Ghost writers are writers for hire who take money but none of the credit for the work produced. The original writer, or author, is hiring the ghost as a freelance writer
How to write
Meet the Freelance Writer: Kevin Stewart
Freelance writer Kevin Stewart has more than 1000 published pieces and 200 million views to his name. In our interview, he spills the secrets to his success with countless tips and insights.
Top 10 Hot Topics to Pitch to Editors at Health & Fitness Magazines
Today, Health and Fitness publications are booming. This makes them great places to pitch freelance articles. Learn how with these top tips.
Top 10 Hot Topics to Pitch to Editors at Home Improvement Magazines
Freelancing for home improvement magazines requires you to tap into readers’ desire to improve the appearance and luxuries of their personal living spaces.
Writing Sleuths – Pet Detectives
This article defines the role of a pet detective, their skill set and tools, and techniques writers can apply to develop such a character.
The Writing Style of Agatha Christie
The works of Dame Agatha Christie are still a part of popular culture. In a writing career lasting more than 55 years, she wrote 72 novels (66 mystery novels and 6 romance novels) and 15 short story collections – a body of work that remains unparalleled in any genre
Write a Story Starting With I Always Thought That I Would
Learn how to start a story with ‘I Always Thought That I Would.’ This prompt can be very useful to help you start your creative short story.
12 POINT CHECKLIST FOR WRITING FEATURE ARTICLES
Don’t pitch your article without using our checklist. Our 12 point checklist makes sure you have all your bases covered before writing your feature article.
How to Write a Detective Novel
Writing a detective novel requires careful story planning, clues, criminals, and motives. Check out our 13 detective novel building blocks to get started.
Writing a Video Game Script – Write the Game
Writing a video game script is very different to writing a movie script or a novel. Firstly you have to contend with different choices taking you through different routes, and secondly you have to deal with the limitations of game programming.
Writing an Author Bio – Examples of Professional Bios
Learn to write an attractive author bio by following the six rules of author biographies and our breaks down of two professional sample bios.
Opportunities to Write Articles for Sports Magazines
So what sorts of articles are sports magazines looking for? Most publications welcome ideas, feature articles,and reviews from freelance writers.
5 Tips for Writing Authentic Crime and Legal Fiction
To write a good crime story, a writer needs to have credibility. You don’t have to be a cop or lawyer to write about crime or criminal law with authenticity
How to Write for Nostalgia Magazines
There are a number of ways you can construct your writing for nostalgia magazines to make it appealing. You could get together some old pictures and write a story around them. If the pictures are your own – great
The Secret To Grant Proposal Writing Success
In my position working in programming for one of the country�s major foundations, I reviewed many many grant proposals.
Basic Structure for a Three Act Movie Screenplay
Three act movie screenplays are the most popular structure of screenplays written today. So, the good news is that you need not write something as complex as the structure of a five-act
Finding Age Appropriate Words When Writing For Children
Writing in general can be a tough business; writing for children is even tougher. Writing for children requires you to use words that are age appropriate.
10 Tips For Better Proofreading
The title in this article should grab your attention for one of two reasons: you are interested in being a proofreader or you notice the language is inappropriate.
Test Your Proofreading Skills: Complete This Exercise
Many proofreading exercise make the mistake of confronting the trainee proof reader with errors in abundance. Every other line contains a spelling error, grammatical gaffe or stylistic slip-up. In reality, however, you’re unlikely to find more than two or three errors
Proposal Writing Samples Don’t Tell the Whole Story
Proposal writing samples or examples you find in a web search seem to offer a quick and easy way to prepare a proposal
The Purpose of the Science Fiction Novel
Where fantasy goes into uncharted territory, the kind of story that couldn’t exist, science fiction, a term made famous by the likes of Philip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov, and Robert Heinlein, goes into charted territory.
How to Write the Best Query Letter
If you plan on submitting an article for publication, the query letter is your new best friend. Written more frequently than any paying piece, this short letter is your chance to shine to the editor.
Don’t Fall Into a Query Letter Quandary!
He wrote the book on how to write killer query letters. In this interview, author John Wood shares his knowledge based on 17 years of working as an editor.
