Today’s AP Stylebook Lookup
Today’s project sent me to my now well worn AP Stylebook. The question? Carseat or car seat. Spell check despises carseat (it’s underlined right now with that angry red squiggly line), but I thought for sure that was how it was used. Survey says?
Oops. It isn’t in the AP Stylebook. “Car pool” is in there. That’s a pretty good hint. Well, since it isn’t in the AP style guide, then we check the dictionary (a real one). It isn’t in there either. I guess I’m wrong.
If you’ll excuse me, I have something to do. — Replace All …
Jobs, Rates, and Freelance Writing
Like a lot of other jobs, Freelance Writing comes with tiers of work ranging from low-level to critical high visibility. Likewise, there are many levels of pay that go along with those tiers. Too many writers focus on what they “should” be making, or what they “want” to be making. Instead, focus on what work you can get today.
Fill Your Schedule
I’ve been writing professionally for a long time, but it was only recently that I cut the safety cord that had snuggly tethered me to the corporate world. When that happened, a fundamental shift occurred in the way I looked at my writing. Specifically, I stopped looking at my writing, and I started looking at my writing business. That little shift makes all the difference.
Look at it this way, as a writer, you have certain things that you enjoy writing, and certain things that you don’t enjoy as much. You also have certain gigs available to you that pay a lot and certain gigs that don’t pay as much. While you are in the state of mind where you evaluate and manage your writing making the calls as to which projects you will and won’t take can be complicated. But, if you are in the state of mind where you are managing your business, things get a little easier. Instead of considering what you do and don’t want to write, and what you should and should not earn, you start looking at what your revenue and expenses looked like last month. You look at what your revenue looks like it will be for the coming month and you do some simple math. You are either making it (profit) or you are not (loss), and you need to do some things accordingly.
No business can operate at a loss indefinitely. How easy is it to make this decision? Last month, your business had enough revenue to generate a nice profit. This month, however, your projected projects only will generate enough revenue to come out with a small loss at the end of the month. Do you take the short term, lower paying writing gig that will make the coming month profitable or not?
Pretty easy right?
Be the Business
Being a business means taking your writing from being the thing you do to being the thing your business does. You are not just a freelance writer, you are also a business owner. Act like you think a business owner acts. A business owner keeps an eye on the bottom line. As the owner of a freelance writing business you have the advantage of being able to work on making both sides of the equation work out. You can cut back on expenses during a month where revenues will be light and vice versa. You can take on projects you would normally turn down in order to boost revenues so you can cover those unexpected office expenses.
Keep an eye on the profit margin of the business as a whole, and a lot of the other questions will help sort themselves out.
Writing Great Essays - Introduction
As a writing professional, I occasionally get asked to help someone’s child nail an important essay. Whether it is for College or High School, the type of essay that succeeds is the same.
Nailing the Essay
One of the most important things to remember when writing an essay in the academic world is that academic writing does not necessarily conform to what is considered good writing elsewhere. In fact, the kind of writing that succeeds well in academia is generally not the kind of writing you want anywhere else. Newspapers need a grabbing headline followed by the necessary who, what, when, with a lot less emphasis on how and why. Fiction writing is very much about pacing and keeping reader interest. Magazine writing requires “writing to size” which means either cramming information into too short of article, or bloating too little information into a bigger article. None of these will win you any A+ marks in school.
The Five Paragraph Essay
As a writer, the temptation to be creative is a powerful one. However, this impulse should be resisted unless you are well into graduate school. Most high-school teacher and many college professors are experts in their subject area, not in writing. They understand and expect a specific style of essay. When you get creative, they may not see that you have written everything necessary for a high mark because the format is distracting.
Keep in mind that you are writing to prove subject mastery, not to prove writing ability. You wouldn’t answer the questions on a multiple choice test by singing limericks. Yes, it is very creative and very original, but it isn’t how you answer test questions. The same concept applies to writing an essay. Even if the teacher expresses an interest in originality or creativity, do so within this structure or risk a lower grade.
The standard academic essay is the Five Paragraph Essay. In a nutshell, this format is an introductory paragraph, followed by three proving paragraphs, and finished with a conclusion paragraph.
The Introduction Paragraph
The most common flaw from students writing an essay can be traced to an incorrect introduction paragraph. Problems here lead to issues throughout the essay, so it is important to hit all the points before moving on.
