writing Archives - Page 8 of 12

January 26, 2015

How MY Blogging Saved Someone’s LIFE

Sometimes bloggers wonder if their words truly have an impact on others.

I am pleased to report that mine did, and are continuing to do so.

It’s true. I have actually helped save lives!

In fact, I recently saved someone’s life. Seriously.

How I Learned I Saved Someone’s Life

I received a letter in my inbox a while ago. Apparently, a suicidal teenager read a post I wrote about the time I tried killing myself. (Wording Well is unique because it contains personal posts from when this site used to be called Lorraine Reguly’s Life, before I found my niche — I guess I should say “niches,” as I have three: writing, blogging, and freelancing — and before I had direction as a services provider and business owner.)

Anyway, getting back to this teenager…

She contacted me through my contact page form. She granted me permission to post her first two emails to me, as long as I didn’t use her name. Naturally, I agreed. I even sent her a copy of this post before publishing it to double-check that she’d be okay with what was published.

This is what she wrote: Read More

January 1, 2015

Resources for #Writers (#Authors and #Freelancers)

Resources for writers are plentiful. You can find almost anything using Google!

That said, there are too many writing resources to list here, but I’d like to point out that this is one of the most comprehensive lists for writers of all types — freelancers and authors alike. great one for bloggers, freelancers, and authors alike:

The following post is also a great one for bloggers, freelancers, and authors: Google Authorship: The Complete Handbook for Getting Respect, Readers, and Rankings.

Because freelancing is a business, here’s a list of 55 directories you can submit your business profile to: The Most Important Local Business Directories for SEO.

The following lists of resources are very useful.

>>>Go to top of Writing Resources
>>>Go to top of Freelance Resources
>>>Go to top of Author Resources

WRITING RESOURCES

The Top 55 Apps for Writers in 2016

The 120 Most Helpful Websites For Writers in 2015

10 Awesome Editing Tips + 10 Best Editing Tools for #Writers and #Bloggers

8 Great Writing Tools to Keep You Motivated to Write

Some FUN Writing Tools to Get You In the #writing Mood

>>>Go to top of Writing Resources
>>>Go to top of Freelance Resources
>>>Go to top of Author Resources

Check out this fabulous list of #writing resources!

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FREELANCE RESOURCES

Here is a list of free freelance resources that will help you start earning money from your writing:

30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success

Freelancer’s Survival Guide

Security Tips for Freelance Writers and other #Entrepreneurs

How To Earn More From Your Writing: The Simple Yet Neglected Secret

100+ Websites That Pay Writers

7 Websites that List Freelance Writing Opportunities

57 Blogs That Will Pay You $50 or More

30 Sites that Will Pay to Write for Them, Right Now.

20 Awesome Tools To Use When Joining The Freelance World As A Blogger

192 Publications That Actually Pay Freelance Writers

Articles about freelancing worth reading:

Why Submitting a Resumé Might Not Get You the Job

What to Do When Your Freelance Blogging Career Is Going Nowhere

How I Have Created Strong Client Relationships

>>>Go to top of Writing Resources
>>>Go to top of Freelance Resources
>>>Go to top of Author Resources

Check out this fabulous list of #freelancing resources!

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AUTHOR RESOURCES

Here is a list of free writing resources for authors and aspiring authors (and self-publishers):

All About Self-Publishing

Discoverability Series

Advice for Writers: a list of posts by author Mike Wells

How to Be a Writer: 201 Compelling Tips

Free Resources for Writers

How To Make Your Own Free Book Cover In MS Word

I’ve Written a Book, How Do I Publish It?

From Word to Jutoh: Ebook Creation Made Easy and Getting Started With Jutoh: A List of Resources and a Cheat Sheet

Amazon Author Central Refresher Course

Advertising on Goodreads

How to Prepare a Novel for Publication in Ten Sort-of-easy Steps

How to Develop an Elevator Pitch for Your Book

What’s an Elevator Pitch for Your Book?

How to Hire an Editor, Part 1: Know What You Need

How to Hire an Editor, Part 2: Ask Questions

How to Check Your eBook Formatting before Pushing the Publish Button

How to Make Your Book Signing Event Completely Successful

How to Write a News Release

How to Make a Quick But Usable Cover in Publisher

How to Plan and Execute a Blog Tour

Writing Your Bio

eBook Formatting 101

A Helping Hand…dot dot dot, dash dash dash…S.O.S! (note that CMOS refers to Chicago Manual of Style)

Formatting the Look Inside (feature on Amazon)

Have others promote your book – How to get Reviews

How to price your Indie book

Uploading Your Book to the Google Play Store

How To Make Life Easy For Librarians So Your Book Gets In Libraries

5 Reasons Your Blog Needs A Kindle Book

Analysis: 16 Kindle Book Marketing Strategies (Dissected and Graded)

How to Publish an eBook: 5 Steps to Successful Self-Publishing

Check out this fabulous list of #author resources!

Click to tweet

Other writing resources:

Practical Typography

Some fun Tools for you to Use:

Pacemaker (a writing tool to help you plan your progress and amount of words you need to write)

Written, Kitten! (to give you the boost you need!)

