Comments on: Freelance Writing Jobs for May 5, 2009

By: T. W. Anderson

T. W. Anderson — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:28:30 +0000

I generally don’t bother to give my blog posts or casual posts (like here) more than a once-over to make sure I don’t have too many repetitive words or sore-thumb grammar mistakes. The way I figure it, these posts are not indicative of my skill as a writer. If a potential client wants to see a “finished” product, they can ask for my resume, or follow the links I have available on my blog which lead them to my published content.

It was the same thing when I was a ceramic tile and natural stone contractor. Many was the time when I had a home-owner ask “why” about a certain part of the process, and my answer was always the same: come back when it’s a finished product and you will see the project in its entirety, not just bits and pieces.

Quite frankly, I don’t have a problem if a potential client reads my blog, but if they are the type of employer who bases their opinion off of casual posts, rather than finished products, then I probably don’t want to be working for them in the first place. In much the same way I wouldn’t have wanted to work for a client in my previous trade if they looked at the way I swept a floor while prepping an area and tried to make an assumption about the final result of my product.

In the end, everyone makes mistakes. That’s why there’s spellcheck and editors. I generally proof-read my content before I submit it, and editors will catch anything I miss on my end. That’s what they get paid to do. I’ve yet to be asked for a re-write for grammatical reasons in 14 months of doing this. I recently had my first request for a re-write, but it had nothing to do with my grammar; rather, it was simply a matter of me not understanding the exact layout sheet that was provided and I had given a list using commas, rather than bullet points. Simple mistake, and one that happens when you are learning a new system with an employer.

By: Anne G.

Anne G. — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:07:49 +0000

@Denise – That’s a standard to check for spelling errors. For actual structure and flow it doesn’t always work.

If you have older children, this works well for me. I make part of their allowance chores to proofread the articles I’ve written. My daughter’s younger and not as appreciative, by my teen LOVES catching mom’s mistakes. Says it’s nice to be able to make me go back and correct my errors like I always did with his homework.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:45:04 +0000

LoL @ denise c.

I always seem to end up doing that as I write it, not as I’m proofing it!

Kind of Pulp Fictionious, if you will.

By: denise c

denise c — Wed, 06 May 2009 03:37:18 +0000

I heard about this proofreading technique to trick your mind when you’re too close to the content…proofread it backwards, from the bottom sentence up.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:49:02 +0000

The “Writer for Women’s Health” is performance based.

By: Meghna

Meghna — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:22:19 +0000

For me it’s trying to meet deadlines.. since I have a double dose of them with college.

And what I hate most.. college assignments that need to be turned in the next day especially when I had decided to devote that day to some long overdue client.

And can anyone solve the riddle of why teachers assign the least time to the longest assignments?

By: Do You Proofread Your Work? | Real Words

Do You Proofread Your Work? | Real Words — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:16:47 +0000

[...] seems to be a topic that people are talking about a lot around the web right now. Deb Ng mentioned her problems with proofreading her own blogs when she put up her job leads today. And [...]

By: Anne G.

Anne G. — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:39:08 +0000

I don’t have an issue with typos on a casual blog or in emails/chat. What bothers me is when I find mistakes on television, the newspaper, magazines or books. My first magazine article was printed with the entire first line missing. It started up mid-sentence. While they did apologize, it was an employment magazine released every quarter, so three months passed before readers saw the corrected paragraph.

By: Renee

Renee — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:30:55 +0000

Typos? My favorite is replying to an ad after the tenth cup off coffee and pressing “send” before I can proof my own email! Ugh!

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:28:30 +0000

FYI–The first link for consumer electronics doesn’t offer compensation. But they do offer to “let the writer’s voice provide valid, informed, independent and relevant information in our columns.” How generous.