The first thing to write (though it does not come first in the final product) is your “thesis statement.” This is a fancy way of saying what your essay will be about. The key to a thesis statement is that it must be a supportable opinion. The number one mistake is not stating an opinion. An opinion is not a fact. To verify that you have chosen an opinion, ask yourself, what is the opposite opinion? If there isn’t a reasonable one, then you have not stated an opinion.
For example, in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, teachers and professors love dissecting the role of Lady Macbeth. Stating that Lady Macbeth is an influential character, or central character is not an opinion. Any statement to the contrary is false. She obviously is both. Stating that she is more responsible than Macbeth for the tragedy that befalls them both is an opinion. One could just as easily argue that she is doing nothing more than supporting her husband’s ambitions, and that Macbeth is responsible for his own actions. One could even argue that the witches are more to blame.
Once you have your opinion, turn it into a thesis statement. In our example above, a good thesis statement is something like, “Lady Macbeth’s manipulation of her husband’s emotions is the true cause of both their tragedy.”
The next thing you will need is your “essay map.” This is a fancy way of saying what proof you have to support your thesis statement. Since, your essay will have five paragraphs, you need three “locations” on your essay map. All three of these points must be directly supportive of the thesis statement. If you want to write about something that is not going to support the thesis statement, then you need to change your thesis statement. In other words, if you want to go down Main Street, then pick a location that requires travel in the direction of Main Street. You cannot be a bad taxi driver and take a longer route just because you like Main Street.
In our example above, your essay map might include a discussion of what happens before the king arrives, what happens after the king name’s his heir, and what happens after the king’s murder.
Now that you have your thesis statement and essay map, you are ready to write your introductory paragraph. Ready?
First, write a sentence that would clue someone who did not know the assignment in. For maximum grade points this sentence should also praise the subject matter.
- Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a masterpiece of tragedy that fully explores the both the depths of human depravity in the name of ambition and the related consequences.
- Harry Potter is a fascinating look at the life of a young boy who suddenly finds that he is capable of so much more than he ever imagined.
Notice how these sentences both state the subject matter (This essay is about Macbeth or Harry Potter) and praise the subject matter (masterpiece, fascinating).
Second, write a sentence that moves toward your point and acknowledges that there were other equally wonderful topics.
- Although Macbeth provides a wide exploration of the human condition, the manipulation of Macbeth by Lady Macbeth is perhaps the most powerful example of human interaction.
Now, insert your thesis statement. No editing required.
Next, insert your essay map. This should be one sentence stating how you will prove your thesis statement by examining your three points. It must be one (and only one) sentence and it must name all three points.
Never ever use the words “this essay will prove” or “this essay will show”. In fact, the words “this essay” should NOT appear anywhere in your paper. If they do, re-write.
- Lady Macbeth’s manipulation of her husband’s emotions is the cause of both their tragedy. When the king arrives, she plants the seed of greatness in her husband’s head, then when the king names his heir, she plants the seed of murder, and following the murder, she plants the seeds of both their doom.
Orange=Essay Map
Done! Move on to paragraph two. At this point, many students want to write about other things they want to say. The answer is NO. If your introduction paragraph has anything other than these five sentences, I guarantee you it is weaker, not stronger. You don’t need anything extra. In fact, if you have something else in your introduction, the reader has a right to expect that you will further address it in your essay. Since you will not deviate from proving your thesis, this is a problem. Do not offer any proof in your introductory paragraph. Like a lawyer at a trial, this is your opening statment. You can say, “The evidence will show that my client is innocent.” You do not say, “The picture on the desk proves that my client has never been to the conservatory and has never even picked up a candlestick.” This is not evidence time, this is coming attractions time.
Introduction Paragraph Summary
- Write thesis statement.
- Write essay map.
- Write one praising introductory sentence.
- Write one “there were many wonderful things but I chose this one” sentence.
- Insert your thesis statement.
- Insert your essay map.
- Move on to paragraph 2.
- If you followed the above, you will only have 5 sentences in your intro paragraph. Don’t get cute.
Bonus A+ Tips
If you really want an A, pick a topic that your professor or teacher has raised and had the class discuss. Obviously, you don’t want something that has been covered ad nauseam, but you do want something that came directly from the professor. If your professor made only a passing reference to Lady Macbeth’s influence, then that means he or she doesn’t believe in its importance.
