The Renegade Writer Blog

Last week I led a free teleclass on building relationships with writers that included a lengthy Q&A session with participants. I was amazed at how many of the writers’ questions I could answer the same way. For example:
“I want to write for a magazine but I can’t figure out if they use freelance. What should [...]

Since August, I’ve been working two days per week and still earning full-time income writing for magazines. My goal, when I started this two-day workweek, was to spend more time with my now one-year-old son, have more fun, and do more volunteering. On my days off I do check e-mail just to make sure nothing [...]

In August, I vowed to never again take on an assignment that had red flags, such as low pay or an unreasonable deadline. I even promised to turn down assignments that simply gave me a bad feeling in my gut. I had had problems with accepting any old assignment that came my way, sometimes with [...]

In October 2008, I had the brilliant idea to market my writing services to universities because I had heard that education was one of the few industries that was not suffering in the down economy. I created a list of every university in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, and many of them in Massachusetts as [...]

If you know me, you know that the articles I write are typically service pieces with subheads and bullet-pointed tips for magazines like Health, Oxygen, Writer’s Digest , and many trade and custom publications. In my mind, moving up to the next level as a writer would be writing more complicated pieces. And I recently [...]

Before I jump into today’s post, I’d like to let you know that my next e-course on breaking into magazines, which has helped students land assignments from magazines ranging from Pizza Today to Woman’s Day, starts on Monday, August 3. That’s just a week away! Also, due to popular demand (no, really!), I’ve added a [...]

Last week I had a session with a mentoring client who is a very talented writer, but has trouble getting motivated to query. However, she mentioned that she was able to get her Ph.D. dissertation done on time. And we all know that a dissertation is no easy project!
To me, the difference between pounding out [...]

This is my first week in my new office space in downtown Concord, New Hampshire. As you may know, on January 2 we welcomed Traver Maxwell to the world. Eric and I turned the home office into a nursery, and moved all my office furniture and equipment into Eric’s game room.
Now, Eric is no [...]

In 2005, I spent a few fabulous days at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, MA. The next year, Diana and I got a free stay there when we gave a talk on magazine writing. I’d love to return for more spa treatments and wonderful dining, but it is pricey — and I mean really pricey.
Last [...]

In a guest post on the Zen Habits blog, Albert from UrbanMonk.net describes the 5% trick:
My favorite tool at this stage is the 5% statement, created by Nathaniel Branden, who is widely considered to be the father of the self-esteem movement. It works by allowing you to take steps in small increments. Trying to change [...]