The Renegade Writer Blog

Let’s face it: Many of us freelance writers are strong on the writing side of the business, not-so-strong on the business/money side. I know that once you turn in an article, you want to move on to the next writing project — not get bogged down in paperwork. But if you want to get paid, [...]

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 [...]

On Saturday night it hit me that I let two weeks of school vacation go by without making a dent on the mess in my office. It would have been the perfect time to get everything cleaned out. On the other hand, I spent a lot of QT with my son doing things like polymer [...]

The moment happened three weeks ago. My husband told me our auto insurance company needed the title to a car that had been totaled. My stomach sank. I knew the title was in our safe deposit box over at the bank. When my son was a toddler he’d wreaked havoc in my office, picking labels [...]

Welcome to the “before” pictures of my office (click on pictures for a better view). It’s a bit of a mess, as you can see (and really, you can’t see the messiest parts of it in this picture) and so, in preparation for 2009, I’m sitting at the desk, getting ready to give it a [...]

If you’re a productivity geek like me, you’ll love this article by Chris Hardwick on Wired.com. Hardwick test-drives three productivity books for two weeks each: Getting Things Done, Never Check E-mail in the Morning, and The 4-Hour Workweek. He concludes that The 4-Hour Workweek works best for freelancers. The article is interesting, useful — and [...]

Renegade Writer instructor Alison Stein Wellner and I have decided to out ourselves in 2009. No, not like that … like this:
We’re slobs! We decided that in 2009, we’re going to clean up our freelancing lives, and that starts with our offices. We’ll start by showing you photos of what we’re dealing with (believe us, [...]

Happy almost-New-Year!
Once the confetti is cleaned up and the hangover is over, it’s time to start thinking of your 2009 plans for freelance writing. The new year is a great time to clear space in your business life and get set for the next year. Here are some suggestions:
1. Buy holiday cards for Christmas 2009. [...]

Allyson Lewis is a motivational speaker, a business coach, and the author of The Seven Minute Difference: Small Steps to Big Changes, which tells readers how to change their lives using micro-actions.
The Renegade Writer: Since we’re all freelance writers, I think a lot of us are going to be interested in how you came up [...]

For the first time in my 11-year career, I almost missed a deadline this week. I somehow got two deadlines mixed up, so I turned in one article several days early and didn’t realize the mix-up until the day the second article was actually due. Thankfully I’m a fast writer and I had already done [...]