ready to get to work....

Yeah, right. Little man has a lot to say this morning, and he only wants to say it to mommy. Try writing a factual, well researched article while pondering the questions that a 3 year old can come up with. I dare you. My second article sits there with only the first few words written.

By the time I remember that I promised to fix my friends computer and bake a cake for my 5 year old and actually accomplish both, it is 3 pm. I have been up for 12 hours and have only finished two articles. I am actually amazed that I got that much done! Now I have an hour before the school bus stops at the end of the driveway and the noise level around here hits headache inducing levels.

This is why it is 1 am, I have been up for forever and I just finally finished all my work 30 minutes ago. I am capable of writing at lightening speeds when I find quiet with no distractions. The problem is, I only find that about once a year. And I am tired. Days like today make me want to go get a job somewhere that isn't here. Or at the very least to rent an office somewhere to do my writing in. What a nice dream that is. I think I will go find my pillow and dream about that....right after I feed the puppies.

Todays Ramblings

I feel like I ramble a lot on this blog, just typing in whatever thoughts may be floating around in my head at any given moment. That may not make for the best blog, but I find it amazingly therapeutic. This is the one place where I can just let loose and say what I want to say without fear of editors and guidelines.

Our puppies are 2 weeks old today, and doing really well. They are growing fast and finally have all their eyes open. They are also more active, which means more lost sleep for me! But they are so adorable that I am incapable of holding it against them.

I have read several forum posts and blogs in various places that are based on personal challenges and it has caused me to think about doing one of my own. As a freelancer, the amount of money that I bring in each month varies widely. Some months I end up with an impressive amount, while others seem like I hardly worked at all. This month is halfway over, and will be one of the bad ones. So, I was thinking about setting a personal challenge to earn a certain amount of money in the month of April and sharing my journey on this blog. Not only will it be inspirational for me, but it may also inspire someone else. I am just not sure what amount of money I want to go for. If I choose an amount that is to low then it will not be much of a challenge. On the other hand, if I set my goal to high then I will be faced with public failure. I figure I have a week or so to decide, since I won't be starting until the 1rst.

I have written mainly cooking articles today, and now I am starving, so I will end this now and go raid the kitchen. :)

Motivation...or lack of it

Every freelancer knows about motivation. It keeps you pushing forward to meet that deadline or complete that assignment so that you can keep the dollars rolling in. It's something we have to have.

I lost mine at some point today. One of the companies I write for has had technical issues for the past week or so, and I have watched my bank account suffer because of it. But I persevered and they eventually got it all fixed. Now that I don't have to battle to submit every article, I seem to have lost my drive. I just do not want to write. I need to write, the people who send me those lovely bills each month are not going to be happy if I try to tell them they will have to wait because I am just not feeling it this week. Logically, I know I need to write, write and write some more. Yet I sit here and stare at the screen.

I have written today, I wrote a few things that were due today and tomorrow, and I worked on a short story I have been playing around with. And of course, I am writing this blog. But I really need to write several more articles before I call it a day. I just can't seem to get the words from my brain to the keyboard. There is a short somewhere.

I know other freelancers know what I mean, and I would love to hear how you conquer a lack of motivation. That is if anyone is actually reading this thing! Hello...anyone out there? :)