Looking for a newsletter with paying markets?

If you haven’t yet subscribed to the Funds for Writers Newsletter, here’s a good reason to do it.

C Hope Clark has 3 free newsletters (http://www.fundsforwriters.com) which I would highly recommend as they contain some great paying markets and her editorials always make you want to stop procrastinating and get back to writing.

The TOTAL funds for writers newsletter is a paid-for one, normally available at $12. Hope’s offering it at 1/2 price for $6 (£3.50) upto Dec 31, 2007. If you are looking for high paying markets and can afford this expense, it may be a good investment. Here’s the page to sign up: http://www.fundsforwriters.com/total.html

I (as mentioned before on this blog) recommend Hope’s newsletters for their wit, inspiration and motivation. And oh yes, the markets she digs up. I’ve subscribed to the Total Funds newsletter. Fingers crossed for all the new markets that I hope it will bring!

Health for writers

Like most writers, if you are stuck to a desk all day, health tends to take a backseat. It’s easy to sit on a chair and ignore the weight gain, the lack of exercise, the failing eyesight. If this is an issue you’ve been ignoring, take a look at this really good post by Ryan Caldwell at Performancing.com which talks about 23 simple health tips for bloggers (applies to all writers, of course).

Read it and then take action. Do something for your health today.

Tackling the To-Do list

It’s the middle of September and my three page to-do list for the month sits forlonly, abandoned. I love making lists because they help you stay on track. But three pages? Just for writing? Even I’m daunted. Perhaps I’m being too ambitious, I tell myself. And as a result, I see the sheets of paper lying just at the periphery of my vision, untouched. There’s not a single job done from there.

All that changes today (where have I heard that before?!) The latest Funds for Writers newsletter brought me back to earth with Hope’s usual kick-in-the-butt editorial.

Hope talks about tackling procrastination by breaking things into smaller goals. Now, this is an old tip, but it needs an occasional reminder (and a forceful one such as this editorial really works) to put it into action.

From Hope’s editorial, here’s the challenge :

List what you expect to write by the end of the week.
List what you expect to submit by the end of the month.
List your goal for the end of the year.

That’s what I’m going to do right now. Disconnect the Internet, work out the first drafts of two articles due soon and tackle point 1, 2 and 3 on the To-do list.

As Hope, in her straightforward way says “Put your finger on what you want to do as a writer. If you don’t, nobody else will.”

Okay. Message received. Time to go to work.

That’s me. What’s stopping you?

Call for submissions for WB newsletter

Thanks to renewed interest from a new member, I am working on reviving the Writers’ Bloc newsletter. I already have an article in place for the next edition, but any contributions will be appreciated.

If you have any questions on writing which I could include in the newsletter, please email me or leave a comment.

Dealing with deadlines

If this is how a full-time freelancers life is, bring it on!

I love deadlines. That is the one thing that gets me writing – no two ways about it. Writer’s block, procrastination, doing the dishes…everything fades into insignificance at the thought of letting down an editor who is counting on an email due in her inbox with my words. What could be more important for a writer?

Having just submitted an article to deadline, I’ve begun working on two others. Then there’s the blog at Reading and Writing Lounge to update, and this one, and the personal blog. I’ve got two pages of Writing related ‘To-do’ lists to go through. And I’m loving every moment of it.

If you’re a writer, take a look at my posts on the Reading and Writing Lounge Blog : Essential reading for Writers, Finding writing markets online and Keeping a Reading Journal.

Any comments and suggestions for future posts are highly welcome.