It is easier to prove something the other person already believes. So, pick something your professor believes. If instead, he or she has discussed the powerful use of imagery (river of blood) or the role of the witches (would he have done any of this if they hadn’t said those things?) then write about that. The time for writing what you want to write is when you are not writing for grades. Until then, write for grades (which means writing what the professor wants to hear).
Up Next - The Proving Paragraphs
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Technorati Tags: writing, essay, essays, high school, college, term paper
Search Engine Optimization and Advertising - Why SEO is Important
Why SEO is Critical to Your Ad Campaign
Search Engine Optimization is a critical linchpin in the success or failure of your advertising campaign. To understand why SEO is so important, let’s take a quick look at the advertising campaigns of two jewelers.
You’ve probably heard of both Kay Jewelers and Jared’s. You also probably know the slogan for each. That is because their multi-million dollar advertising campaigns are working. Between television commercials and radio commercials, both companies have spent lots of money to build brand awareness. That is why every Kay Jewelers commercial, whether T.V. or radio, includes the short melody along with the words, “Every kiss begins with K.” Similarly, Jared has every commercial contain the words “He went to Jared.” Why?
Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is often difficult to explain to clients, but in this case, it should be fairly obvious. Let’s say there is a man. He is a normal everyday man who works at a regular job, has a regular girlfriend, and so on. Let’s call him Sam. Sam doesn’t buy much jewelry. But, today is different because he wants to propose to his girlfriend. Whether Sam buys jewelery or not, and whether or not he pays attention when jewelry commercials come on doesn’t matter. Because he has heard, “Every kiss begins with K,” and “He went to Jared,” so many times, when he tries to think of jewelry stores, those two pop into his head. Mission accomplished, advertising worked, let’s party, right?
Ready to Buy, Now What?
Actually, the next step is the most critical. Now, that Sam is ready to buy he needs to go to the actual building. Unless Sam lives near one and already knows where it is, how will he find either Kay or Jared? The answer is, the phone book or the Internet. Assuming both jewelers target markets are educated, upper-middle class or higher (i.e. people with money) which method is he more likely to use to find the jewelry store? Hint: If you said phone book, it might be time to take some continuing education courses.
So, Sam jumps onto his computer and…what? First, he probably guesses. If he types in www.jareds.com, then yippee! But what if he assumes the “s” is just part of the grammar and not part of the name? If he types in www.jared.com, he ends up at some unrelated advertising page that may send him to a competitor. Think this isn’t an issue? Well, www.kays.com does NOT go to the jeweler like jareds.com does. Instead, in that case the “s” is part of the grammar so, the real web site is www.kay.com.
Now, you are thinking that it is no big deal. Surely, our hero, Sam, will just type in the other web site, right? Well, maybe yes, and maybe no. Sam might decide that it will be more efficient to use a search engine so he can just find the right site and stop messing around. After all, he’s at work and the last thing he wants is to accidentally hit some porno site by getting the wrong site. He knows that it could be kay.com, kayjewlery.com, kayjewlers.com, kaysjewelry.com and so on.
If Sam searches for Kay Jewelers, then no problem. But, if Sam decides instead, “Hey, I’m here, I might as well just type in ‘jewelers’ or ‘engagement rings’ just to see,” there could be a problem. If you search Google for engagement rings, Kay doesn’t show up until page 4, well after Sam has been reminded of several competitors, if he perseveres until page four at all. Not only that, but along the way several benevolent sounding web sites offer what sounds like unbiased information. If he decides to check out those, he may decide to buy over the Internet, or direct from China, or whatever.
Small Business and SEO
Keep in mind, these are two big jewelry store chains that spend millions on advertising. How do you think this would play out for a smaller local business without a million dollar ad budget? Cracking the first page for a search on engagement rings would be great, but at a minimum a local business needs to be on the first page for results of engagement ring +cityname. For example, if you are a locally owned store in Denver, your business should really be on the first page when someone searches ‘engagement rings Denver’. Are you? If not, that’s where ArcticLlama and SEO comes in.
Too many other companies throw around the phrase Search Engine Optimization and SEO without really understanding the full process of moving up in the search engine rankings. Yes, keyword loaded articles are a start, but that is the easy part. The real skill comes from determining which keywords or key phrases can be best targeted for you. You could spend years writing key word filled articles and never end up on the first page for searches on popular phrases that have large multi-national companies servicing those niches. Just as important is getting links to those pages. Without links the search engines don’t care how many keywords are there. After all, no one wants to read meaningless articles just stuffed with keywords. The way search engines know articles are relevant is when people think they are important enough to link to.