How to Write the Perfect Pitch!
If you are reading this then you are either looking for information on how to write a query letter or your curiosity has been exited by the heading
Scriptwriting: The Five Key Points of Story Structure
One thing is true of all stories. They all have a beginning, middle and end. Film scripts typically run from 100 to 120 pages with each page representing about a minute of screen time
9 Steps to Write the Best Short Story
Whenever I begin a short story, I remind myself of two things: to try to get in touch with readers’ senses as much as possible by writing something to see, hear, touch, smell, taste, and feel (emotionally), and to try to keep nine points, specifically, in mind when writing my story in hopes of composing a tightly-written story that sticks in readers’ minds. Those nine points are as followed
Oil and Gas Writers: 4 Secrets For Success
Writing for the oil and gas industry is different than typical marketing or business writing for the following reasons:
Pick a Writing Niche, Any Writing Niche
Unless you’ve been working in a small town, doing bits and pieces of different types of legal work for everyone, it’s quite likely you’ve become a specialist of some sort
Plotting in Storytelling
And if there are no rules, why on earth would anyone want to write about the writing process? If there are no rules, what is the point in scripting an article such as this one?
6 Reasons Prose Writers Should Attempt Poetry
As part of my MFA program, I was told I had to take a class outside of my comfort zone, which happens to be in fiction. I signed up for a poetry class not expecting to like it
Power Writing Skills: What’s Your Readability Score?
You may write fine memos, reports, or literally any other kind of document. But, if no one reads what you�ve written, there is no chance you�ll get your audience to respond
How to Prepare Email Queries
While some editors still prefer paper queries sent by surface mail, an increasing number prefer e-mail queries.
How to Write a Successful Query
As editors become increasingly swamped with inappropriate manuscripts, more and more publications are closing their doors to unsolicited submissions.
How to Write an Article for a Student Magazine
Here’s how to write an article for a student magazine that really sings, drawing on your own experience to provide interesting first hand material.
How To Write Follow-Up Articles For News Outlets – 3-Step Guide
If you have a good story that is relevant to the issue, provides fresh perspective and is different from what the news outlet or any of their rivals are likely to have, then you have an excellent chance of seeing your byline the next day.
How To Write Gardening Articles: Tips For Gardeners And Writers
Believe or not, my first published article – and one of the first things I ever had published – was about gardening. There’s a good demand for garden-related bits…. grow your own is back in fashion…. and it’s not too technical, so it’s a good place to get started. Here are a few tips to help you.
How To Write Great Children’s Poetry & Rhyming Stories
Children love rhyme. The rhythm of the text, the way the words bounce off the tongue can be especially appealing to young children who are mastering language and reading
How To Write Like A Journalist – 4 Key Elements
In a hard-hitting news story, there is no room for opinion, advice, humor or commentary. Most importantly, you should dispense with flowery writing and twinkling prose.
How to Write News Articles for Your Local Newspaper: 4 Things Freelancers Must Know
The key to freelance journalism is to keep plugging away with quality work so that the editor will always have time for you.
Magazine Writing – How to Write Winning Query Letters
While there are many online writing gigs to be found, magazine writing still offers the most lucrative pay for journalists and other nonfiction writers.
7 Important Tips in Business Writing
Letter writing is a form of communication. Thoughts, feelings, opinions and intentions are written clearly so that the reader will fully understand what exactly you wish to say
How to Write an Informative Restaurant Review
Writing a restaurant review is a fun way to share your thoughts and impressions about your dining experience. To write an informative review, you need to have knowledge about what key points you should include in your review.
Inspired by JK Rowling – How Do Generation Y Writers Make Big Money?
It starts off with a book, an adventure, and then as a young person you want to read more and more adventures, be it Harry Potter or any other kind of fantasy, sci-fi, young-adult, urban and so on.
Traveling Jobs – Learn How to Write Travel Articles and Holiday Reviews
A dream of many writers is to get traveling jobs and travel for free. In this article you can learn how to write great travel articles and holiday reviews..
How to Journal – Where to Begin
The keeping of a personal journal has been a pursuit of human society for many hundreds of years. Here’s how to start writing your journal today.
