What’s Up Wednesdays: Writing and Money
February 11th, 2009 by Michael Kwan
These are two topics that are very near and dear to my heart. I am a freelance writer by trade and, in case you haven’t noticed, money is pretty important around these parts. You’ve got to be careful with both writing and your cash. For this edition of What’s Up Wednesdays, we take a look at the businesses of words and monetary gains.
If you’d like to be featured in a future edition of What’s Up Wednesdays, I suggest that you follow me on Twitter. It’s usually on there that I post a call out for submissions.
Kathryn Vercillo kicks us off with 20 great things about dating a writer. Valentine’s Day is only a few short days away, so there is a little bit of love in the air. Reason number eight? “Writers are really passionate.” Yes. Yes we are.
Buzz Bishop continues this Valentine’s Day theme not by telling us about cupid and his arrow-shooting ways. Instead, Buzz is a little more pragmatic with his list of the ten worst Valentine’s Day presents. Via a collaboration with Meg Fowler, they have decided to avoid roses and teddy bears. And herpes. Herpes is bad.
Chris Bibey is a highly respected freelance writer and he has a very simple piece of advice for anyone trying to break into the business: Make sure you work. Under the social isolation of a freelance business, it can be pretty easy to get distracted with online games and YouTube videos. You need to stay on task if you hope to make any kind of career out of this.
RT Cunningham provides us with a reminder that we may not want to hear. It’s income tax season again and this can be a great source of headache and heartache for a lot of people. To make matters worse, RT reminds us of the farce of personal income taxes. If you were paying attention during school, you will remember that income tax was supposed to be temporary. What ever happened to that?
Nicholas Mercer wraps things up by combining the business of writing with the discussion of cash. No matter how you choose to live your life, you need to do what you love and love what you do. Life is too short to punish yourself for forty hours each and every week. It’s not worth the money. Just do what you love… and I love writing.
Filed under Money.
[...] like to point out that my recent post on reasons to date a writer was included in a fun roundup of Valentine’s Day writing posts that also included posts of Valentine’s presents, the business of freelancing and the value [...]
Excellent points. You gotta do what you LOVE to do. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Sometimes you do what you have to if you need money. That is the way it is today for a lot of people.
It’s sad to see a lot of people doing something for the sake of money and not enjoying it. Life is short.
All great points, while I also see being persistent and never giving up as a big part of doing the freelance writing. My wife writes children’s stories and some travel articles but finds it very hard to be positive when you get rejected enough times.
Had no idea you were a freelance writer. I’ve actually never visited the root of your domain until now though.
Well, now you know. And knowing is half the battle?
Yeah, if you expect him to ever hire you
Is there a big demand for freelance writers? I’ve always wondered about doing it myself, but didn’t know if it would be worth my time or not.
There will always be a demand for writers, since there are so many places where they are needed (blogging, press releases, product descriptions, SEO content, magazines, newspapers, etc.), but there will always be a lot of writers looking to fill those positions.
avoid roses and teddy bears. And herpes. Herpes is bad.
Heh, thanks for the clarification on that last one there
Roses are a bit old school… what’s the modern socially acceptable and hip flower to give in 2009?
Not a clue! I don’t see anything wrong with being a bit old-school once in a while though…goes right along with the giving of jacket, opening doors, etc – they tend to like that sometimes
I’ve since found out after asking on Twitter, roses are only acceptable after the third date. lol
Why would you buy flowers before that anyway?
Flowers on the first date? I thought that stopped when I was in high school. I do 1 rose for my wife on Valentines Day and do something that we both like. The rose is nice, but doing something together makes your SO feel better and remember it more.
I liked the “20 Great Things About Dating a Writer.” They weren’t all true to my experience, but were amusing and interesing just the same!
That list reminded me of Larry David, and how he’s the complete opposite of everything listed there. But that’s what makes him awesome!