Review of Kathleen Norris’s Latest

Read the review here.

Kathleen Norris seems to have a way of synthesizing the most intriguing topics.  Perhaps because she is also a poet, her writing is the type to mull over instead of read and forget.  I urge you to pick up one of her books.

Back to (Freelance) Basics

In May I went to a freelance writing workshop, and since then have left my job, started freelancing full time, and read several books on the subject. I read about business writing in a book I’d started in November; magazine and trade journal writing in Getting Started as a Freelance Writer by Robert W. Bly; how to break the rules in The Renegade Writer; and finally, all the basics and how to increase your salary in Six-Figure Freelancing. I’ve skimmed through books on magazine writing, query letters, and more.

But it all comes down to what is the easiest route. Now don’t get me wrong–I’ve never been one to look for the path of least resistance; I’m a (recovering, I hope) perfectionist and challenge-seeker. This is all good and well, but it does not work for starting a business. It results in a lot of thinking, dipping my toes in the water, and not a lot of completed efforts.

This week I’ve been thinking about what I learned at that workshop in May. In my opinion, the key is to learn one small step but not another until you’ve completed the first. So I’m returning to the basics:

1. Brainstorm ideas.
2. Match your ideas with markets.
3. Write query letters.
4. Follow-up with those query letters. Resubmit until your ideas find a home.

We can get nit-picky with the details of each step, but it boils down to finding an appropriate idea for the correct market and getting that idea out there. It does no good to think of ideas if you don’t find a magazine for them and write the query letters. Likewise, you can look at all the magazines in the world and through each listing in Writer’s Market, but unless you pitch an idea to the editor, you may as well not do anything.

This is why so many freelance writers recommend:

1. Keep it simple, Stupid.
2. Don’t reinvent the wheel.