Five Tips for a Successful Music Review
Writing an informative and captivating music review can be a challenging task. Here a 5 helpful tips to writing a successful music review.
Don’t Lose Readers, Get the Narrative and Dialogue Balance Right
A good story deserves a good narrative-to-dialogue balance to keep your audience enthralled and turning those pages. How do you get the balance right? Read the following article to find out how.
Ghost Writing Tips – 6 Ways to Eliminate Procrastination
Procrastination is the enemy for self-employment as a ghost writer. Read the following article for 6 need-to-know tips on conquering your procrastination tendencies & writing for success.
Grant Writing Jobs – A High Demand Writing Career
If you love to write, are highly organized, and enjoy working for a good cause, grant writing may be the perfect career for you. With more than 1.5 million nonprofits and thousands more organizations depending on grants in the United States alone, grant writers are in high demand. Read the following article for tips on how to break into this industry.
Creative Writers – Horror Writing
What kind of horror story do you want to write? Your options are as wide open as the type of ‘monster’ you wish to create. Here are tips on writing within the horror genre
Copywriting – How Copywriters Use Weasel Words to Bend the Truth
Copywriters use weasel words to plant an idea in readers’ minds that is bigger than the actual claim being made. Here is how they do it.
Freelance Proofreading – The Real World!
If you have particular skills and expertise in a certain area, then follow that tracks through. I loved education, so it still remains my major proofing interest. I made up flyers and placed them in universities or city writing centres, anything was worth a try.
Freelance Writers – A Dozen Ways to Stay Focused on Your Writing
Schedule your writing for YOUR most productive time of the day. For example, don’t leave your writing for the very last thing at night if you’re an early bird who is most productive in the mornings yet tends to get worn out by 9:00 p.m.
Freelance Writers – How to Package Services So Clients Will Be Clamoring to Buy Them From You
Many freelance writers don’t realize it, but the skills they possess are literally worth thousands of dollars. They are uniquely positioned to take the marketing knowledge they possess and turn it into a cash-generating machine. Following is how and why.
Freelance Writing – A Medium to Generate Income
There are many freelance writers writing for various newspapers, magazines and other editorials. One can really make a sound income
Freelance Writing For Magazines
Writing for magazines is a great place to freelance because you can earn a good paycheck writing cover stories, features, how-to articles, interview pieces, product or travel destination reviews, and other types of articles. Here’s how you can create a successful career in magazine writing.
Writing Vividly: the Power of Description
The literary market always has a demand for descriptive articles and short stories. A writer’s success in any line of literary work depends largely upon his power of description. It pays to have the skills to describe well, to paint vividly and accurately in words, any scene from memory or imagination.
Finding Success in Writing – The Beginning
With the success of many authors, poets and creative writers, many teachers continue to stress the importance of writing
Five Golden Rules for Writers
Regardless of what sort of writer you are and how much you love to write, there are probably days when you’d rather clean ditches than face another blank page.
Practical Advice on Writing the Biographical Novel
Many nonfiction writers aspire to write a biographical novel about a person who fascinates them. The research and writing process are always challenging. In fact, many biographies, no matter how well-planned, never see daylight.
Write the Story of Your Life
I want to write my life story, but I don’t know where to start. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this statement. Many people have a story to tell. It doesn’t matter that that story will never be on the New York Times
Writing Sports Stories of Interest
During the summer I teach a course on sports writing. When I ask my students to cover a sporting event and write a sports story (with no further instructions), 9 out of 10 students watch a sporting event on TV or attend a baseball game and rehash on paper what they have observed.
Writing Poetry for Children
Have you ever considered writing poetry for children? It’s fun and interesting; but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s easy because it’s for kids. Writing poetry for children requires an understanding of what kids like and a skill in delivering it. So if you’d interested in writing poetry for children, tap into what kids like
Writing Interesting Copy on Boring Subjects
Rambling prose can pose problems for the reader. Freelance writer Mark James helps you write more interesting copy on dull subjects.
