The Importance of Being Polished

In this wonderful world of website writing, too much concentration is placed on quantity over quality. The instantaneous nature of the Internet makes us writers feel a false sense of rush. Constant communication, whizzing emails, and punctuated publishing schedules can make any writer dizzy to the point of writing disaster!

It is imperative the art of writing is not forsaken for the function of writing; for the writer the function is producing income. Being a polished writer takes a disciplined approach to editing of all writing pieces. Most successful online writers are adept at instantly spotting spelling mistakes, and grammatical goofs. How many use editing time to improve clarity, word choice, and structure?

It can be difficult to see more value in a writing piece over and above the price tag or advertising revenue it will bring in. Spending more than an hour or two of writing time on $30 article isn’t cost effective. However, taking an extra 15 minutes on those $30 articles is what lands you the $50 per article contracts, and then the $100 per article contracts, etc.

Working at Walt Disney World, I learned a valuable business lesson. Walt Disney was adamant about preserving the guest’s magical experience. If Little Johnny drops an ice cream cone, as a cast member it was my responsibility to walk Little Johnny to the nearest ice cream vendor, explain the situation, and give Little Johnny a new ice cream cone gratis. The Walt Disney World Company realizes most families spend thousands of dollars on their Disney vacations. Why quibble over squeezing an extra $3.50 from Mom and Dad because Little Johnny is screaming over a dropped ice cream cone, when they could keep everyone happy and make sure the family will return another year?

Writers need to realize you only get one chance to impress the client. Most online writers will tell you, quality clients are repeat buyers. If you under deliver in any way, you lose a chance at future income. In many ways, the small time investment writers expend to truly make an article pop, will save large amounts of time on self-promotion to bring in new business. Not only will you have a happy customer willing to commission more writing projects, but also a happy customer who refers your writing service to all of her friends and colleagues. That, is worth much more than an extra 15 minutes on low budget writing projects.

Always Smiling,

Elizabeth Ann West

Writuals

I recently read an article about Irish writers, courtesy of one of my editors. You can read the article too, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7340217.stm.

After reading the article, I thought about my own writing rituals, and decided there must be something written from a new generation of web writers perspective. None of this stodgy, old “I write from my study and long for my typewriter,” nostalgia. I will answer the questions as if I was interviewed, and invite other web based writers to do the same in their blog or comment space.

Where are you?

I am currently sitting on my chaise lounge in my living room. I work all over my house; kitchen table, bed, even the floor on occasion. If I am not at home, I am at the nearest cafe with free wifi.

What are you writing with?

It’s just Shiba and me! I have a Toshiba Satellite M115, which is both very affordable and highly functioning. It’s been all over the world with me, and too often acted as my only portal to the outside world. This is my first foray into the laptop world, though my trusty desktop is now my stepson’s domain. It will be a sad day when I am forced to upgrade in a few years, but shhhhh! don’t tell Shiba I’m already drooling over Air.

What’s the oddest object in front of you?

A Crown Royal purple velvet bag with gold trim that holds all of my pencils and pens. It’s a left over from college daze, and prior to its job as an impromptu pencil box, it was the Scrabble letter holder. My entire “office” is portable.

What are you listening to?

Queens of the Stone Age “Sick Sick Sick” Nothing makes me more productive than hard rock and alternative music. Earlier when I was working on my website I was listening to Panic! At the Disco’s latest album. It’s catchy. I also listen to big band and classical music as well, but I like songs with words because it keeps my brain happy that it is multi-tasking.

Is there anyone else in the room with you?

Yes, my dear husband is taking apart an old stereo to fix buttons that were mashed in by our cross country move. What can I say, he is an Electronics Technician in the Navy, and I suspect secretly misses maintainence on the boat. Every weekend he is fiddling with something or other, whether it’s a computer, stereo, or some other electronic device. You should have seen the comedy routine that ensued when we both attempted to fix our dishwasher! Thankfully, water is easily mopped up, but it was still a ton of laughs.

What time of day is it?

Almost dead noon on a Sunday. Perfect time for blogging.

What do you look at when you’re looking for inspiration?

I am comfortable pressing Ctrl-S and browsing other websites for information, and inspiration. I also like to look outside at my trees, or the little lizards who live under our back step, because it is such a switch from the technology that surrounds me. But 5 minutes of nature and I’m ready to go back to the environmentally controlled room with blinking lights and screens.

What is guaranteed to remove your concentration?

Video games and Harry Potter fan fiction. I truly love video games, especially the new genre of casual games. If you don’t know what a casual game is, think Yahoo Games and Big Fish Games, where you get that hour tease, and then must pay anywhere from $6.99 to $19.99 for the rest of the game. The game developers are genius I tell you! If J. K. Rowling’s Achilles heel was minesweeper, mine is any time management or puzzle game. But, you can have all of those hidden object games all to yourself, they are too easy.

Okay, there is my interview as a web writer. I hope others will take my challenge and answer the interview questions on their own. It will be interesting to see a profile of a new generation of writers emerge.

***********As promised, I am adding links to anyone else who rises to the interview challenge.

My good friend AVThompson from Constant-Content answered the same questions on her blog, at avthompson.wordpress.com

Welcome to the Blog of EAWestWriting.Com

This blog is a new extension of my writing website, E.A. West Writing Services. I will begin this blog as a way to chronicle my growing writing business, and perhaps as an extension on writing projects I find particularly moving or interesting.

Thanks for stopping by and I will try to add more posts soon.

Always Smiling,

Elizabeth Ann West