A full service SEO (Search Engine Optimization) firm like ArcticLlama not only provides the keyword filled articles you need, it also provides the buzz necessary to generate those all important links while targeting the right keywords. Whether you are an advertising or public relations firm working for an important client, or if you are a business owner looking to maximize your Internet presence, we can help. In the mean time, don’t forget that finding your business is just as important as knowing about it.
Technorati Tags: Search Engine Optimization, advertising, SEO
Expert Status
Expert Llama
I won’t pretend to know how hard it is or anything, but I have been awarded “expert author status” on EzineArticles.com. I hope to use Ezinearticles as a place to publish some of my writing that hasn’t found a more traditional home. Sometimes you like to write about what you want to write about instead of what other people will pay you to write about. Should be fun.
Might write about ADD Tools Help next.
Ezinearticles Expert Badge
Becoming a Freelancer
Not long ago, becoming a freelance writer was akin to becoming an actor. Talent, ambition, and hard word were essential, but somewhere along the way you would need a lucky break. Jim Carrey languished in Hollywood for years before ending up on the television show, In Living Color, where his talents were finally on display in front of enough people for someone to notice. Likewise, a freelance writer could work hard to develop their craft but never get in front of the right people at the right time without some sort of a break.
The problem, in writing at least, was that people are reluctant to take a chance on an unproven writer. So, most people who needed to hire writers demanded some proof of skill and ability to deliver under the proper conditions like deadlines and changing requirements. This proof took the form of “clips” or writing samples. The famous catch-22 in any career path is that no one will hire you until you have experience and you can’t get experience until someone will hire you. For writers, no one would hire you until you had published clips to prove yourself and you couldn’t get published clips until someone would hire you. So, you worked for free, or submitted query after query until, hopefully, that big break came along. Once your foot was in the door, your skill and professionalism could finally carry you along.
Make Your Own Big Break
Today, with the ubiquitousness of the Internet, it is possible to develop a wide array of clips to rival all but the most prolific authors without needed to rely on “the big break.” By either starting your own web sites, or writing for those that take all comers, you can develop an array of links and electronic clips to reference for any job or query. However, the ease of establishing such an electronic portfolio means that you may be competing against others with similar pitches. The important thing is to distinguish yourself by generating the “right” kind of portfolio.
The most useful clips are those that match the kind of writing that is being asked for. If you are interested in writing about animals, then make sure you are devloping a portfolio of clips that includes articles you have written about animals. Start by writing basic how-to articles for a site like eHow. Then, move into writing more research oriented or topic oriented articles at another site that accepts such articles. This will allow you to build up a collection of stories and articles that you can point to when you apply for jobs. Make sure that you keep your own copies of these articles and be prepared to format them in a more traditional manner if the need arises. Not everyone is willing to accept “links” so you may need to attach your writing to an email, or even print and present it in person or via mail.
While developing this portfolio will give you some clout, there will be many other writers who have a similar collection of writings. It is paramount to make your writings stand out from the masses. The two best ways to accomplish this task are to develop your own web sites, and to expand fully into your niche.
Build Your Own Site
Developing your own web site allows you to write about everything you want to write about without the constraints of writing for others. If you choose to write very long or very short articles, humorous or melancholy, foraml or informal, your own web site gives you a place to publish them all. More importantly, as you develop your web site, the repository of writings availible also begins to position you as an expert. While there may be dozens of writers with samples showing their ability to write about animal shelters, only you would come with a collection of dozens or hundreds of articles about animal shelters including everything from operations, to fundraising, to community perception. This appearance of mastery makes you much more likely to be the person selected to write the newsletter for your local Human Society. After all, not only can you write what they are looking for today, but you have shown that you are almost certainly able to write what they may need in the future. Even better, you have demonstrated that you will be able to generate content without the constant need for prompting or being fed article ideas. Indeed, you wrote about two hundred different topics all by yourself.