Writing for Local News Outlets
A very easy way for writers living in rural areas to increase their monthly income is to act as a local correspondent for different social media content websites. Social media content sites, like Patch.com, Examiner.com, and Gather.com
How to Consistently Write Good Copy Under Tight Deadlines
In an ideal world, freelance writers have all the time they need to research, write, and edit each piece they produce to perfection. After all, your clients don’t pay you good money to write half-baked and fluff-filled content, do they?
How to Write Gripping Subheadings to Add More Value to Your Article
Well-written subheadings help the reader understand at a glance what your article is about and what he/she can gain from each paragraph. Added to this, subheadings make your work easier to read because they organize it.
Writing Your Ecological Autobiography
People write memoirs or autobiographies for a number of reasons, but one thing we can expect as we go through the process is a deeper understanding of ourselves. As we recall and record our life stories, we learn a great deal about who we are and how we came to be the persons we are
Freelance Writing: Writing for Automotive Trade Journals
One requisite to break into this market is you must write with accuracy. Editors demand accuracy in all technical contributions. Most, if not all, freelance submissions go through a peer-to-peer review and, if deemed necessary, the editorial board or engineering staff will scrutinize every detail in your article.
Freelance Writing Advice: Writing Descriptive Articles for Editors
The effectiveness of descriptive writing depends largely on the right choice of words. It is not enough to depict the memorable points of the subject tersely and vigorously: you must do this attractively, picturesquely.
Writing Your First Freelance Video Game Review
Writing a video game review is about more than just listing what’s good and what’s bad about a game. It’s an opportunity to delve in and express your thoughts through a medium that can reach millions of Internet users worldwide.
How to Write the Perfect Article Pitch
Submitting your article ideas to an editor might feel like an overwhelming task. I like to simplify it by thinking that writing is similar to selling a product. You’ve just got to know how to market it! If that feels overwhelming, don’t worry. Here are some tips on how to write article summaries
Hopeful Freelancing: Write Because You Have Something to Say
A writer who seeks money first, will get little, unless he accidentally develops unique skills and talents. The writer who seeks fame regardless of pay, will win neither fame nor money. The hopeful writer should patiently research what publications demand his writing
How to Write Better Copy by Observing Amazon’s Marketplace
When I need help structuring a piece of copy, I’ll visit Amazon to observe the social habits of people–what they buy, sell, and discuss. Let me show you how.
When Words Meet Pictures: How to Use Text and Images to Create Striking Articles for Readers
The thought of worrying about pictures for your articles might not make sense: you’re a writer, after all. However, in today’s web copy world images are essential to create stronger articles that grab reader attention.
An Introduction to Using Point of View in Your Story
Point of view is telling a story from a pre-determined vantage point. It is an essential formula for writing stories. If we were to exclude point of view from our stories, every story would be hopelessly confused, an entanglement of incoherent scenes
Creative Writing: Using the Epigram as a Literary Device
The first epigrams were verses used by the Greeks for the inscriptions on statues or other monuments to the dead. The Romans were the first to use epigrams as satirical devices, and Shakespeare made them popular as poetic closed couplets.
Part 1: The Craft of Writing for Self-Publishing
In this series of articles, I’d like to focus on those areas of the craft that are helpful in publishing your own work. To illustrate the process I’ll share some of my own journey in learning how to write and self-publish three non-fiction books.
Part 2: The Craft of Editing for Self-Publishing
Learn how to edit your manuscript before you self-publish your book or ebook. Going through traditional publishing channels is getting harder and harder as the population of writers continues to boom. It makes sense then to look at self-publishing as a viable alternative. As you pursue these avenues it pays to heed what exactly it is that publishers do well so that you can mimic this yourself.
Teaching Others to Write: How to Get Paid More Without Actually Writing
Most writers experience a downtime in their income at some point or another, regardless of the economy. So, what can you do? You can work smarter, not harder. Yes, you can do more writing and send out more manuscripts
How to Condense Your Thoughts and Words to Write Better Articles
The hardest lesson aspiring writers need to learn is how to condense their writing– to not be afraid of leaving things out. Our thoughts and the language that we use to clothe them seem exceedingly important to us.
