by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer

Just like a carpet cleaner shouldn't leave behind too many spots, a good writer should have clean copy as well. Think of typos, grammar mistakes, and spelling errors as the spots on your virtual carpet. No one is perfect. But if you are going to write for a living, you need to make sure that your copy is as clean as possible.

Do you think someone is going to hire a carpet cleaner that leaves behind some spots or one that's known for getting out most or all stains? Web writing is the same. You are the expert and your finished product should demonstrate that.

More on this topic:

Clear Writing Makes for Easier Reading

Professional Article Writers: The Importance of Self Editing

About the Author:

Lyn is a freelance web journalist and the Community Advocate at Yahoo! Contributor Network She's also the founder of Write W.A.V.E. Media, parent company to LifeSuccessfully.com and several others. She enjoys helping freelance writers succeed and supports advocacy through journalism. Lyn has been published all over the web with major media companies, as well as smaller businesses and organizations. Contact Lyn for guidance in the world of freelance writing.

Facebook: Lyn Lomasi
Twitter: @LynLomasi

by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer

Sometimes when proofing your own content, you might notice something is missing. Just by reading it back, you might not be able to grasp what that something is. Try acting out what you are trying to say for new perspective.

Drawing inspiration from real life is often a big part of writing. Acting out your message can pull that in even more than just using your thoughts and typing.

Is this different? Yes. And that's exactly what makes it work.

About the Author:

Lyn is a freelance web journalist and the Community Advocate at Yahoo! Contributor Network She's also the founder of Write W.A.V.E. Media, parent company to LifeSuccessfully.com and several others. She enjoys helping freelance writers succeed and supports advocacy through journalism. Lyn has been published all over the web with major media companies, as well as smaller businesses and organizations. Contact Lyn for guidance in the world of freelance writing.

Facebook: Lyn Lomasi
Twitter: @LynLomasi

by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer

Many people are looking to the internet for careers they can do at home. Naturally, web writing is one of the choices people often consider. You log on, string some words together, and someone buys them. Sounds simple, right? People ask me daily if it's easy to be a web writer. In turn, I instruct them to figure out if web writing will be easy for them because each person is different.

How easy is it to get started in web writing? The answer to this actually depends on what your goal in web writing is. Who will you write for? Yourself, community-based sites, private clients, or some other venue? Once you make that decision and learn more about how that particular web writing career works, then it will be fairly easy to figure out how to get started.

Can anyone make money writing for the web? Yes and no. Honestly, anyone can make some kind of money in web writing. But only those with talent and dedication will make consistent and legitimate income as a web writer. Like any other career, you have to put in real effort in order to succeed. It's only an easy career choice if quality web writing comes easy for you often enough to make it a career.

Is writing for the web easy? Writing takes time and effort, as with most other careers. If the type of writing talent needed comes easy to you, then this role may suit you. Of course, even if it takes a bit more effort, that doesn't mean it isn't right for you. It may not be as easy to dedicate yourself to web writing if each piece produced comes with too much difficulty.

How do I know if web writing is the right choice? Do you enjoy spreading the word about causes close to your heart? Maybe reporting sporting events or celebrity news is your forte. Do you have special experience in subject that is close to your heart – and can you write about it? Can you meet deadlines imposed by clients with their specifications? Ask yourself these and other questions, based on your research of writing for the web as a career. Figure out how many words you can reasonably write in the time period you want to dedicate to this. Then, figure out how much you would potentially make for that number of words. If your ideal income is nowhere near those figures, then web writing will not be an easy career choice for you.

_ Lyn is a freelance web journalist, the Community Advocate at Yahoo! Contributor Network, and a Y! Shine Parenting Guru. She's also the founder of Write W.A.V.E. Media, parent company to LifeSuccessfully.com and several others. She enjoys publishing freelance writers and supports advocacy through journalism. She has been published all over the web with major media companies, as well as smaller businesses and organizations. Contact Lyn for guidance in the world of freelance writing.

