TDH: Portfolio » Writing

Get A Writing Gig Exploiting Lazy Editors

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 10:19:17 +0000

You know, editors are lazy some times. Rather, they are whenever they can afford to be, which isn’t because they have low standards or are nasty little buggers. No, it’s a lot easier than that, they are busy busy busy running the publication, making sure it works out in any possible way. Online editors usually have more than just content in mind, they need to make sure that the traffic is decent enough, otherwise the site will falter as will the cash flow, and with no money to spend on good writers, well, there’s just not much to do then, right?

Basically, editors are lazy whenever they can, because they have a ton of other things to do. I know, having edited both online and print magazines, and I can tell you, it’s hard work! There’s always a time crunch, and always a ton of things to do. More than necessary sometimes, since the editor usually is the one with the grand schemes.

You should take advantage of that, as a freelance writer. The editor’s lack of time means that whenever he can spend some effort, he will. I suck at that, personally, because I suffer from the Swedish syndrome, meaning stay on your side and don’t be presumptuous.

That’s bad advice. If you want to be a successful freelancer, you’ll have to take some space, e-mail editors and follow up with calls if possible. Make sure that people in the magazines and online publications that interest you know that you’re available for work. Keep them posted with what you do, and try to inform them of your work, especially when you feel you’ve done something good. The key is not spamming them with unnecessary information, of course. Make it valid and worth something.

The idea is to be the first person the editor will think of when there’s need of a new writer.

The idea is to be the first person the editor will think of when there’s need of a new writer. If they know you can be working on that crucial piece in a jiffy, then why start hunting for contributors using job boards? The editor will save time just e-mailing you, pitching an article or offering a spot straight up. Remember, the editor will always save time if possible.

It’s even easier online, since you can start proving loyalty to a publication before you’re even starting your campaign for work. Bloggers can link to other blogs, and by doing that creating awareness with trackbacks and kind words. Suddenly you’re an advocate for the publication, you’ve already proved some loyalty without even speaking to the people involved. Achieving the same effect in the print industry will take a lot longer, unless the publication in question is very online aware of course.

So why not save a poor editor some time, and score yourself a writing gig, by announcing your availability? Don’t be shy, not everyone can have the luxury of being contacted whenever a site needs a savior.

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Why I bought an Asus Eee PC 900

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:34:16 +0000

Last week I bought an Asus Eee PC 900, a 8.9” laptop, being very portable and using a SSD disk, which makes it more durable when moving around. That last part was important to me, so I’m accepting the limited lifespan of SSD disks, which you only can write to a finite amount of times.

I went with the 900 model sold in Sweden, because I wanted a Swedish keyboard so that I can sell it when I want to upgrade to a better machine, which I know I will. Initially I wanted the 901 model, but since delivery times from the UK was too long to fit my needs, I went with the crappy 16 GB version you probably shouldn’t get. It was cheap though, so just the fact that I can work during my current trip pays for it in time well spent. Or it should anyway, we’ll see how well it turns out, as I’ve spent less than an hour on the train so far…

Anyway, I bought the Eee PC 900 for a reason, or several really:

I’ve wanted a truly portable laptop for quite some time. My MacBook is a good machine, but heavy and cumbersome to actually use on trips.
I wanted a fairly cheap small laptop that I could throw in my bag, no fuss. So SSD and no media bay or stuff like that, just the bare essentials, lightweight.
I’m all in the cloud, so why should I bother with big hard drives? In fact, I barely need them at all, with the iPod as my music player, and USB/memory cards should I want to watch movies on my laptop.
I have found that I write better fiction away from my desk, which I probably associate way too much with work (it is all about fooling the psyche, as you know), so why not make sure I can move my fiction writing to where I want to?

So you could say I’m filling two needs here really. One is that I want to be able to bring a laptop on trips, and actually do some working/whatever on it while traveling, something that I find hard with the MacBook since a lot of trains, airplanes and whatnot are too cramped for a full laptop. The other is that I want to help myself write more fiction, which I do by fooling myself into be more positively attuned to writing, by doing it away from my desk. The portability and simpleness of the Eee PC helps me do that.

The Asus Eee PC 900

I went with the 900 model, as I said, because I do want a screen that can manage web sites well enough. with a resolution of 1024×600 pixels, sites might not look great, but they’ll fit horizontally at least. That means I can use it as a blogging machine, since I’m all in the cloud anyway.

