Archives for June 2007

Thanks to Jason Oliver for helping me to switch to WordPress and also for FWJ’s new look. The upgrade and redesign is just about complete, though we still have a few tweaks here and there. I appreciate your patience!

– Deb

Work with Your Personality Type and Maintain Your Social Skills
by Crystal Schwanke
Working from home has its definite perks. You can watch a movie while you finish those product descriptions. You can wait until 3:00 PM to start “getting ready” for the day. You choose your hours, you choose your projects, and you can wear your pajamas (even if they are flannel!). But are writers who work from home stunting their social growth?

Take an introvert—painfully shy, better with the written word than the spoken, and nervous in crowds. They tend to avoid social settings at all costs, and prefer the small, intimate settings with friends rather than parties and malls. Is writing from home a way to hide from the world instead of making us “buck up” and deal? Does it hinder our ability further to function around strangers? When I worked in retail, I spoke with people everywhere—not just at work—much more easily. Now it’s harder to strike up a conversation.

On the other hand, the extrovert (how many of those are there out there who work from home? My butterfly husband would go absolutely insane without constant human interaction!) needs other people to thrive. When an extrovert is “unleashed” in a public place after hours of solitude at a home computer, do they remind others of overeager puppies looking for their next delicious gourmet treat?

You can obviously enjoy writing whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert. You may also find yourself having to work from home for the sake of flexibility, peace of mind, or family obligations. There are ways to keep your sanity and your social skills no matter who—or what—you are.

The key to working from home and still being able to function on a “normal” level in public is balance. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Work in a public place like a coffee shop.
2. Keep hobbies—and that doesn’t mean yoga in your living room or cycling alone. Take a class. You’ll meet new people, learn new things, and probably come up with new writing material (bonus!). If you’re an extrovert, you’ll get to expend some of that energy you’ve had pent up all day.
3. If you’re doing an interview and the subject is local, meet them in person rather than opting for the convenience of the phone. It may cost you a cup of coffee or two, but it’s good for your well-being.

Writers may be known as eccentric by some who succumb to stereotypes, but striking a balance between hermit and party animal could be beneficial. For introverts, meeting new people and going new places could be just the thing for curing writer’s block and social anxiety. Going out to grab coffee instead of making their own, having a class to look forward to, or creating face-to-face interaction via interviews could be precisely what an extrovert needs to recharge—resulting in a clearer head and better copy.

How do you cope with hours spent using your fingers to “talk” and your eyes to “listen” for hours a day?

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About Weblogs

I’m going to be switching FWJ to WordPress within the next couple of days. Hopefully this won’t break the blog, but if you experience any downtime, this is the reason.

Have a great day,

Hi everyone,

I have some great weekend discussions lined up with some great guest bloggers. Unfortunately the time got away from me this weekend, (thanks to a little emergency) and I didn’t get a chance to post this weekend’s discussion. Since I like to start my guest bloggers off on Friday, I’d rather just throw out some reader mail today – all about the same topic. Annoying affiliate links. Let’s hear your thoughts. Our guest bloggers return next weekend, I promise.

Dear Deb,

There are a couple of blogs that list jobs like you. Many of the links lead to Freelance Work Exchange affiliate links instead of a job. I don’t really want to pay to read a job ad. What do you think?

Kathy M.

Dear Kathy,

I think any job board claiming to care about writers only to send you to click an affiliate link for a paying job site is a little hypocritical. You should never have to pay to see a job ad, especially since most of the jobs listed at places like Freelance Work Exchange are the same jobs you’ll see listed for free all over the web. Moreover, if you don’t read the fine print when subscribing on a trial basis, FWE will get you for thirty bucks a month.

It’s up to you whether or not to subscribe. The next time you click on a link for a job and it takes you to a FWE page, ask yourself this: does this person really want me to find a gig, or is she just out to earn some revenue? Then decide whether or not you want to support that person by paying for a subscription.

Best,

Deb

Dear Deb,

I was on Craigslist today and I applied for a job promising to pay $3 to $40 for articles. Thinking $40 was a decent beginning, I sent my CV to the email address. In return I received a pitch for Associated Content. This was (censored) disappointing. It’s bad enough Craigslist is littered with no-payers, now the Associated Content people are trying to deceive us into working for them?

John K.

Hi John,

I’m not so sure the A.C. people are using deception. The ads are what they are. The opportunity to work for a low paying content site. Yeah, they do spam the job boards with the affiliate links, and yeah, it’s disappointing to think you’re applying for a certain type of gig only to receive an Associated Content pitch, but really they’re not doing anything illegal. The problem as I see it is that many of the low-paying sites offer their writers the chance to earn more change by bringing in more writers. What they should really do (in my opinion) is offer a higher per article rate. This would kill two birds with one stone. The writers would receive the pay they deserve, and more writers would come on board thanks to the promise of a bigger paycheck.

Best,

Deb

Dear Deb,

The only thing that sucks more than finding out a gig doesn’t pay, is reading a really cool job ad, clicking to learn more information and ending up here. Do people fall for this con?

Rock on,

Melissa M.

Hi Melissa,

They sure do.

Deb

Discuss…