Better Search By Date Function
As a writer, you will inevitably need to do some research for a topic or article you are writing. Often, that research will need to be reasonably current, especially when it comes to topics like technology, finance, news, and legal issues. Google offers some date search functionality in its “Advanced Search” menu, allowing users to limit searches to either the last month or the last year. However, that is very limited, and as it turns out, not very helpful. For most writing except for daily news writing, you will be looking for “recently updated information.” This encompasses more than just [...]
Adventures in AP Style – Trojan or trojan
This month has seen an increase in the number of articles written using the word “Trojan”, mostly thanks to Microsoft’s Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) being leaked as a torrent on various trackers around the world. Subsequent news suggested that some of the downloads were infected with malware, specifically a “trojan.” Spellcheck on every product I use hates trojan with a lowercase “t”, so it’s time to see what the AP Style book says. A Trojan, of course, is named for the Trojan Horse which appeared to be one thing (a gift) and was instead something else (a way to [...]
Improve Productivity Doing Work at Coffee Shops
As a freelance writer who works out of my own home, I also frequently end up working out of businesses or locations with free Wi-Fi, most often coffee shops. It’s a great way to get out of the same old home office room and also a good way to ensure uninterrupted work time if things are a little bit crazy at home. The one major difficulty is that most establishments were not designed with the concept that the customer would need electrical power in mind. After all, until the advent of laptops and subsequently wireless internet access, no one really [...]
Adventures in AP Style – GPS, Cell Phone…
So, what started out as a simple no-brainer article written for a few bucks in order to make enough money freelance writing online to beat out my income from freelance writing offline for the first time, turned out to be an Adventure in AP Style. BlackBerries On Airplanes I can’t honestly tell you what the site wants with the article, but that isn’t my part of the puzzle. I just write the high-quality content, they pick the topic. The article is on taking a BlackBerry onto an airplane and the possibility of its use and the reasons / regulations for [...]
Online Writer Tip of The Day
One of the tips for writers who work online from the professional freelance writers at ArcticLlama, LLC.
Getting Lorem Ipsum Text
Need a way to get a feel for what your document or file will look once it is filled out with text. That’s what Lorem Ipsum is for. What it is and where to get it are both here.
Best Quick Writing Tips #1
A new series here on the ArcticLlama blog. Quick writing tips to make you a faster, more productive, and thus higher earning freelance writer. Sticky Note Dictionary Find yourself always misspelling certain words? Especially words that you have to frequently use? Of course you want to get those into your spell-checker’s auto correct, but what about the places where there is no effective spell check? For those instances, write down those most commonly used words that give you trouble. My sticky note includes: entrepreneur, bureau, differed, guarantee, license (don’t ask), and so on. Past the sticky note on the wall [...]
Adventures With The AP Stylebook
Today’s AP Stylebook adventure takes us to the land of screen saver, which the AP Style manual assures us is two words. That’s just great. Too bad I came here looking for information about ‘screenshot’ versus ‘screen shot’. Oh well, to the dictionary…
Adventures In AP Style – Episode 2
A professional freelance writer chronicals his various encounters with the AP Stylebook and AP Style.