The Character Arc: Make Your Main Character More Memorable
Put simply, the character arc is the journey of a character in a story from point A to point B. For example, a main character who is born in the opening and dies at the end is a basic character arc. That plotline is biographical…
How to Find Great Subject-Matter Experts for Your Articles
Journalists and nonfiction writers often need subject-matter experts (SMEs) to lend credibility to their content. I have interviewed experts as far ranging as principals, teachers, fire fighters, real estate agents, lenders and nurses for a variety of published pieces. The information gleaned from these experts
Taking Your Freelance Writing on the Road
It may seem like every writer’s dream, but taking your writing skills on a road trip is a little harder than you might first think! After completing an 11 000 kilometer road trip around Australia, education author Anne Vize shares some tips for taking your writing on the road.
5 Proofreading Tips in a Digital Age
I’m trained as a newspaper reporter, so double checking information is second nature to me. Over the years as I wrote copy in other arenas – from college alumni information to business brochures – I’ve slowly adopted a more calculated approach to proofreading my work in the final stages
The Magic of Powerful Story Settings
I was taught and learned the importance of descriptive and powerful settings at an early age. In my elementary school art class, a very clever and gifted teacher spent an entire class period changing a variety of picture frames
Narrative Prose: The Elements of Description and Narration
Some of our favorite authors have praised parts of their success on having learned to write descriptive scenes and characters, but with lots of self-control. Stephen King said, In many cases when a reader puts a story aside
Journaling in the Natural World
I’ve been keeping a nature journal on and off over the past twenty-five years and have found it helpful in deepening my connection with nature. By journaling, I’ve become more observant of the sights, sounds, scents, and feel of what’s around me in the natural world. I notice, for example, not just the fact that I’m walking through a forest or a grove of trees
Keep It Simple, Stupid! How to write about a complex subject in a simple way
Whether you’re writing about the latest scientific advancement, or unveiling secrets of great historical pith and moment, or even jousting around different political perspectives, your audience has to be able to understand what they’re reading. And this means keeping things simple
How to Write Authority Content for You and Your Clients
Your article’s purpose may be to inform, educate, convince, or simply entertain. Crafting authority content helps you, your clients, and your audience.
How to Write a Haiku: Poetry of simple artform but meaningful expression
A haiku is one of the most beautiful forms of poetry. If you want to try to write a haiku, but don’t know where to begin, read these handy tips.
How to Write ‘About Us’ Pages that Engage Readers
About Us pages can be a wonderful opportunity to make a company or organization shine but most of them are too often wasted words on a page that no one reads. It doesn’t have to be this way and I’m going to offer a simpler way to help you write a better page.
How to Write a Strong Lead for Your Non-Fiction Article
While there are several angles to consider for a lead, first let’s figure out what to avoid. In general, do not lead with a question because the reader’s attention is immediately turned to thinking of the answer.
How to Write a Marketable Article Based on Hobbies and Human Interest
If you are looking for a new topic to write about, perhaps you should consider writing about universally appealing topics like hobbies or human interest.
How to Write a Better True Story: A Simple Technique in Unity
The action that a writer reveals in his story is only a small part of the action that really took place. His selection shows his skill; almost any event makes a good story if the writer tells the proper parts of it.
The Mechanics of How to Write a Climactic Novel
Are you wanting to write novel that will captivate readers’ attention? In order to do so, there are certain steps you must take, as this article outlines.
How to Write a Great Story of Fiction
As one who writes fiction, you wield the power to make your characters do and say what you want them to do and say, and to create positive and negative situations for them. If you plan your story before you write it, you can create strong characters who react believably.
How to Make Your Article SEO-Friendly Before Selling It to an Editor
Tired of getting your magazine submissions rejected, or worse, ignored, with no response? Learn to make every article SEO-friendly and well-researched with quotations and statistics that would pass the scrutiny of even the toughest fact checkers and you are likely to see more of your articles published.
Getting the Best Mileage for Your Writing: How to Sell Your Article to Multiple Publications
A little rewiring of the basic components, a new perspective, even reworking your original pitch can propel your story from its humble local beginnings to the national and international stage.
How to Kill a Writing Career
Learning to be a successful writer is kind of like being a gold miner back then. Most writers won’t make a ton of money with their writing. The people who do make the money are the ones who sell the endless ebooks and online courses that tell people how to – wait for it – make money with their writing.