We will be adding some new features here at the Stafford Scribe. One of them being Freelance Friday where we will cover many topics in the world of freelance writing. At times we will even showcase some of the most talented freelance writers on the web.
Other features will be announced soon. Look for The Scribe’s Scope in an upcoming post.
If you feel you have something to contribute to our Freelance Friday section, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d love to hear from you.
Be sure to check out the Guest …

I’m as open to change as the next person; in fact, I know that life is transient and the only thing that is permanent is change itself. But if there’s one thing I can never get used to or bring myself to use is what we now term “text lingo” – the fashionable language that allows you to delete the vowels from words to shorten them and mix them with numbers that sound that parts of words to form totally unrecognizable words, all of which are fully accepted by anyone …

I’m sure we have many reasons for being writers, but one of the best thing to me is:  I can do things simply because I want to.

I can change jobs every day.
I can have a new personality every day.
I can be a man today.
I can be a dog or cat today.
I can be a little girl.
I can be a god or goddess.
I can fight fires, destroy and rebuild the world.
I can fly, grow wings, or be a fish in the ocean.

All these things I can do in any given day …

Do we limit ourselves as to what we can achieve?  Is it fear, inhibition or something else?  Is it self-doubt, self-worth.  Are you afraid of success or afraid of what people will think of you once you become successful? Are we limited by the company we keep? Are we afraid of change?  After all, success is change.
What if your favorite author was afraid of success?  How many books would you have missed reading?  Where would your inspiration be?  Would you have the same inspiration to be a writer?
Would your friends …

So you’ve decided to become a writer.  Welcome to the hardest “easy” job on the planet.  Or you’ve written a book and you’re ready to start submitting your work of art to publishers.  Are you ready for rejection?  It’s a sad reality we all must face and in the beginning of your writing career it can be very heart breaking. But, you will get rejected.  Expect it.  According to some of the greatest and most well known authors on the planet, if you’re lucky, you’ll get hundreds of rejections.
Why would …

Sometimes it helps to create order before you begin writing.  You should decide a few things before you begin:
1.  Who are your readers?  What are your readers looking for?  What do they know or want to know?  What opinions do they have?
2.  What is your purpose of writing?  What do you wish to accomplish in your writing?  Are you writing an article, a story, a novel, a college paper?  Do you want your readers to smile, think or agree with you?  Do you want them to understand something?
3.  How can …

If you’ve been writing very long you know about rejection.  It really doesn’t matter how you’ve been writing either–you’re going to get rejections.  One of the most painful parts of rejections happens when they come in waves.  I’ve received more than my share lately.  It’s reminded me that Stephen King received an ungodly amount of rejections before his big break, and it also reminded me of a post that Angela Swanlund did recently.
But even knowing all of this, the sting of rejection still takes a little bit of soul away, …