The Renegade Writer Blog

Every once in awhile I like to go through my journal to see what I was doing in this month in years past. Here’s what I wrote on May 29, 2007:
I plan to either not write for [magazine] again or to ask what we can do to make sure I don’t go through another experience [...]

This guest post is by Elaine Grant, a former editor at Inc. and current health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Elaine’s course on Magazine Writing Basics starts on Monday…sign up today!
I just sent two tweets out in rapid succession and realized that I sound like someone with multiple personalities. On Friday morning, [...]

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 [...]

I just heard from Marina Krakovsky, one of my travel writing workshop alumna, on the success she had in placing an essay she worked on during the course. I love getting news like that! And working with Marina, who is such an accomplished writer, was a total joy.
Marina’s goal, when she signed up for the [...]

For a couple of days at the beginning of last week, I felt completely unmotivated: more blob than human. One part of me wanted to market, work on my assignments, and generally be active and productive. But another, stronger, part of me wanted to lie on the couch and surf the Internet all week.
Then I [...]

Earlier this week I was giving advice to a freelancing friend of mine who was having a bad day, and I heard myself say, “If this assignment violates your code, then don’t do it. It’s as simple as that.”
It made me wonder how many of us have a code, personal rules or standards we won’t [...]

I was recently on a writer’s forum where a writer posted that he was writing articles for a penny a word and wondering if that was wise. The other posters shared that they also write for a penny a word, and boast that they can bang out the articles quickly so it’s worth it for [...]

Brazen Careerist Penelope Trunk took aim at The 4-Hour Workweek darling Tim Ferriss last week on her blog with a post called “5 Time Management Tricks I Learned From Years of Hating Tim Ferriss.” And she’s not coy in her post. She came into the ring throwing punches and didn’t stop for 700 (or so) [...]

Let’s just admit it: this world economic meltdown really sucks. It sucks for everyone, and it sucks for us writers, as we watch magazines fold, pages shrink, websites shut down, editors getting their pink slips (and we all know, another name for a laid-off editor is a new freelancer).
Although times weren’t nearly as bad then [...]

I’ve been struggling with a book proposal for going on two years. Every couple of weeks, my husband asks, “How’s the X book coming?” and I feel the pool of despair inch out a little farther in my gut. This weekend he asked again and I snapped, “It’s not, okay? Lay off!” I rarely snap, [...]