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The Ink Well Guild blog brings insights, answers questions, and gives you the information you need to make it on your own as a freelance writer.
Everyone is a bad writer (but you don’t have to stay that way)
Lots of people have thought about freelancing but haven’t done anything beyond express their curiosity. And a pretty frequent objection to starting out as a freelance writer is this: I’m a bad writer. I have three things to say about that. 1. Everyone is a bad...
3 quirky but effective ways to capture your content ideas
When you're in idea-generation mode (and that should be often!), you need to have a way to capture your content ideas before they flit through your brain and then get buried by whatever else you've got going on. It's good to have a master list of some...
How to be a rock star to your target market
When you're trying to get your name out as an expert -- whether you're building your email list, establishing your credibility, or simply taking your work to the next level -- you need to become known in your target market. Start popping up everywhere, especially in...
3 quick but critical tips to improve your writing
Plenty of factors play into improving your content. One of the most significant -- the very foundation of all your content -- is your ability to write well. Every blog post, every social media update, every infographic... it all comes down to pulling together...
Motivation is a farce (and here’s why)
Here's the thing about motivation: It’s a delusion. It's not a strategy. If you're relying on “motivation” -- or on her even more flighty little sister “inspiration” -- to propel you through the work of writing, you're going to have a hard time reaching your goals....
How to self-edit, even if you’re “not a good editor”
Editing is hard, am I right? Especially if it's a self-edit. If you sent up a resounding yes to that, you aren't alone. A lot of writers struggle with editing their own work. And while to an extent editing is a skill that has to be learned, there is something you can...
15 Freelance Writing Gigs That Aren’t Blogging
Ever thought about being a writer but not sure you want to get into “blogging” for a career? You aren’t alone! Whether you think freelance writing is tied to running your own blog, you aren’t impressed by the rates you think you’d command starting out, or you just...
What to do when you can’t find your writing niche
Advice commonly given to freelance writers is to find your writing niche, or “niche down.” This is great advice, especially for writers who have specialized knowledge or who have been in the game long enough to know what their niche is, no sweat. And ideally you'll...
The real secret to time management
This post is an adaptation of a recent newsletter I sent to my subscribers. If you'd like to join the conversation, use the sign-up form below! Have you ever met Cyril Northcote Parkinson? Probably not -- he’s a Brit and he’s been dead now for more than 20 years. But...
3 ways to improve the air in your home office (even if it’s just the kitchen table)
Let's talk about the air around us. If you share my not-so-secret Enneagram inclination, you may know that when I say I’m a 5 with a 4 wing, I’m (in part) saying that I need beauty in my environment because I spend a lot of time in it. I’d venture that we’re pretty...
How Snacking Helps Your Work
Today, let’s talk about one solution to a common workday struggle: energy management. I crash pretty hard at 2pm, which is unfortunate because that’s also when my workday typically begins. It took approximately 1.5 seconds of looking into the problem to see...
The Desiderata (or, your guide for a good life)
When I was in 9th grade, I was a timid 14-year-old lacking confidence in myself. I had been in the small school run by my church for most of my academic life, and I had just made the switch to the large (2000-student) public high school down the street, so I could...