The WM Freelance Writers Connection

by Shakirah Dawud Please welcome Shanna Mallon of StraightNorth, here to help us out in the calm before a deadline. Just the very mention of the word deadline is enough to get some writers quaking in their boots. Although helpful and often necessary, deadlines can spark fear and dread as writers feel the anxiety and [...]

Read the full story

by Shakirah Dawud On April 26, the Freelancer’s Union–of which I am a member–launched a project to draw attention to the number one problem freelancers run into that’s almost entirely beyond their control: lack of payment, compounded by the lack of funds to sue for lack of payment. As a freelancer who’s been stiffed a [...]

Read the full story

by Shakirah Dawud In the very beginning of my writing career, I was delighted to find a website that appeared to need my writing. I read their guidelines, edited a few pieces written a few years back in high school and college, and submitted them in anticipation of about $8 apiece. Two things saved me from [...]

Read the full story

by Shakirah Dawud I’ve mentioned this in passing both here and on my own blog, where the discussion went a bit further in the comments, but I thought I should highlight it here because it’ll happen to you one day, if it doesn’t already: you’ll get offered a job that’s not part of your line-up [...]

Read the full story

by Shakirah Dawud I move around a lot, but wherever I settle, I plant something. Among other things, over the years I’ve learned: which flowers I love most (peonies, roses, cosmos) how to tell a weed seedling from a preferred plant (because I seldom get around to labeling) some gorgeous specimens can be weeds, depending [...]

Read the full story