Freelance Writing

Getting a Portfolio Started

Building a professional writing portfolio is rather difficult when you try to break through into publishing. Magazines turn you down left and right. Publishers won’t even look at you most of the time without an agent. You’ll soon learn that in this industry, you’ll get so many rejections before you get one acceptance.

But, that comes with the territory. You have to put on your coat of armor and learn not to take too many things personal. To learn a little bit about getting published, it’s somewhat like becoming a model. Watch shows that are designed to educate the public about the modeling industry.

When you watch a model get prepared for a shot and then go through the shoot, you see an individual being told how to look and how to act. Later, after the shots are developed, she gets both criticized and praised at the same time. One critic says that the look in her eyes just doesn’t sell the product, it isn’t about the client at all. Another critic says that the look is special, it has all the emotions the client wants. Which one should she believe?
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Read This Now – It’s for YOU!

Read this because it’s for you – yes, YOU!

You’re here because you write and are looking for some perspective and resources. I know that because this is a writing site and blog – easy enough for me to know who you are.

Now ask yourself this question – Why are you reading this NOW?

It’s a dominating, eye-catching headline for this post so you read the first line above – the first line reiterates this post is for you again. Now we are getting into why you’re still reading this post.

You’re still reading this post because the headline caught your eye, you managed to get engaged with the first line of the post and you became intrigued or hooked just enough to continue reading.

My Point is Simple!!

Helium – A Writers Marketplace?

Helium has just turned one year old. You may have seen the Google adsense marketing blurbs when you are researching writing and resources for writers, and I think they are probably the number one writing services advertiser at the moment.

Helium is a site that allows you to submit your articles in anticipation that they will be sold (by them) and you get a percentage of the fee. You can also earn a share of advertising revenues generated by the site and there are writing competitions which may can earn you extra pay as well. The big issue is that you are not being paid for the time you spend crafting an article and getting paid any realistic amount is totally dependent upon the article being sold.

I’ve never contributed to Helium as I always shied away from submitting work with no guarantee that I’ll be paid for my efforts. I wrote for a short while for a similar site Suite 101, but nothing ever really came of it and I stopped as work with upfront pay began to dominate my working time. The buzz on the various writing blogs regarding Helium is very mixed in terms of the effort required for no certain return but like almost everything else in life, it is a gamble.
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First Writer & The Written Road

I came across two websites that I think you’ll find interesting and useful – FirstWriter.com is packed full of publishing resources while The Written Road provides a wealth of information on how to go about becoming a travel writer.

FirstWriter.com

This site does require a subscription but it is very modest at only $2.99 but you get full access to a whole range of literary services. I particularly liked the very neat search engine for picking out magazines, newspapers and agents that may be interested in your work. With the search engine facility, you can narrow down a publication that accepts unsolicited approaches, work out how much you’ll be able to charge for your work – personally I think this alone is worth the subs.

Fiddling around the site, I checked out the writing competitions on the search facility and I was simply stunned at the number of poetry competitions that are being run both in the UK and the US. In the UK alone, for the month of December I counted over 20 before giving up and there were even greater numbers of fiction writing contests. Unfortunately for me, I don’t produce fiction and wouldn’t know a haiku if it stood up and bit me.
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Knowing Your Literary Terms

When you are constantly going from one project to another, you’ll hear different wants and needs. If the writing projects you are viewing are more like novels and documentaries, you may hear some terms that you have never known at all. So, let’s hone your knowledge of literary terms you may run into from time to time.

Imagery

Imagery is an expression of images you would see in a literary work. But, it’s not merely mentioning how people look or how places look. It’s getting the reader involved in the scene. Certain scenes have significance to each of us as individuals and then there are scenes that carry similar significance to each reader.

For instance, most people would feel warm and comfortable if you were to talk about an autumn scene with the sun shining down on a yard full of fallen leaves. While most of us would welcome a description such as this, others might be distracted by their own experiences. A kid who was once homeless and had to sleep on park benches throughout the year would actually have a different reaction.

No matter what reaction a reader has to the imagery, the writer can’t be preoccupied. The art of meaningful imagery is all that matters. Create a picture with words and make it as descriptive as possible. How your readers receive your writing is their own issue.

Symbolism

Symbolism is a very close concept to imagery. In fact, symbolism can evoke images. And while those images mean the same things to certain people, they mean different things to different people. For instance, the swastika is a symbol of anti-Semitic sentiment to Jews. But, it’s a symbol of unity and power to neo-Nazis. The ironic fact is that the swastika was a symbol of peace before being adopted by Hitler.

That one symbol holds all that meaning. But, symbolism can be a bit more complex than that in literature. A bridge is a road built over a waterway or a deep valley, but in literature it can be a connection between people, families or communities. A pair of glasses is merely a looking device, but it can mean the ability to see in the future or see things more clearly than others. Anything can be given a greater meaning if the writer is masterful enough to bring the meaning into light.

Point of View

In each story, there is some kind of persona telling it. It is from that vantage point that point of view comes into play. There is of course a god-like persona who sees and knows all. Omniscient point of view knows the thoughts and actions of others. There is no limit in omniscient point of view.

But, a person who is telling one’s own story is talking in First Person point of view. A story told from a person’s own perspective is more informative on the main character in the story. The person knows why such actions were taken or such ideas were thought because they belonged to that person.

I might venture to say that most stories are told in Third Person. The Third Person perspective is one that stands at a distance and witnesses the story as it unveils. There might be some limit to thoughts, but often the Third Person perspective can see so much more than any character in the story.

You might ask, what about the Second Person point of view? It is a more difficult way of writing. The word “You” is used to describe the persona of the story. Some stories have actually accomplished it successfully. But, it’s a difficult concept. In other words, the reader is the subject of the story. So, think about that for a second and then figure how hard of a novel that would be to write.

There are plenty of literary terms. This is just a small sample of the kinds of concepts you would be expected to know if you ever decide to write on a professional level. From time to time, I’ll revisit this topic and talk more about other literary terms. But for now, start feeling more comfortable with doing research and learning certain terms for yourself. You can only make yourself a more qualified writer by understanding the terms your clients may use.

How to Make the Donuts: Being a Writer

Being a successful writer isn’t that hard. You just have to be very creative, no pun intended. You have to see the opportunities that are available, but don’t always seem so obvious. That’s how you stand out and forge your own way in this world.

There are so many writers on the internet and they all go to the same job hunting sites. Guru is a major powerhouse for writing projects. Professional writers create profiles where they display their work and list their skills. But, a writer has to find a way to make a project proposal really stand out because they will be bidding against professional writers who are coming by the handful for any good project that is posted.

This of course means gaining experience. But, you can simply get away with creating a portfolio of your best work. In other words, just write. Write an article example. Write a book example. Write pieces that exemplify your skills and put them on display. If you are good enough, you can take a contract away from a high powered writing team with professional work on display. I do it all the time!