Sign up for writing job, event and contests updates.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Writing Jobs

Find a variety of writing jobs in Michigan and from home. 

Writing Jobs in Michigan

Social Media and Writing Expert: Ann Arbor

Teaching - Writing: Ann Arbor 

Tutor for Writers: Ann Arbor 

Director of Social Media: Detroit 

Social Media Internship: Birmingham 

Grant Writer Needed: Detroit/Telecommute 

Press Release: Grand Rapids 

Content Writers: Grand Rapids 

Digital Marketing Specialist: Grand Rapids 

Part Time Transcriptionist: Grosse Point Farms 

Technical Writer: Lansing 

Technical Writer: Madison Heights 

Public Relations Internship: Okemos 

Web Developer/Creative Writer: Owosso

Part Time Web Content Editor: Portage 

Reporter: Port Huron 

Comedy Writer Wanted: Southfield 

News Internship: Southfield 

Social Media Success Specialist: Traverse City 

Telecommute Writing Gigs - Home Writing Jobs

Poet - Lyricist Wanted 

Therapist Writers


Blog Content Writer

Eco-Friendly Freelance Writer 

Gadget Geek Blogger 

Copy Editors 


Social Media Bloggers 

Web Content Work 

Biology Content Writer 

Online Event Guide Writer 

Freelance Writer 

Writing Submissions and Unpaid Gigs

Speculative Fiction Submissions 

Screenplay Writer for Webseries 

I learned never to empty the well of my writing, but always to stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it.


Monday, October 24, 2011

Writing Your Personal Essay

The personal essay: a long meandering jog down memory lane that often leaves one in fits of frustration and tears of nostalgic longing. Well maybe it's not always so emotionally charged, but it generally seems that the good ones, the pull at your heart strings personal essays, are just that.

Some of us write personal essays by choice, as a way to recapture for ourselves and convey to an audience a specific moment or period in our life. Others are required to write a personal essay for a course, whether it be in high school or at university. The motivation behind writing the essay may seem to vary, but if you believe that all experiences exist to guide and teach us, then you also must realize that being prompted to write a personal essay has something to do with what you need. Perhaps some memory has been gnawing at you, longing to be released.

That being said, writing a personal essay can be a challenge. The basics are simple enough: introduction paragraph, followed by three supporting paragraphs and a conclusion paragraph. I recommend choosing this easy structure so that you can release the burden of structure and focus instead on content.

So where do you begin with content? I think a little meditation time, some silence devoted to your topic is a good place to start. Ask yourself the question or questions that will ignite the subject that is most relevant for that moment. For instance: “What experience do I need to share with others?” or “What memory needs to be expressed and released?”

Ask yourself the deeper questions and then abandon them. Don’t sit and ponder it with your logical mind. Instead, allow the answer to rise from you organically. Perhaps a memory will pop up immediately or maybe an idea will appear that night in a dream. Don’t second guess the story that longs to be told.

According to Stanton Michaels in his article How to Write a Personal Essay, personal essays “should be honest, displaying your concerns and fears through specific, true-life examples rather than abstract concepts.”

Any reader can understand why this is a necessity; however, as a writer you might find this awkward, or even embarrassing. Displaying vulnerability is not always easy in personal essays, especially if a teacher or professor will be reading it and ultimately scoring you on what might be a very personal topic. It may be uncomfortable, but that’s where growth occurs - in that moment of stretching. When you move beyond your personal association with the event and you weave it into a story.

Not to derail from the topic here, but this is also great personal therapy and doesn’t necessarily have to end up in a reader's hands. Writing the narrative of events in your life gives you the opportunity to view them from a new perspective and perhaps to see patterns or archetypes that appeared during the event or moment.

Ultimately, personal essays should be personal. Give yourself the gift of absolute honesty and you may discover that the seemingly trivial details of your past are the most amazing guides for your future.