Lyn on Twitter: @LynLomasi
Lyn on Facebook: Lyn Lomasi

by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer

Why would online article writers need a website if many article submission sites allow a professional profile? This is a question I get asked often when I mention the idea. Here are some of the many reasons I feel all freelance web writers need a website of their own.

Writer's Resume
When applying for online writing jobs and gigs, reference links and/or a resume are often required. This will be much simpler for those with a website. Some may create an area where a client can download their resume by requesting the link. Others may post links to samples. Yet others may do both or handle it another way. Online article writers need a website in order to reference their work all in one place.

Professionalism
Professionalism is key, even though you don't see your clients face-to-face when writing online. A freelance writer's website is like a virtual resume, meeting place, and office at the same time. This is where you can let your clientele know you are professional by including all of the right things. A bio, samples, and a contact page are just a few. Read "8 Musts on a Freelance Writer's Website" for more details on those and other must-include items for professionalism.

Info Source
Even if a client finds your work elsewhere, they may want to know more than they can find in a limited bio attached to your profile on a content site. This is where your website comes in handy. Many content sites allow article writers to place a link to their website in their profile or bio. Also, be sure to link to it from any blogs or other profiles you have. Giving clients (both potential and current) a place to find more information about you as a person and as a writer is very beneficial to them as well as to your writing career.

Announcements
If you have any big writing projects, off days, exciting news, etc it can be posted to your website. Of course you don't want to announce information that is too personal, but a web writer's website can serve as a great way to spread the word. Doing this has many benefits. Some include letting clients see that you are accomplishing things, engaging with your audience, and also depending on the announcement it might bring in more readers or clientele.

File Storage
Depending on how much bandwidth your site allows, this can be a great place to store certain files. Of course you still need a hard copy backup, but storing them in a secure, hidden location on your website can help you keep everything related to your online article writing all in one spot. This also can free up space on your computer if you'd rather not have the files there. Just be sure, as mentioned above to keep a hard copy if you go this route.

by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer

You spend hours on a submission perfecting every little detail when along comes an editor to mess with your masterpiece. If you're going to make it as a writer, you will have to deal with editors. A necessary part of the publishing process involves dealing with editors.

Learn to compromise. Editors can and often do change things. That's what they're there for. They catch the little mistakes we make (and we all make mistakes). They also may make changes that are better for structure, your audience, the web, and more. Though you may not always agree with their changes, you will have to deal with many of them. Depending on the publication, you may be able to form a compromise with the editor.

Let it go. That may be easier said than done in many cases. As writers, we see our writings as our little babies, if you will. We work hard on it and it means so much to us. Altering it can feel like someone is trying to change us. After all, it does have our names on it. But at some point, we have to learn to let it go. If the work never bypasses an editor, it may never get out in front of the audience. Try not to get too attached and let the work go once its complete.

What's the change? Instead of becoming to attached to the way the piece is written, focus on the message. If the edits do not take away the message, don't be so hard on the editor. It's perfectly fine to address the editor if you feel that the changes are unsatisfactory or take away from the message. But if the change is nothing that takes away the message, why waste all that energy getting upset? Write another article.

Report the editor. This is only for extreme cases. I say that because as a writer, you will need to learn to deal with the fact that your writing will be changed by editors if you want it published with major companies. If the editor really is making changes that are unreasonable (and not just changes you don't like - changes that affect the quality of the work significantly), that's when you report the editor. I advise not taking this route unless necessary because a writer and editor need to be able to work together peacefully. But obviously, if there is an injustice it should be reported.

Switch venues. If you just cannot deal with a particular editor, write somewhere else. Ultimately, you should be happy with your writing (or any) career. If that's not happening, you haven't found the right venue/s to write for yet. Realize you should not be switching venues every time you don't like what an editor does. But if there is a true problem, remember that you can move on.

