Jen's Writing Journey

Welcome to the new home of Jen's Writing Journey, the blog that chronicles Jennifer Roland's writing life and provides useful information for new and seasoned writers.

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The Business of Writing

Distance Insulates Journalists
Have you ever gotten your hands on some ill-gotten research? Do you think it is okay for journalists to use less than legal methods of gathering information? Where would you draw the line?

Beware Bogus Literary Agents
Anne R. Allen brings us another great post. Here she helps her fellow writers avoid being scammed by a fake agent. Like many things in life, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. After you read her six tips, read the addendum, added in response to agent Janet Reid’s feedback.

RWA Mid-Day Summary
The ladies at Dear Author give a rundown of the rogue digital publishing seminar, including some interesting history and financial information.

A Lot of B.S.
Eric at Pimp My Novel describes the BookScan system and how it relates to your success as a writer.

Publishing with a Small Press
For some authors, it can be a good idea to go to a smaller press or an electronic press. You can get more personal attention, and your time lines might be shorter. Elle Scott shares her experiences to help you decide what type of publisher will meet your needs.

Craft

The Fine Art of Feedback
Joe Finder gives some great ideas to help you not only take feedback–both positive and negative–but also make sure you are soliciting useful feedback.

To Splice or Not to Splice
Heidi Thomas takes on the nasty comma splice in her post at The Blood-Red Pencil. She also brings up the interesting question of when it is okay to break the rules of grammar. Do you allow it more in your fiction? Can a skilled writer break the rules in nonfiction?

Fiction

Novice Novel Writer in Need
On Pop Culture Divas, a blog I absolutely love, a novice writer asked for some advice. Read her story, then check out the comments. How can you apply the advice to your own writing life?

How Many Is Enough?
Have you ever found yourself falling out of love with a series, as if you could feel the author losing interest in the characters with every page? Or have you bemoaned the loss of a beloved series too soon? L.J. Sellers discusses series length. (I also talked about this last year on my pop culture blog when I realized I was watching some shows out of habit.)

Freelancing

3 Tips for Taking Back Your Life
This post makes me so happy. I wish I had followed this advice earlier this year–that way I wouldn’t be feeling so overwhelmed. Oh well. You live and learn.

10 Tips for Kicking Ass as a Freelance Writer
James Chartrand gives some great writing tips in this post. They all seem to boil down to one key point: put yourself in your readers shoes, then get out of the way and tell the story. This is helpful advice for fiction and non-fiction writers.

65 New and Useful Posts for Brand New (and Veteran) Writers
Not done reading about writing? Here is a collection of great posts from the folks at Freelance Writing Jobs.

Enjoy!

• Writing Roundup, October 30: The Pre-Halloween, Post-Flu Edition I missed my Wednesday post because I was down for the count with the regular-old flu. The Business of Writing Craft Fiction Freelancing Platform The Business of Writing Special Video Interview Series with Chris Anderson Jeff Rivera got an exclusive video interview from Chris Anderson, proponent of the freemium model......
• Writing Roundup, July 10 I hope you are all having as productive a month as you would like it to be. This seems like such a good time to take a breather and go light on the writing projects. Not me, I always seem to have big deadlines in the summer. Maybe next year,......
• Writing Roundup, October 23 The Business of Writing Craft Fiction Freelancing Platform The Business of Writing Before You Sign That Publishing Contract Diane Craver guests at Writers Weekly to remind us to take time to read our publisher contracts, assess the points, and decide whether the contract is really right before we sign.......
• Writing Roundup, January 29 The Business of Writing Craft Fiction Freelancing Platform The Business of Writing Top Authors Await Ebook Bonanza The Times looks at how many British authors are waiting to sell their backlists on the long-awaited Apple tablet. (On a related note, I can't imagine that the price tag of the......
• Writing Roundup, September 11 Here is a handy table of contents that will help you quickly reach the topic of your choice. Let me know if you like it this way. The Business of Writing Craft Fiction Freelancing Platform The Business of Writing Freemium for Writers Is Two Debates Don Holloway provides interesting insight......

• Kiss and Tell: (Author Name) on Her Hero Kiss and Tell is going to be the start of a new series of posts here at Love Romance Passion. The idea came to me...
• you are reading the work of the greatest writer in the world OK, that may be jumping the gun but humor me and read on. Writing is something almost everyone does, but seldom have I taken a...
• Tips for Writing Your Blog Whether you are blogging for business applications, or for personal growth, the process of writing daily is a rewarding activity in many ways. The individual...
• Ask the Readers: What's Your Take on Paid Book Reviews? I got a request a couple of weeks ago from a company to see if I wanted to review a business book. I get a...
• My very, very best money-saving tip (UPDATE June 26th, 2008: NCN has reorganized the very, very best money-saving tips in a new post!) No Credit Needed is calling for everyone's very,...