Don’t worry about the complexity of developing a web site. While it is true that a full commerce site like Amazon.com takes an army of highly skilled programers, developing a regular content based web site is suprisingly easy these days. A number of software programs are availible for free to help with your site, or you can spring for the same kind of programs the pros use like Adobe Dreamweaver. Either way, making a web page becomes just like writing a Word document, and if you are going to be freelance writer, you better know how to write a Word document. Pay no attention in the beginning to concepts like search engine optimization, or CSS, or your web site’s design. Just start getting the copy on there. As you do, you’ll pick up knowledge that will help you better understand those things when you are ready. Remember, the purpose of your site is to have a place to show off your writing, not to become the next pets.com. Nobody needs to “find” your site, you’ll be telling them to go there.
The only question becomes understanding the internet well enough to get up and running. If you aren’t experienced with computers and the Internet, just head for the big boys. Microsoft recently began offering a free service to small businesses (that’s you!) to get a website online with virtually no technical knowledge. They’ll even register the domain name for you so you can write for juliarobertsanimalshelters.com. Don’t get discouraged regarding the domain name. Yes, animalshelters.com is almost certainly already taken, but keep trying and look for something that expresses you a bit. For example, utopiananimalshelters.com might be availible. Two rules of thumb to keep in mind. First, get a domain name that ends in dot com. It may seem like animalshelters.info is better than wishfulthinkinganimalshelters.com but everyone is very used to just typing dot com. Even if someone is looking at your resume there is a chance they’ll type dot com instead of dot info. They’ll probably realize their mistake, but there is no reason to give them the chance to make one. When you are big and powerful you can ignore this rule. The second rule of thumb it to never ever use register.com to look up your domain names. They keep track of what you look up and if you don’t buy it right away, they’ll “reserve” the name for you. Of course, then they’ll charge you extra to register the reserved name. It’s a big scam masquerading as a service.
Actually, Build More than One Site
While developing a single web site can be immensely valuable, developing more than one web site can be even better. Consider the pet food company looking for a freelance writer. While your animal shelter web site certainly positions you as an expert in that realm, as well as a compotent writer in the topic of animals, it does not show any ability in the ability to write in a more “corporate” sense. A second web site, perhaps dedicated to innovations in animal products would show that not only can you write about animals from the perspective of animal shelters, but also in regards to the products that exist for them. While you never would be able to develop a web site for every single kind of project that might come your way, just having two related, but different web sites shows that you aren’t a one trick pony. While the animal product web site is right up the alley of the pet food company, the combination of the two web sites shows anyone your ability to write on any animal topic. When the fur industry comes looking neither of your sites matches exactly, but you have already shown both an ability to write in different styles. There is no reason to assume that you won’t be able to write from their vantage point.
Once you’ve published articles both on your site and on others, your goal should be to fully expand into your niche. In construction there is a product used for insulating around objects that by necessity go through holes in the walls. It is a foam that you spray into the area around the object you need to insulate and it exapands until it fills the entire space so that there is not one tiny pinhold of unsealed space remaining. To build up a powerful resume full of clips do the same thing with your writing niche. While there thousands of people out there who want to write about animals, only a few are dedicated enough to follow through to a fully completed portfolio. This is because doing so becomes more difficult the further you take it.
Fill the Hole
Finding a web site that takes articles about animals is easy, as is getting one or two published on them. Starting your own web site is more difficult, but still not cumbersome. Going the extra distance to find a small online publication dedicated to hamster environments stimulating enough to improve the hamster’s ability to navigate mazes would take more research. Having something published on their site, as well as on sites about horse racing, dog shows, cat collars, vetrenarians, and so on again establishes you as not only an expert, but also as a valued and prolific writer. Also, sooner or later someone who reads highintellecthamsterworld.com will need a freelancer and the sample you have from their favorite web site will carry more weight than a hundred samples from elsewhere.
To fill your niche completely, don’t start out by doing research. Instead, start by writing for what you already know. After you complete an article or posting for a web site you arleady know about, read that web site for references to sites or topics you don’t know about. Follow those links until you find your new place to post. Write for that web site, and then follow from it to others and so on and so on. Incidentally, this is how search engines find all the pages on the internet. If you follow all of the links, theoretically, you would eventually find all the pages. While you are building up your freelance writing career, do the same thing. Eventually, you will find yourself far off the beaten path and your writing samples will far eclipse the ones of those around you. When they do, your big break won’t be a matter of luck, it will be a matter of being the best out there. Do us a favor, and remember us when you are writing the cover story for Horse and Hound.
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