Job Boards

Do you ever search writing job boards for work?

It's become part of my regular routine now. But I have to admit that I've been getting somewhat frustrated with it, lately, since most of the jobs that I hear back from don't really sound legitimate or the pay is ridiculously low.

In fact, I decided yesterday that maybe I was wasting too much time on something that never really seems to pay off, so I decided that I was not going to check out any job boards today.

Well, lo and behold, when I checked my email this morning, I had a perfect and well-paying gig (that I had found on a job board) just waiting for me!

Anyway, moral of the story: Never say never.

Although, I do think that it's important to keep track of how much time you actually spend searching for work on the job boards, and then how many gigs you actually get out of the deal. Doing so will help you in determining whether it's a good investment of your time.

If you do find it worth your time to look through job boards for work, here are two that I recommend:

1) Deb Ng's Freelance Writing Jobs Network
2) Anne Wayman's About Freelance Writing

I'd love to hear your thoughts on finding work through job boards. :) Do you think it's a worthwhile venture? If so, how much time do you spend searching?

Finding a Balance

It's already ten days into NaNo, so I'm sure that some of you have been typing away and are now seeing some great results. I'm jealous. I sooo wanted to participate in NaNo this year, but when I actually sat down and figured out my time, I decided that I should wait until next year, especially because Hubby and I are reallly trying to save up for a house right now. In this effort, I have been scouring the job boards and attempting to focus more on copywriting to bring in the extra income. So far, so good.

The only downside is that I've been spending so much time working that I haven't had nearly enough time for my kids. It can definitely get hard trying to find that balance between work helping your family and then work actually taking away from your family. Oh well, I guess that's the life of a freelancer, I suppose.

Anyway, long story short: I didn't do NaNo this year, due to time constraints. I'm sure it's an amazingly difficult, fun, and rewarding experience, and I can't wait to join in next year! How is it coming along for all of you?

(By the way, I've let all this extra work get in the way of blogging and tweeting. So I am determined to work out a better schedule - even if it means having to cut out a little of the extra work - so I will see you all again soon. :)

NaNoWriMo

Hi All!

The last few weeks have been so hectic around my home that I haven't really been able to squeeze in any time to twitter or blog...

but I'm thinking about doing something really crazy.

I'm considering signing up for NaNoWriMo!

This sounds crazy, I know. But I think that it just might help me to find some steam and get rolling with my bigger writing projects.

I also figure that if I can get into a good habit of writing for a specific amount of time every day in November, then hopefully I can continue that habit long after the craziness of NaNoWriMo subsides.

My main concern is that I will spread myself too thin by attempting such an enormous feat. At the same, though, I think that it could be the exact outlet that I need. No to mention, that it would be great practice at setting and reaching writing goals.

Anyway, I'm still not positive whether I'm going to do it, but I will definitely let you know if I sign up.

How about you - are any of you thinking about signing up for NaNoWriMo?

Sick, Tired, and Writing

Hey Fellow Writers!

I'm just making a quick stop by my blog to let you know that a nasty cold has taken my house (and most of its' occupants) by storm. Coughs, runny noses, fevers, headaches, and stomach aches are currently plaguing me and my children. Hubby somehow avoided it. Go figure!

(Just a side note: have you noticed that mom's NEVER get sick days? Sure, we might get sick all right, but we don't get to stay in bed all day with someone serving us soup and hot tea. Instead, we're up at the crack of dawn, changing diapers, and doing all that's involved in caring for munchkins. Not that I'm complaining...just thought it might be good to hear that there are others in the same boat.)

Anyway, we've been downing lots of water, juice, and soup. At first, I was trying to just wait it out, but have now decided to schedule doctor appointments for us all, in order to kick this thing with some antibiotics. So, hopefully, we'll push this nasty thing out of our house by the end of the weekend. (I figure if I stay optimistic about it, there could be a chance that it will actually happen.)

So, now that I've shared the yucky details of this week in my life, I will say that one good thing is that I've still managed to get some writing done. Not as much as I would like to, but still a good amount. I submitted a few articles, followed up on some submissions, and caught up on my emails. I think I'm going to take tomorrow and the weekend off, though. Some rest and relaxation might be just what's needed in my household right now.

Hope you all are not catching any of these colds that are making their way around! If so, you have my sympathy. When you or your family members get sick, do you keep up your writing? If you do, could you share any tips on how you manage it all?

Have a good weekend...and stay healthy. :)

Time To Write

In light of my recent posts about finding time to write, I thought I would share this awesome quote that I just read over at Erika Liodice's awesome blog, Beyond the Gray:

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”

-H. Jackson Brown, Jr., best-selling author of Life’s Little Instruction Book

10 Minutes of Writing Significantly Increases Productivity

I've been trying to sneak in an extra ten minutes of writing every day...and am very pleased with my results. Even with a measly little ten minutes out of my day, I have the possibility to start preparing the bones of an article or essay, add a scene to my screenplay, prepare a revised version of a rough draft of an article, or even just write a cover letter for a WIP.

The one downside that I've encountered in this endeavor is that I have to give up doing something else in order to have those additional ten minutes for writing. This means that I've missed out on participating in the giveaway on the WM blog for a couple days, have not done much tweeting in the last few days, and have had limited FB time.

While I know that tweeting less and giving up FB for awhile could actually be really helpful in increasing my productivity, I really enjoy participating in the WM back to school giveaway and hate to give it up. (Not to mention, that I've learned A LOT through participating, and have stumbled across some awesome blogs that I'm now following.)

So...

I've decided that it's as simple as this: Get up 10 minutes earlier.

Backup plan (in case I hit the snooze button): Give up Facebook that day.

Problem Solved....Ta Da!!!

Have I mentioned that I am NOT a morning person? But even I know that getting up 10 minutes earlier than usual won't kill me. And knowing that it will significantly increase the amount of work I finish each day provides me with the motivation that I think I'll need to roll out of bed.

That sounds reasonable, don't ya think? I'm going to start on Monday, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Best of luck in achieving your writing goals for the week!

A 10-Minute Daily Dose of Writing

After choosing the title for yesterday's post, I thought about how much time I actually spend NOT-WRITING...even when I am sitting at my desk during periods of scheduled "writing time."

Then I read this article, which got me thinking...

I realize that much of my work time is spent handling the various aspects of my job as a freelance writer (including: market research, networking, and administrative aspects, to name a few), with very little time left over for writing.

So what would happen if I set aside just a little more time (even if only 10 min) for actual writing each day?

Just guessing here, but I would almost bet that my daily word count would shoot through the roof.

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to add an extra ten minutes to my scheduled writing time, and make sure that I actually write during those ten minutes...and just see what happens.