I QUIT.... Sort of

I'm not a big fan of Google AdSense, and in all seriousness I want to bail before they find an excuse to ban me. They can really do it for whatever damn reason they want.

I'm using a Wordpress blog, now. There you'll find not only articles but some personal tidbits. It's my "official" site. I'm quite fond of the design.

And to be honest, I was never blogging for money. Only exposure.

The nice part? You can subscribe to my blog, meaning it'll send you emails with links instead of forcing you to log in to Blogger every morning or scroll through your list of bookmarks. Convenient, ne?

You can also follow me on Twitter or join my fan page on Facebook, which has more stuff about me.

Ed's Official Site/Blog
Ed's Twitter
Ed's Facebook Page

Sayonara, Blogger.

Proposal of Splitting

To be honest, my blog is a dumping ground. Not in the sense that it's unpleasant, smells funny or isn't nice to look at, but in that it's pretty much a place to dump my articles/blog entries regardless of theme/topic.

So I thought of something--why not separate this blog into three blogs: one for writing-related posts, one for business, and one for psychology? That way viewers could go to a specific blog and search for their topic, there. My only is naming--I can't think of a single damn name for a psychology or business blog. Ideas? What do you guys think?

Dry Spell

AND NOW FOR A LIVE JOURNAL (c) MOMENT.

No new assignments from EF Magazine, nada from OM Design. No article requests. Nothing to write, in general, except portfolio stuff. But those don't earn money, so I'm not exactly super-motivated to do them.

I feel like ripping the hair out of my head--isn't there anyone who needs a writer?

I accept Paypal.

Rules of Thumb for Attending Writing Workshops

I've attended them—plenty of them. Amateur, school-funded, etc. No matter what type of workshop you go to or how much you dug out of your pocket to attend it, there are always certain similarities among them. Thus, there are some things you should consider when attending any writing workshop. Hopefully one of these similarities is that you'll always learn something (admittedly, there have been workshops I've attended where I've felt like I got nothing). Of course, ever since I turned to article and technical-writing I've felt less of a need to attend them. Nonetheless, there are some things you could consider while attending which will benefit you, either way, which I've listed simply for your convenience.

1. Don't say “Well, this was rushed” or “Well, I could've done better.” It's really not the audience's fault you didn't have the time to put into it. I've heard this way too many times at school workshops and it makes a lot of people roll their eyes. Just be confident.
2. Listen. It's great to get input and feedback. It's natural to feel jittery and insecure up until it's time for you to hand out your manuscript. But many other people are feeling exactly the same way, and you owe it to them to give them your full attention.
3. Don't get defensive. Some people just don't know what they're saying. Some will say things that hurt your ego but are true. Having said that, take everything with a grain of salt.
4. Keep in mind that not everyone at a workshop is a writing scholar, and many will give feedback that reflects their own tastes. If only one person comments on your paragraph structure (out of a workshop of one-hundred) than it might be better to consider it briefly. However, if everyone comments on it, then there's a chance something really is amiss. Give it some serious thought.
5. Take notes. Even if it stings at first, you'll be glad you did later on. Not everyone says all of their commentary aloud, and it's nice to have it on paper for you to look at later.
6. When it's over, take a deep breath. Maybe have a glass of wine or an oxycodone (joking about the latter). Don't look at the comments right away. Give yourself time to unwind and detach before you start reading them. Some will flatter you, sure, but others will wound your ego.

Do you need to attend writing workshops to become a better writer? No. Will you benefit by attending them? Possibly. As long as you're willing to invest the time (and perhaps, money) there's really nothing to lose. But make sure you're approaching it the right away, or you aren't going to get your time (or cash's) worth.

New Design

The old theme was getting a little painful to look at, so I changed the template and mixed things around a bit. A useful addition you'll notice is the "topics" menu. You can use this to specify what type of posts you'd like to look at (business blogs, article clips, writing, psychology, etc.) and even use the search bar if there's a particular topic you'd like to know more about.

Yet Another Client--OM Design

As I pick up more and more clients and make more and money doing what I love, I seriously question why I bother going to college. Anyway, these guys needed a guy to write for their blog, and they were quite impressed by my portfolio. Since I'm new to professional blogging, I'm asking for a lower amount per post (1 - 2 a week, by the way) than most.

But to me, a guy in college, it's still a significant amount. I'm making more than twice as much as I do at my crappy grocery store job, every week. Feels good man.

OM Design (London)

Anyway, check out their blog. Keep in mind, they're my editors, so the voice doesn't sound quite as "me" as it might usually.Still, it's good stuff.

Tunes to Write by- What Do You Use?

Personally, I find most loud music distracting, regardless of what I'm working on. Assuming it's a task that requires concentration, I mean--so Red Hot Chili Peppers doesn't get in the way of vacuuming, doing laundry, etc. Softer music is another story--a little John Mayer and Frank Sinatra calm me down and get me in a creative mood.

I never said I had good taste in music.

However, that's just me. Some people can listen to Metallica and max volume and write a romance piece or blare some Rolling Stones while they finish their business articles. Then there are others who can listen to X while writing Y, or can write as long as the volume is Z.

My question is "What about you?" Let me know what you listen to while you write, if anything. As for myself, the following come in handy:

• Passion Pit
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Josh Kelley
• John Mayer
• Coldplay
• Rolling Stones