Let’s be reasonable

I found the above solicitation on freelancer.com. This is, unfortunately, not an unusual solicitation for ghostwriting services. To those who may be new to my blog or to ghostwriting, let’s do the math and break this project down. The rate is $1 per 2,000 words...
Tropes, cliches, and crutches for lame literary devices

Tropes, cliches, and crutches for lame literary devices

On LinkedIn, a colleague who edits mysteries mentioned the usefulness of a false confessions to serve as red herrings in mystery novels. They’re clever devices that distract the reader (and the sleuth) from solving the case too soon. I commented on her post...
Campaign madness

Campaign madness

I generally don’t write on political topics—not because I don’t have opinions, but because no blog or meme or post anywhere is going to change anyone’s political opinion. Last week during my regular morning perusal of LinkedIn, one of the many...
Using both sides of my brain

Using both sides of my brain

Math and the humanities don’t necessarily go hand in hand, but many potential clients seem to assume a writer can’t perform simple math. I recently came across a solicitation from Above Story, an outfit that hires writer to produce fiction series. They...
Changing expectations

Changing expectations

When my best friend and I attend events as vendors, we often find ourselves criticizing our failure to predict human behavior. At first we were, perhaps, too enthusiastic and hopeful. When a potential customer said he or she would return later, hope surged. We soon...
Beat that deadline!

Beat that deadline!

Every industry has deadlines; some are more flexible than others. For a freelancer, deadlines are sacred. If you guarantee delivery by a certain time and/or date, then you’d better do whatever it takes to meet that deadline. Your reputation depends on it. How do...