Write for yourself. If you truly cannot deal with anyone at all messing with your own work, only wrote for yourself. When someone is paying you to produce work, it should be what they want, hence the editors. If you create your own venue, such as your own website or blog, you make the rules. Even if you go this route it can still be a wise move to have an editor or at least a writing buddy that is willing to be a second pair of eyes. But you'll have the most freedom when writing for yourself.

Bottom line: Editors are a part of the writing and publishing business and writers need to be able to adapt to that fact. Work with (not against) your editor, unless you have a legitimate claim against them.

by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer

Need a simple way to speed up your writing that you can use each and every time? I did too. That's why I invented my own outline or template, modeled after the style I use most frequently. If you write for several venues, you may need a different basic outline for each.

Design your outline. Think about what you will need within all or most of your submissions and design an inclusive outline. Because I most often write informative how-to-type articles for Yahoo! Contributor Network and my own venues, I only needed to design one outline. I use it every time, unless I have a special assignment that requires a different style. For YCN, my outline needed a title, byline, introduction, 5 steps, and a section at the end linking to three related pieces. Because I only write for myself when I'm not writing for YCN, I can use that same format for everything, unless I am doing a quick tip or that outline style won't work for the piece.

Each time you have an article idea, fill in what you can before writing. This has been even more of a life saver than my outline itself. I fill in the title and each point before I start writing. I generally will go through and do this with all my planned articles for each day before beginning to write. Sometimes an article will start flowing while I'm in the middle of this process because once the main points are filled in, it's very simple to complete the process. So I'll stop and finish that article. Once you try it, I can almost guarantee that you will never write an article the 'regular' way again.

Below is a sample outline, followed by that same sample filled in with info to begin an article.

Sample outline:

Title
by Lyn Lomasi

intro

Tip sentence. text

Tip sentence. text

Tip sentence. text

Tip sentence. text

Tip sentence. text

More from Lyn:

link

link

link

(As you can see in the above outline, each area that needs bold or italic text is pre-formatted that way to keep it easy.)

Sample outline 2:

Guide to writing for the web
by Lyn Lomasi

intro

Gear your text toward people and search. text

Gain an audience with niche specialties. text

Keep your audience by being truthful. text

Use personal experience to gain trust. text

Publish often and be consistent. text

More from Lyn:

link

link

link

(As you can see in this second outline sample, it will be very easy for me to write and fill in the rest of the details because I have my main points. They just need to be explained.)

Lyn is the founder of Write W.A.V.E. Media, parent company to LifeSuccessfully.com and several others. She enjoys publishing freelance writers and supports advocacy through journalism. She's also a freelance web journalist, Community Guide at Yahoo! Contributor Network, and a Y! Shine Parenting Guru. The homeschool ‘Momtrepreneur’ teaches with nature, books, and play. Pet and human homelessness, green living, positive parenting, and education choice (including homeschool) are her passions. She has been published all over the web with major media companies, as well as smaller businesses and organizations. Contact Lyn for guidance in the world of freelance writing.

Lyn on Twitter: @LynLomasi

by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer

What do you want out of your writing? Are you writing for the money? The audience? Do you write to help others? Is it simply because you like it? Whatever you write, always know what it is you want to get from it.

Knowing what you want will help you get to your goal faster. It will also help you make important decisions along the way. Never write a word without knowing its intended purpose as well as where you want to be with writing, in general.

What you want should be apparent in your actions, as well as your words.

Do you know what you want?

When getting started in writing, it can be very useful to consult the pros. But perhaps you haven't met any yet and are just looking for some quick hints before networking with other writers. Maybe you just want  some extra hints or a reminders to keep you going. I recently asked a group of my writing peers to share the best writing advice or tips they ever received. What are some of the best tips you've heard?

Continue reading this article by Lyn Lomasi>>>

There are many practical business tips that can be applied to online article writing. Playing by the rules is one of them. Sometimes freelance writers forget that everyone has to answer to someone. We have to learn to play by the rules or find another ballpark. Applying this practical business rule to online article writing is not only in consideration of the website you write for. It helps you as well.

Continue reading this article by Jaipi Sixbear>>>