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The 10 Best Articles for Writers (and Bloggers!) – November 2011

Carol Tice

I’m apparently in a practical mood this month — large number of “how-to” posts here for freelance writers and bloggers looking to learn more about their craft. Our winners this month are a tasty mix of well-known masters and fresh faces.

Enjoy!

  1. The 3-Step Cure for No-Sales Syndrome by Sonia Simone on Copyblogger. Some of the advice in this great post, I find myself saying to people all the time. I recently had a prospect with a 12,000-person email list ask me what they should be blogging about. “Have you asked your audience what they want from you?” I said. They hadn’t. Shoulda read this post. Read it now, and think about how it applies to pitching your freelance writing services.
  2. A New Way to Use Guest Blogging to Grow Your Blog by Onibalusi Bamidele of YoungPrePro, on Bloggingtips. If you don’t know Oni yet, he’s a very sharp teenage African blogger — just check out his Top 10 Blogs for Writers nominations over on Write to Done (see below for more info on that). Here, Oni documents the results of a guest post-a-thon he did recently.
  3. First, ten by Seth Godin on Seth’s blog. I’m not sure I’ve had Seth on my top 10 lists yet — what an oversight! I love the conciseness of Seth’s posts…still working on getting my own wordcount down. This post sums up pretty much all you need to know about product development in nine paragraphs.
  4. How to Change from a Social Media User Into a Social Media Leader by Dave Larson, @TweetSmarter, on KISSMetrics. Now that I’ve just finished up a social-media basics Webinar to conclude my How to Make Good Money Writing Online bootcamp, this post looks even more helpful than when I first read it. A great, quick advanced course on how to make your social media time truly productive.
  5. How to Create an Immersive Blog Experience by Marko Saric on How to Make My Blog. Here’s a new site (to me, anyway) that I discovered recently. I loved this post — there’s even demo videos that show you his blogging practices in action. NOTE: This post is no longer live.
  6. How to Show (Not Tell) – a Writing Lesson from John LeCarré by Mary Jaksch on Write to Done. I was browsing all the wonderful nominations for Top 10 Blogs for Writers 2012 this blog got (thanks all — and feel free to add yours, if you haven’t nominated yet!), when this post arrived on top of it. I think I don’t talk enough about writing skill and writing style around here, and reading this post will go a long way to make up that deficit. This post is also a great example of how we can draw ideas from whatever we’re doing in our personal lives to create a great post.
  7. How to Work From Home Without Going Insane by David Tate on Lifehacker. We can’t laugh enough in our precious, short time here on Earth, so I always love great, funny posts. This one outlines all the rewards and problems of being a home-based solopreneur in a sharp comedic style. I don’t write funny all that well or often, so I’m particular to posts that really pull it off.
  8. Most Freelance Writers Suck – 52 Ways to Make Sure That You Don’t! by Ruth Zive on The Freelance Writing Blog. Ruth’s been hanging around this blog, and in Freelance Writers Den, and learning tons about what makes a rippingly useful blog post and a sharp blog headline — read the results here. NOTE: The Freelance Writing Blog is no longer active.
  9. Need to Create? Get a Constraint by Jonah Lehrer on Wired.com. This fascinating post delves into the science behind a syndrome I discovered myself, both as a staff writer and a freelancer: Nothing concentrates the mind like a limit say, like, a deadline. Without that, your 500-word article could take two months to get done, hmm? Sort of explains how it is that some of us freelancers with three kids and a range of other responsibilities can still end up more productive than the rest of our writer friends.
  10. One Big Reason Why Commercial Writing Pays Better and Resists “Off-Shoring” (and Why this Other Kind of Writing Doesn’t…) by Peter Bowerman on The Well-Fed Writer. Fascinating dissection of what writing types will continue to earn American writers big money, and exactly why. A roadmap for anyone wondering how to keep earning well as the downturn drags on…and on…and on.

Read any good articles for writers lately? Feel free to add more links in the comments.

Tune in next month, when I unveil my first-ever Best Articles for Writers of the Year post, where I’ll pick the best articles from all my monthly compendiums — plus maybe a pick or two from December — to create one best-of-the-best list. If you don’t already, subscribe and you won’t miss it.



 

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