It’ll be interesting to see how this will work out. One initial goal I’ve set for myself is to get a new version of a pen-and-paper role-playing system out to the people using it, possibly releasing it later on as well. I’ll do all of my writing on that using this Eee PC. I also intend to do some fiction writing, of course, including the final edits to the Orn story The Green Knight, as well as the third Stiel Uthrom story.

We’ll see how it works out. Right now, the keyboard is making life hard for me. I’m a touch typist and find that it doesn’t really work that great, and due to the size of my hands, neither does my finger setting – I just can’t fit it in and types with 3-4 fingers per hand instead. I am at a reasonable speed though, getting better, so it might not be an issue.

Netbooks are the future for me, and I doubt I’ll be replacing my MacBook at all when it clocks out for good. One strong desktop computer, and a truly portable netbook, possibly a 10 incher to get room for a better keyboard, that is probably the setup I’ll be looking at in the future.

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Finding an Extra Edge in Writing

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:52:03 +0000

I really should be getting my Moleskine notebook and see what I had planned on writing, picking anyone of my ideas, and get down to business. Unfortunately, I’m not going to do that, due to the slightly feverish state that I’m in.

I’ll let you in on a little secret instead, a technique I’ve used over the years to change my writing, and my experience overall.

I use music.

That’s right, the noise rushing out of my speakers is affecting my writing. There are albums that I, to this day, still connect to the work I did 10 years ago.

It is not so weird when you think about it. Say I’m writing fiction, say I want speed and action, a tense and dangerous situation. Listening to music with a rough beat will help me get to the right state of mind, whereas a slow love song will definitely ruin it all. Right now I’m not feeling too well, as I said, and the slightly disoriented mindset that this sets me in is something to use as well, so I’m making it even more unfocused and tumbling by listening to a PJ Harvey album. I have no idea what to do with it, other than to wrap up this blog post.

Music can help you get a sharper edge to your writing. Try it, you just might be amazed.

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Yes, Blogging Does Indeed Kill Fiction Writing

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:34:08 +0000

It’s not just me that realized how blogging stinted my writing, it seems. My colleague Andrew writes about how blogging killed his fiction writing, something I certainly can relate to! You might remember that I started publishing short stories from the world of Orn to get myself started writing fiction again.

It worked. I am writing fiction again, with a lot of ideas in the pipeline. Sure, I’m still struggling with the fact that other writing fills some sort of need, which makes me less hungry to jot down stories, but on the other hand, I’m spending more time thinking about what fiction I want to write with the time at hand.

Welcome to reality, no one, not even Stephen King, can write all the time. I felt really sad when I reached that conclusion…

Anyway, do chip in and tell Andrew how blogging is affecting your writing in the comments!

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E-book Request: The Secret Behind My Success In The International Blogosphere

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:08:46 +0000

A little while back I received an e-mail with an unusual request. Someone, which I’ll let be anonymous for the time being, asked me to write an e-book for him detailing the secret behind my success in the blogosphere. The take was that he didn’t perceive how I made direct money from any of my blogs, and therefor recognized that I must be making it from spinoff services promoted through my online writing. This person was pretty well informed about my background, because he found it equally interesting that I managed to get into the international blogosphere by starting a blog (here at tdhedengren.com actually), and going from there, with English being a secondary language.

I found this interesting, and I’ll tell you why.

I did start out in the “international blogosphere”, which is a term I think is pretty silly but still says a lot, being the English speaking blogosphere with readers from all over the world. Anyway, I did start out with a select few posts on this very blog. The purpose was to establish myself, and try my luck in English, having run sites in Swedish since 1996.

It worked, I landed a writing gig at The Blog Herald, and I’ve made a bunch of money with spinoff services. Most particularly doing design work.

Writing extensively about this topic has been on my mind for some time. While I don’t think I’m unique in any particular way, more than there’s just one of me, I do believe that a lot of would be bloggers could benefit from hearing my story, from those first struggling blog posts, to being paid monthly salaries to run blogs, and making thousands of dollars designing them.

With the risk of sounding like I’m bragging, I’d say I’ve been pretty successful, although I’m also happy to tell you I feel there’s quite a lot left to be done! Never look back, always move forward, and all that.

Anyway, while I doubt I’ll take this particular person up on his offer, I am considering writing the e-book in question. It wouldn’t be a biography or anything like that (although you’d get the background), but more of a retelling of my journey, with pointers and tips I’ve learned along the way.

So I guess I’m asking you, dear reader: Would you be interested in such an e-book?

