Juiced On Writing

This week I’m busying myself personally in pursuing some offers for some freelance writing gigs (is that the correct term?). With these, however, comes the inevitable conclusion (or question) of writing style. Which finds me personally banging my head through an eureka moment, in defining the whys and where-fors of my own style(s).

The Journey to Writing Style Realisation

[Quite a Quick One, of only One Week]

Early last week I was offered a few writing positions based on a blog post here at Juiced on Writing, for some Second Life themed writing. I still wait to see if those will come to fruition, and face my first dilemma as a freelance writer in wondering how long to wait until following up on previous email conversations – or not. Is a week long enough, I don’t know? Have those people had second thoughts? I have no idea? What is the protocol for freelancers like this? Absolutely no idea on that one.

Today I received another email from a person offering a review item which I can see would be beneficial for me. In that mail I was told that my writing style on this blog was ‘tell it like it is’.

I guess it is, for that matter. I hope that is a good thing. One of my most personal and deep life traits is the need for fairness and justice. From this, I have a highly formed need for honesty. But I’m hopefully not too naive with it.

Others enjoy my sense of humour on this blog and in IM conversations – or at least if they don’t, they’ve had the good manners to not mention it so far. On the other hand, many people possibly are put off by this aspect of my writing, here on the blog at least. That’s the risk I’m becoming aware I am living, in providing a blog like this.

On Friday I wrote my first ever short story (it’s not a fiction type I’m normally interested in) for the storywriting quest on Second Life. In moving into a completely new form of writing for me (and one highlighted by only having a day to do my writing in) I began to analyse again, my own way of saying things, what matters to be said, what is disposable.

All of these conversations and examples are something which has been bringing up the question of writing style – not only in myself but sometimes in the people reading me, and considering employing me to write for them. Ulp!

Let me state something here, then. As a new writer, I’m still obviously developing my fictional style, but there are vast differences between several of the media I write within. However, in trying to surmise these for myself I am currently hung up by this very media, that of the ‘blog’. And if I am, then possibly others are also.

Writing for a Blog

Blogging as a writing category is quite a new medium to communicate with. People are used to newspapers, magazines, articles at 500 words only, even fictional writing types – short stories or novels. However, categorising the blog form into anything remotely standardised and more easily understood as a writing category is virtually impossible given the quantities and individualism available.

Writers are told by many experts in the field that we should have a website available to work as an online resume of our work. Published authors are told to open a website to both market their books, and to provide a channel of personal communication with their fan-base (via a blog or forum). Other publishing companies open blogs as marketing channels. Many corporate businesses use blogs to form a more personal channel with their current or potential customers, often hiring bloggers to write themed interest articles for the site.

All good for the professional corporation or published author, where the blog acts as an online C.V. and marketing device with some personal communication channels should they wish.

However, when that website for a writer is actually a blog – from the start, there are some repercussions.

Knowing this, I decided a long time ago, that when I do see some success in having books published, that I may create my writing CV and book website away from this blog. This blog is a different kettle of fish (what is a kettle of fish about, anyway?) from my fictional style, or non-fictional style. Plus it’s themed on my newbie experience as a writer, and on writing in general. It’s irrelevant as a portfolio C.V. or marketing device for a book.

The Trouble with Blogging

I’m a long time blogger, hitting over ten years at it now. That’s not suggesting I’m phenomenally good at it, at least in monetary terms, but I understand the medium enough to be able to notice the tricks, standards and themes used in other’s blogs also. I’ve also trained in blogging. And not deployed many of those blog standards on this blog, as a matter of choice. Or found that I have deployed blogging ‘tricks’ long ago, without realising they were. I blog in a way that is natural to me, then look at the theory.

Blogging is personal, therefore the writing is personal. No matter how hard we try, normally a blogger is going it alone, and it’s their own individual voice on the line, and in public.

However, even then, I keep a lot of myself – and hopefully personal details – away from this blog, so that those reading here only get a sub-section of both who I am as a person, and how I write when writing for a blog.

There are blogs out there which read much ‘drier’ than I possibly do – like little articles of 500 – 1000 word posts, and nothing personal of the author in it. I tend not to read those types of blogs myself. Why? Because it reads like there’s no emotion in the thing, and normally is so news focused that I might as well go get the same thing from a full website with a news section, and community forums (which I do).

Without trying to provide a criticism, another example comes to mind, of a reasonably successful writing blog out there, which I had in my newsreader, and looked forward to reading every week. Lately, that blog has started to provide post after post from ‘guest’ authors, still on the writing topic, of course. Many of those posts have a lot of merit, naturally, and I continue to read them. But with so many guest posts, I’ve lost the voice of the original author of that blog, and therefore I don’t rush out to read it anymore. It’s moved from my A-List of writing blogs.