Pomodoro Timer

8 Great Writing Tools to Keep You Motivated to Write

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>>>Go to top of Writing Resources
>>>Go to top of Freelance Resources
>>>Go to top of Author Resources

Please don’t forget to share this post!

Did You Know You Could Become a Freelance Editor?

Being a freelance editor, in my opinion, is even better than being a freelance writer. First of all, it pays more. Secondly, it is the best job I could ever ask for. I love editing, I love words, and I love helping others. Finally, I love reaping the many rewards (check out the many benefits of being a freelance editor).

If you are not currently working at your dream job and want to be a freelance editor, then sign up to get on the “interest list” for my upcoming course!

I am in the process of designing a course that will teach you EVERYTHING about being a work-from-home editor and entrepreneur.

This includes:

– how to get paid up-front… ALWAYS! (before you do any work)

– how to get testimonials

– how to market yourself

– where to find work

– how to leverage social media for your business (because, YES, you will be actually running a business if you are successful!)

– how to keep accurate records

– how to easily calculate your costs

– how to communicate with potential clients so they turn into ACTUAL clients

– how to organize your time (so you can complete all of the tasks involved in running your biz)

– how to deal with difficult clients

– which projects to accept

– when to raise your rates

– AND MORE! (INCLUDING BONUSES!)

Plus, I want to get to know you so that I can give you EXACTLY what you need to succeed!

So, DO you want to know more about how to become a freelance editor?

If so, SIGN UP HERE.

December 29, 2014

2014: A Year to Remember #yearinreview

No doubt about it. 2014 was a year to remember.

I learned and accomplished a lot in 2014. But there were a few bad things I endured, too, which I’ll share with you today.

I’ll also let you know what’s coming up in 2015, for Wording Well, for you, and for me. Read More

November 24, 2014

Readability: How “Readable” is YOUR Writing?

Is your writing “readable”? How do you know?

To introduce the concept of readability, I have some more questions for you.

Have you ever used “big” words in an attempt to seem smarter than you are? Have you ever looked up a word in the dictionary . . . and then had to look up the words found in its definition?

I can see most of you nodding your heads. I can see a few smiles, too. 😉

Now let me ask you:

Have you ever wondered if the words you choose to use are too difficult for others to read and/or understand?
Have you ever wondered what others really think of your writing (whether it’s found in a blog post, an ebook, a novel, an essay, an article, etc.)?
Have you ever read something that was hard to understand (because of all the words you didn’t know the definitions to)?

I bet all of your answers to these questions are “yes.”

But . . . do you know what “readability” really is?

What this post on readability will do for you

This post will:

teach you what readability is
discuss some history behind how readability is measured
indicate the different methods for how readability can be measured
give you links to the free, online readability calculators that writers, bloggers, and freelancers should use
two additional articles you can read to expand your mind, and
it will also mention a brief announcement from Wording Well

You NEED to Consider Readability

Have you ever seriously contemplated the readability of your blog post, books, or articles, and then tailored your writing to your specific audience?

If you are shaking your head shamefully, that’s okay; most people don’t.

Perhaps you didn’t know what to do. Perhaps you didn’t know that you could check the readability of your text.

Perhaps – and this is the more likely option – you’ve never really considered what readability means, how it affects your readers, and how important it actually is.

If you are an author, blogger, writer, freelancer, student (or wannabe author, blogger, writer, freelancer or student), there are a few critical things you should know about readability.

What is Readability?

Readability is the measure of written language that makes it easy to read and understand.

Readability tests, which are mathematical formulas, were designed to assess the suitability of books for students at particular grade levels or ages. They were also meant to save time – because before the formula were used those decisions were made on recommendations of educators and librarians who read the books. These people were taking books already written and figuring out who were the appropriate reading groups.~ Source: All About Readability

The tests were intended to help educators, librarians and publishers make decisions about purchase and sale of books.

Readability, however, is dependent upon many characteristics: age, race, culture, and education. The use of slang also plays a part in readability. I think we all know that each culture (heck, even each generation!) has its own slang words or phrases!

Slang

Slang refers to a type of language that consists of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people. To brush up on or learn some American slang, I’d recommend opting to get 10 randomly chosen slang expressions from their database. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll learn!

Of the 288 factors that were identified, format or design factors were found to be among the three most important clusters of contributors to making a text easier or more difficult to read.

Reading and Writing

One of the reasons I love reading and writing stems from my love for word. When I read and write, I get to be exposed to more words!

When I encounter a word I’ve never heard of, I look it up so that I can add it to my lexicon. I also try to use it correctly in a sentence.

These two practices are something most teachers instruct their students to do in elementary school, and, in fact, were taught to me by my teachers.

They have stuck with me throughout the years, too. I love adding words to my lexicon, and I love using those words properly. When I am writing, I often search for synonyms to use to enhance my writing. However, I try not to use too many “big” words, for two reasons:

Most people won’t understand what I’m saying.
Keeping things simple makes for a more widespread understanding. Most people are not university educated (like I am). Many people cannot read complex sentences. Some people cannot read at all. (Of course, those people won’t be reading this!)