Saturday, October 22, 2011

Writing Jobs for Saturday October 22nd

Writing jobs in Michigan

Small Business Journalist: Ann Arbor

Senior SEO Specialist: Ann Arbor

Communications Assistant: Ann Arbor

Copywriter: Ann Arbor

Japanese to English Translator: Ann Arbor

Grant Writer: Ann Arbor

Social Medial Help: Birmingham

Play Writers and Grant Writers: Detroit

Bird Hunters who Writer: Detroit

Publisher Assistant: Farmington Hills

Automotive Writer: Grand Rapids

Grant Writer: Jackson

Graduate Level Writing Tutor: Oakland/Macomb

Professional Writer: Oakpark/Telecommute

Reporter: Port Huron

Internship SEO: Royal Oak

Contingent Writer: Saline

Part Time Web/Social Media: Scio Township

Russian to English Translator: Southfield

Blogger for Real Estate Company: Sterling Heights

Telecommute


Technology Blogger

Auto Insurance Bloggers

Freelance Marketing Copywriter

Proofreader 

Education Editor/Writer

Press Release Writer

B2B Insurance Editor/Writer

Sports Betting Freelance Writer

Nanny Bloggers

Guys on Their Dating Experience - Blog

Submissions and Unpaid 

Hunter to Write Articles

Submissions for Pork & Mead Magazine

New Garden Magazine

Female Short Stories

Submissions to Graze


‘I will never stop writing. People often ask when I will retire, but I say it’s none of their business. Writing defines who I am. I love the feeling of holding a finished book in my hands, and then I can’t wait to start the great adventure of writing the next one.’

Barbara Taylor Bradford 


Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Finding Inspiration in Writing Prompts

Most writers are eternally asking that elusive question: Where do ideas come from? They ask published authors at book signings, send lengthy e-mails and vehemently tune in when an author discloses that sparkling fountain of youth in which they dip their pen and proceed to ink out beautiful, haunting stories that leave us mad with envy, but desperate for one more line.

Popular fantasy author Neil Gaiman used to offer funny quips when asked this question. Now he just tells the truth, “I make them up.  Out of my head.” His answer is pointedly simple and not at all surprising.

Because there is no fountain of ideas, no treasure trove of brilliant stories that we too can discover. Or is there? I think that the deeper truth here is that we all have access to such a magical place, but it lives within us. We live in a world that is externally seeking. That looks out there for the answer when all of the answers, and I do mean all of them, lie within us.

Good ideas are good because you pluck them from your own conscious mind (or unconscious mind) and you write your experience of them. If you’ve  never had children, a hilarious chick lit book about raising five kids and four dogs will most likely fall flat. It’s not the idea that’s gold, but what the writer does with the idea. It’s the tiny details delivered by their personal experience wrapped around the larger situation that makes for a hilarious and ultimately relatable story.

Writing prompts are great ways to mine the gold that you already have within. Prompts are merely that, a prompting, that gentle prod that pushes you down a path that maybe you weren’t traveling. But once on it, the road unfolds like red velvet carpet and suddenly you’ve found your magic. Perhaps in the process of writing your book, story, or article, the prompt will be abandoned. It often exists solely as a shard of inspiration, a jumping off point.


Get started with a few writing prompts below and remember to turn your eyes inward for the brilliant details, images and voices that are already speaking within you.

  • While packing up the estate of your new spouses recently dead mother, you discover a photo album of yellowed newspaper clippings. What are they about?

  • When your lover dies suddenly in a motorcycle accident, you start seeing a therapist who recommends that you try regression therapy. During one session, you discover a repressed childhood memory. What is the memory?

  • Write a story that starts with: 'He stepped into the elevator, sweat popping along his upper lip and he checked again to ensure that the revolver was carefully hidden beneath his blazer.'

  • Remember your scariest Halloween experience. Now write the story from the perspective of someone else who was there.

  • Write your fondest childhood memory from the third person point of view.
Use these and other writing prompts to discover your own ideas and to narrow down the story that longs to be told. Trying to write something that you’re not interested in or not familiar with is difficult and will often produce mediocre results. Find your element, your ideal space within the words, the memories and the fantasies of your consciousness and your writing will shine. 

Monday, October 10, 2011

Writing Jobs for October 10th

Look below for writing jobs in Michigan and telecommute or at-home writing gigs.

Writing Jobs in Michigan 

Marketing/ Copywriter: Ann Arbor

GST Manual Editor/Technical Writer: Auburn Hills

Wedding and Bridal Blogger: Berkley

Op-Ed Writers: Detroit

Investigative Reporter: Detroit

Research Assistant: Grand Rapids

High School English/Writing Tutor: Novi

Freelance Writers: Oakland

Web Content Manager and Editor: Portage

Reporter: Port Huron

Digital Marketing Internship: Royal Oak

Interns Writing and Editing: Southfield

Managing Editor: Traverse City


Telecommute Writing Jobs - Writing Jobs from Home

Humor Writers

Grant Writer

Resume Writers

Mommy Bloggers

Editor for Food Column

Fashion Writers for Blog

College Application Help

Legal Content Writers