Spring is Here—Are You Ready?

Spring is here—at least it’s supposed to be for many of us in the Northern Hemisphere. With snow and temperatures falling, it’s a bit of a challenge to get into the Spring mode. You know, that state of mind which tells you to start things afresh. And for writers, that should mean it’s time to clean off your desk. By the way, have you seen the surface of your desk lately?

As a writer, the center of your world is your desk. For some, perhaps you, that center is often hidden by a mountain of stuff—yes, stuff. Papers to file, mail to open and read, notes, books, pens, rulers, and a myriad of “personal” items that have moved in and homesteaded on your valuable desk property.

Are you totally overwhelmed and need a miniature snow plow to clear your desk? Chances are that sometimes, perhaps most of the time, this is true for many writers.

So how do you reclaim this valuable space? One easy way is to keep the acronym R-E-M-O-V-E in mind. It stands for Remove distractions, Everyday use, Move to the preferred side, Organize together, View your time, and Empty the center.

Let’s start with removing distractions. While it’s nice to have a couple of photos and favorite little items on your desk, they take up valuable space and distract you. A photo of a loved one may motivate you, so we’ll give you that, but too many other photos and what not will certainly distract you from your writing. So remove from your desk anything that isn’t directly related to your writing. Put those items on a shelf or some other place in your office.



Only put items you use every day on top of your desk. Everything else should go into drawers or cabinets underneath it. There’s no need to have a mug full of pens at your disposal. You’ll only use one at a time anyway. And while a few extra ones, especially with different colored inks are good to have, keep them in your top desk drawer for easy access. The same goes for notepads, paperclips, rubberbands,etc.

Everyone is either right or left-handed. And while some may be ambidextrous, they’re in the minority. Arrange the items on your desk to complement the hand you use. Move everything to the preferred side. Place pens, pencils, and pads where you reach for them most. Most writers don’t even consider this when setting up their desk. Rearranging everything to suit your most used hand will make working easier.

And just as you did in the general organization of your office, organize like items together. Grouping helps to establish centers so that you can easily find what you need.

Make sure you place a clock on your desk so that you can easily view your time. And be sure to make it big enough to easily see it at a glance. Don’t depend on looking at the tiny numbers on your computer’s task bar to find the time. Always keep time in view so that you can budget it better.



Keep the center of your desk clear by emptying it each time you finish a project. Clear space in the center of your desk so that you can work on the project at hand.

Finally, aggressively attack your mail, both regular and Email. Provide an inbox for incoming mail and one for outgoing mail. Designate specific times during the day to read your Email and turn off Email notifications on your computer and on your smartphone. They can distract you more than anything.

With these tips in mind, plan on reorganizing your desk space so that it’s an efficient and pleasant place at which you can work. You’ll soon discover that your productivity will soar.

Learn more about me on my Web site, Writing at Its Best, and on my Facebook Page. And be sure to visit my Writer's Corner for articles about freelance writing and writing in general.

Reaching for the Top

It’s the end of another year and time to take stock of what you’ve accomplished. Take a moment to list your outstanding and most successful projects. Perhaps you’ve reached a plateau at which you’ve been selling a variety of short articles to regional or trade magazines. You’ve definitely succeeded but not at the level you want. Do you still long to write for the top markets in your subject area? This year may be the time to make that longing a reality.

No one can promise you'll be able to make that enormous leap into top-paying markets. But if you’ve bolstered your credits by doing good work in the lesser markets, you’ve put yourself in the running for a shot at the top. If you’ve learned how to formulate queries that sparkle with excitement and precision so that top editors will take you seriously, then you’ve got a chance.

Too many beginning writers start out by sending queries or manuscripts to the editors of top publications only to be shot down or, worse yet, ignored. They wonder why their work is constantly rejected with form letters or Emails. Most never stop to think that perhaps they’re just not good enough. In order to crack the top markets, you have to be able to write well and have a bit of luck.

Improving your writing skills is easy. The more you write, the better you’ll become. However, you may need some help along the way. Be honest with yourself and list the writing skills you either lack or that need improvement. Once you have that list—and it shouldn’t be that long—you should do something about improving your skills.

Lady Luck also plays a big part in getting plum assignments. Being at the right place at the right time or offering the right story to the right editor at the right time is the key. That’s a lot of “rights.” And you can’t hope to always be in the right position for a particular publication. To do that successfully, you must study the periodical, inside and out, forwards and backwards, for at least a year’s worth of issues. Get to know how the editor thinks. Read their commentary at the beginning of the magazine, then read the readers’ comments and the editor’s reply to them.

Explorations into this rarified territory may lead to frustrations. Sometimes you'll be ahead of your time with an idea or concept. Have you ever been out of step? Have you ever appeared foolish because you forecast what others can't yet envision. Is your style of expression too avant garde for all but the most fearsome publisher to toy with. Don’t write for the culturally elite. Write for the masses. There are quite a few magazines aimed at the super rich. If you aren’t a jet-set type of person, then you won’t know how those readers think. For example, if you always camp out when you travel, you’ll have a hard time writing about ultra luxurious hotels with any credibility. Your budget-minded approach will constantly force you to question the high price of everything.

With a strong belief in your idea and a good deal of perseverance coupled with patience, you may find that your ideas will eventually pay off handsomely.

To reach for the top in freelancing, you'll want to consider all the possibilities. Other than negotiating for a position as a special correspondent or a columnist, or adding photographs to your package, or reexamining your ideas to see if they were ahead of their time when you first presented them, your path through the freelancing ranks might begin with writing for newspapers, then move to the pulps and small-circulation magazines. Eventually you might get a few pieces published in middle-market periodicals paying from $300 to $500. From there, you might move up to those paying $750 to $1,500 per article.

If you find yourself poised to reach for the top rung of the freelance ladder as the new year dawns, stretch as far as you can and perhaps you’ll make it.