High-Income Business Writing Podcast by Ed Gandia

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

[image: Ed Gandia High Income Business Writing]Tom Bentley mentioned Ed Gandia in a recent post. If you’re looking for freelance writing advice, I trust Tom’s judgment. Check Ed out.

Ed Gandia is a successful freelance copywriter, author, speaker and coach—and a great guy (at least from seeing, reading, and hearing him online). His The High-Income Business Writing podcast hosts informative writers talking on practical freelancing topics. He’s the co-author of the bestselling and award-winning book The Wealthy Freelancer, as well as the founder of the International Freelancers Academy.

Write with Your Heart, Edit with Your Head

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

[image: fountain]Writing has to flow, like water. Writers thirst.

Imagine, though, if you were dying of thirst (you are, you’re a writer) and the person holding the hose kept shutting it off so they could adjust something. Spurt of water; shut it off, adjust. Spurt of water, shut it off, adjust.

You’d strangle ‘em, screaming “Just give me the water!”

That’s what your heart is doing when you write slowly, methodically, with your head. Because you don’t write with your head, you write with your heart. You edit with your head.

No one but you will see your unedited words, so don’t worry about whether they’re perfect.

Because if you worry that they’re perfect, nobody but you will ever see your words, period.

How Long Does It Take to Write 1,000 Words?

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

[image: time . . . creeps . . . slowly . . . along]This week, for me, the answer is either 28 minutes, or 5 hours.

Earlier in the week I challenged myself to write 1,000 words as fast as I could type on each of my two mysteries. No pauses, no editing, don’t even think too much. Just type like mad.

I averaged 40wpm on each of them. Less than 30 minutes each to add another 1,000 words. While I only commit to 15 minutes of writing each day, I have a target of 1,000 words per novel.

One hour to do all the writing I needed to do for the day. Not bad.

Yesterday didn’t go so well.

… more … “How Long Does It Take to Write 1,000 Words?”

Ginger and the Captain Part 2 – from an Unpublished Work

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

[image: Ginger]Ginger had been sitting very still, looking through the kitchen door, hoping he could dash through the kitchen door when it was open and out through the dining room. But he could never tell when the door was going to open. Boom! It would open and someone would come through. Then it would just slam shut again.

He started to get worried and without realizing it he stood up. When he moved, the chef saw him out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and there was a cat in his kitchen! The chef screamed in Japanese and he threw a great big meat cleaver at Ginger. … more … “Ginger and the Captain Part 2 – from an Unpublished Work”

My Time to Write – Guest Post by Cheryl Campbell

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

In an email, Cheryl mentioned her writing schedule, and pointed out that she keeps it flexible. I asked her to tell us more about it.

[image: flexible schedule” width=”222″ height=”139″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-3488″ style=”border: none;]My writing routine typically works out that I am at the computer for a couple hours on Thursdays, hopefully an hour or so on Saturdays, and a few hours on Sundays. I spend several hours twice a week traveling and bouncing between airports. Couple this with long work days when I’m on the road and I do not sit down to write. Being out of town much of the week, my weekends are busy catching up with things around the house, doing errands, and prepping to fly out again on Monday.
… more … “My Time to Write – Guest Post by Cheryl Campbell”

Writing in Public: A Silkworm Instead of a Parachute

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

[image: happy landings!” width=”222″ height=”164″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-3493]A guitarist I once knew said he had a friend who wanted a band to play at his anniversary party.

I said “Take the gig, and we’ll put a band together.”

He blinked a couple times and said “I find your level of confidence disturbing.”

Since I grew up (at the age of 43) I’ve often leapt from airplanes with a silkworm instead of a parachute. It lends immediacy to the task.

I chickened out just a little and didn’t tell you about this until I was 11,000 words in, but I’m writing another light mystery, a 1,000-word chapter at a time, over on my personal blog. It’s called A Long Hard Look.

I have an idea where the story will go, just as when you leap from an airplane you’re fairly certain of your destination.

Getting there in one piece, though, is not a foregone conclusion.

Art is Love: The More You Give Away the More You Have

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

[image: bucket at the well]Since I’ve started a daily routine of writing come what may, I’ve noticed something.

The more ideas I spit out, the more I have.

In the past week, I’ve written 1,000 words a day on the sequel to Through the Fog. Another story forced its way into my head, and I’ve managed 1,000 words a day on that one as well.

The past few Februaries I haven’t participated in February Album Writing Month. But this year I’ve had so man song ideas I can’t bottle them up. Four written and recorded with another well on the way. Since I spend the 3rd week of every 3rd month writing 3 songs with my buddy Terry, I’ll be doing that whether I push for 14 songs at FAWM or not.

The well doesn’t run dry, it refills itself. The more art I create, the more wells up to be created.