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Some updates just in time for the weekend

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:53:28 +0000

Just a quick blog post before I leave for the weekend.

I just published the World of Orn page. It’ll be a constant work in progress, but now at least there’s something.

I also updated the bio page, which will give you a little insight in what I’ve done so far, but it’s not much of an author bio yet. That’ll come with time, when it’s warranted, I’m sure.

Finally, I’d like to pipe in a push for my blog posts on writing over at rethord.com – that’s my blog. Take a look if you’re interested, they’re not directly related to Orn or OrnTales.com, but naturally they reflect my writing philosophy and whatnot.

Enjoy the weekend, and read a great book, as well as part two in the Quest for Knighthood story!

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Blogging about writing

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 01:01:16 +0000

I’m blogging about writing over at rethord.com. Check out my writing category to see what goes on in my mind when it comes to writing, and also see what tricks of the trade I’m employing.

Also check out my first book review, a Fritz Leiber anthology! The following ones will be published in this blog instead. Sorry for the inconvenience with this one.

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The first upcoming launch from yours truly

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 15:57:04 +0000

I always thought that the Orn project would be my first international launch (not counting this blog of course) but that will not be the case. As of today I have four projects in the pipeline with the first one only weeks from announcement, and then an additional week or two before it launches.

Yes, it’s a blog.
Yes, it’s in English.
Yes, it revolves around the blogosphere.
Yes, I’ll let John Evans read it as well.

*giggles*

(You see what I did there? The silly *giggles* thing? That’s to make sure no one takes offense, although I rather doubt John will… Anyways, I hate that kind of thing but didn’t feel like putting a smiley here. Call it silliness, or just a filler. After all, this paragraph wouldn’t exist without *giggles*, if that makes any sense to you. It does to me, somewhat, but I’ll stop the blathering now.)

The Orn project is in no means put on ice. It’s progressing nicely on my computer, but I was counting on a bit more artwork and stuff from my brilliant artist – who is swamped with work (partly my fault, sorry Reine) of course. I could launch without it, and will if need be, but prefer not to. As it isn’t time sensitive in terms of Holiday season or anything like that I let myself take it a little easy on this project, a luxury seldom awarded I might add.

Just realized that this is another one of those “look, I’ve got something coming up but I can’t and won’t tell you about it, but you should get excited” posts. I feel dirty.

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The problem with alien monsters

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 07:00:52 +0000

I just realized that the title of this post needs some explanation. So I give you, the official sub title of The problem with alien monsters post!

Besides the fact that they might be invading our world, eating your brain, mating and probing (err) and being obnoxious in the real world.

You see, this isn’t about real aliens (they’re out there, in one way or another, right?) – rather more fictional beings. One thing I’ve always had the most respect for is the ability to visualize an imaginary creature to the reader. China Mievielle does it brilliantly, which I pointed out in the Pedido Street Station review, and there are others who masters this art as well.

I’m being put to the test with the creation of Orn, the fantasy world I’m developing, as well as with Swedish science fiction role-playing game ARK. Actually, I think that science fiction makes it harder for the writer since the whole genre builds upon our present world. Whenever you’re touching something that have changed, evolved or maybe just don’t exist (but you still need to bring it up for clarity’s sake) you have to make sure that the reader gets your vision.

Tea in your futuristic world might be something entirely different, although brewed and best served in cups, than what your reader is used to.

One take on the whole controversy between real world and fictional objects (and creatures of course) is to name it differently, but then you’ll end up with a bunch of terms that the reader isn’t used to, which takes its toll on readability. I don’t like that approach, although it certainly is necessary in some cases. Thinking about it, how many various types of dragons have you read about? Sometimes they’re lizard, gods among men, artifacts… The point is that by using a fairly vague term as “dragon” you make the text more readable (compare to “fauxelnyzz” for example) without having to battle with too many assumptions on the readers behalf.

Describing the alien objects, monsters and so on is, come to think of it, the smallest part of the problem. A description usually comes pretty naturally the first time the creature/object is touched upon. Making the name of the object to stick, both in the readers head as well as to the description, is the hard part.

Yes, this post ended up becoming something entirely different from what I first had envisioned. Brian Clark of Copyblogger fame would certainly trash me about that…

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For aspiring authors

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 13:04:04 +0000

I just can’t help to link Seth Godin’s post, Advice for authors. It’s a good read.

And this is a short post. I really should get that “nice reads” box I’ve been planning up soon.