Literacy Statistics

It is estimated that 17-20% of the people in the world cannot read or write. Read More

October 28, 2014

I’m Going Into Hiding (sort of) + I’m seeking Beta Readers, too!

Guess what? I have a few announcements to make today.

This post is kind of like a True Tales Tuesday post crossed with a social media status update, but I figured that I owed it to you to tell you about what’s going on in my life, and what I have been doing for the last month or so… because I’ve been a bit ill, tired, and neglectful of some of my blogger friends.

In keeping with my own suggestions of what to do when you’re a blogger who is sick, I wanted to be transparent with you and tell you what’s happening, what’s been happening, and what’s going to happen in the next little while in my life.

I’ll give you the bad news first, just to get it out of the way, then I’ll move onto the good stuff.

First of all, I’ve been tired lately. A lot. I’m so tired that I’m even thinking of going into hiding… and am… sort of.

In the last month or so, I’ve been helping with renovations to one of the bedrooms at my mom’s house, editing an ebook for Max Ivey (the blind guy whom I interviewed, who is also the man behind The Blind Blogger), writing a series for Dear Blogger (on how to put yourself out there on the internet and how to be seen as an authority), Wording Well, Laying It Out There, and… I’ve been under the weather with a cold that just won’t seem to go away.

But that’s not all.

Wording Well is becoming licensed!

I’ve also been trying to get things in order business-wise, as I’m going through the end-of-year review process with ODSP (the Ontario Disability Support Program), whom I have to report my earnings to (well, if I want them to continue helping me pay my rent and stuff, which I do). They’re great, and are helping me get set up in another program, for women entrepreneurs. I’ve been to three meetings/appointments already, and I have more to go to. On the upside, I am putting together a business plan and will soon be registered as a licensed business!

Yes, I’m getting exhausted! Running a business by yourself is hard. Most people have support, but I’m a one-woman show, folks, and I’m tired. It doesn’t help that my leg has been giving me problems, either, but I think it’s my fault — I shouldn’t have been painting and standing on it for so long. However, I’m happy I have my leg and didn’t lose it in my accident. Of course, attending all these meetings is not helping my leg much, either. 🙁

What also doesn’t help is having technical problems like testing out a new plugin and running into problems that aren’t even connected to the plugin. That added stress is something I surely could have done without!

I also am supposed to have a new book coming out in December, but I’m not even close to completion. Ugh. The good news is that my Media Kit for Risky Issues is pretty much finished.

I Am Seeking Beta Readers

What I’m going to do, in honour of November being National Novel Writing Month (#NaNoWriMo), is go into hiding, to work. That means I’m not going to be too active on social media, I’m going to be commenting less on others’ blogs, and I’m going to try to focus on finishing my book.

I’m going to be looking for a few beta readers for Letters to Julian, too.

If you want to be one, please let me know.

I’m not sure when it’ll be finished, or how long it’ll be. What it will be is a collection of letters I’ve written to my son over the years. I’m a single mom, and I’m not perfect. I’ve been a crappy mother to him on many occasions, and I carry a lot of guilt about that. Of course, there have been a lot of good times, too, and these days my son assures me he’s over the bad parts. I’ll give you more information as I progress with this project.

For now, I’m going to post some “fun” posts while I’m “gone” but will begin with an installment of the FITS series, next Tuesday. I am committed to continuing to serve my faithful readers, even though interactions online may be somewhat limited.

Knowing me, I’ll end up getting so into things that I’ll probably be active regardless, but if I’m not, I want you to know beforehand WHY I’m not around.

So there you have it. I’m going into hiding… to work.

I’m expanding my services, too!

Because I don’t think I do enough (yeah, that’s sarcasm!), I am also going to be expanding the services I offer. I’m going to be offering consulting services for struggling and/or newbie bloggers, as well as different purchase packages for blog posts. (I’m sure Greg will like that!)

I’m also going to be blogging more about my life on my other site, Lorraine Reguly: Laying It Out There, where True Tales Tuesdays and Featured Fridays are moving to (they used to be found on this site, and some are still found in the archives here), so if you like those kinds of posts, please follow that blog instead of this one — or in addition to this one! 😉

I also wanted to wish my American friends a Happy Thanksgiving (Canadians celebrated theirs earlier this month) and a Happy Halloween, to everyone. I am not too sure of what I should be saying to my readers from other parts of the world, as I don’t know a lot about your cultures, but you can educated me in the comments section, if you want.

I’m still going to be giving away some free editing to one lucky winner, so please don’t forget about the opportunity to win free editing!

I also wanted to mention that I need a hug. I do. I could probably use something else, too… but I had better not say what THAT is… LOL

I’ll leave it to your imaginations. 😉

See you on a limited basis in Novemeber, over here, but hopefully more on my other site, Laying It Out There.

Don’t forget to let me know (either in the comments or privately through my Contact page form) if you want to be a beta reader for Letters to Julian. Thanks!