This blog here offers guest posts on occasion, and I would certainly welcome any enquiries here for that. I also would like the opportunity to write for other blogs. But I would draw the line at the number and frequency of blog posts both here and elsewhere to allow each to retain their own unique identity and voice.

On the other hand, if a blog author can find a similar and compatible voice out there, and needs to oomph up their own blog with satire, or honesty, or whatever else it is, then providing a group blog of perhaps 3 or so individuals working together can provide a truly powerful blog. Reading and finding the right person, and holding onto that person can work to benefit both. I love group blogs like that, and want to be able to feel that teamwork. One of my primary writing searches currently is for such a blog to write within, which is compatible with my own writing style, and passions.

When I’m personally reading a blog, I look for the person (or small group of individuals) within, but understand that it’s only part of what that person is, and how they write also.

From a self-analysis viewpoint, I decided a long time ago that I am more okay with longer blog posts (which breaks several blogging rules, I know) but this is a personal choice, and possibly comes from previous magazine and training program writing also (see below).

Blogs give me a chance to really explain, whereas other writing projects do not have the time or space to put up with that. However, I am concentrating lately on providing some more quicker blog posts here at Juiced on Writing, with one longer personal post such as this one.

My eureka moment came when looking at my past writing experience, and how this might be effecting my choice of style here for this blog. See below for this.

Writing Fiction

People might reasonably deduce from the length of most of my blog posts that I am a wordy person. In fiction writing, I’ve found that I am, certainly. Whereas others struggle to write the 90,000 words for their novel, I struggle to edit down from many more.

That’s okay with me, because it gives me a lot to work with initially, and a lot of story-telling. I always get the story down, at least. And then need to cut.

My fictional style is very different from my personal blogging style, naturally. In fiction, I write to a younger audience normally. And as a novelist, I get to describe settings (briefly) and concentrate on dialog and behaviour, motivation and emotions. And it’s a completely made up world. Very different.

The short story medium I wrote within on Friday was a different matter again. I am not sure I properly ‘got’ that medium, not helped by the fact that I was under a time allowance to submit the story by. I will give short stories another shot at some time soon, as practice.

Writing for Others – Magazines, Technical Documents etc

My own CV for writing for others is limited at this point. I have written for creative hobbyist magazines before, both nationally and internationally, on subjects I was extremely knowledgeable and good at. I have written step by steps for people, articles on trends and articles on the industry subjects in total. I have also written the help pages for a certain industry topic for other websites, and written to extremely small word counts or summary targets also, as appropriate for front pages on websites, or training hand-out sheets.

For magazines, I’ve acted as assistant editor, for departmental and corporate newsletters I’ve acted as editor, so understand (a little) what it’s like to work with other writers to get their own work in order for publication. This is an area which I would like to one-day pursue once I have a better understanding of my own writing work currently.

I have also written, within an I.T. career, instructional manuals, training manuals, business plans, test plans, technical documents of many types, and reviewed those created by others under me. I have from a technical perspective, created and rolled suites of corporate technical documents and standardised templates out to corporations from 20 staff members to several thousand.

I have reviewed and critiqued development and other technical documents, business analysis specifications, user manuals for software, and technical specifications and entire technical project plans.  I have written my own also, for many (too many) years.

For other blogs, when people have thought to give me word count targets, I meet these, and normally produce fact-based articles as they require.

It is only now that my previous twenty year experience at dealing with such technical documents and writing has allowed me to work out why, on a blog, I prefer to be quite chatty. *Laughing out Loud* Eureka.

Writing for You?

As this post came about as I concentrate on pursuing some offers for some writing work (both unpaid and paid) I would like to conclude on a positive note. Recently it’s seemed to me that the entire world is brimming with people who want to write. Many are selling their writing work at a pittance. Some are spamming the web with valueless clone articles, telling me absolutely nothing I didn’t know or hadn’t read already.

This can be quite disheartening for somebody like me who is starting to try to make a minor living out of my own writing. However, I am trying not to look at this with naivety, or compete in that kind of business.

I am personally looking for writing work which I am firstly passionate about, and which will offer a challenge. As a bonus, such work would offer me an entry on my writing C.V. which would hopefully lead to some pay work in the future. Enough to perhaps pay for the hosting of this site, or my second life shopping habit, perhaps. Maybe even some new pens or a new computer in the future.

But primarily I am looking for work where I can learn, and feel involved in.

I am not giving up my day job in the expectation of making enough to live off. My hope for that lies in my fictional work (of course, I’m the next JK Rowling, as we all are!), whereas my blogging or non-fiction work is purely for the challenge of making a little money in the future, and of writing in topics I really want to deal with.

In order to accomplish all that, I am selective, hopefully proactive, but also perfectly willing – for the right jobs – to provide writing for free.

For those who have offered writing work or ideas for where to find it, I am extremely thankful for your time and attention. For those offering review material, courses, writing jobs, ideas, emails or IMs, thank you for all of these. It’s all of that which keeps me going, and writing.

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