That trusty little netbook I bought a few months ago paid off last week as an excellent writing tool during a couple of days I spent in the hospital. No, I wasn’t sick. But my wife was.
Read more on Trusty little netbook worked great for writing in hospital — get one if you can…
I’ll bet you’ve heard this advice more than a few times: Always backup the data on your computer in case of hard drive failure, fried motherboards, or whatever might destroy it all.
Read more on When it comes to computers — backup, backup, backup…
Not long ago, I wrote an article here about netbooks and my plan to buy a netbook. I did buy one. Here’s my initial reaction to using the one I bought.
Jargon, which I’ve written about several times before, comes in many varieties. Yesterday’s physical exam was a real lesson about how NOT to use jargon we writers can learn from.
When the nurse updated my medical information before the exam, he looked at information from my visit nine months ago and asked questions like, “Are you still taking ascorbic acid? How about the Loratadine?” (He named a number of other supplements and over-the-counter stuff I swallow daily. Everything from Vitamin D to hgh supplements were fair game. No, I don’t take hgh supplements, but that would have been more understandable to me than another he did ask about — omeprazole, the medical ingredient in Prilosec.)
Read more on Do you take ascorbic acid or Vitamin C? What chemicals do you swallow daily?…
On a personal note, I’ve mentioned several times that I am not able to afford health insurance. The good news is, we have a very well-equipped, HUGE “sliding fee” clinic here that I qualify for — and yesterday was sort of Reckoning Day for my generally inactive, slovenly lifestyle: I had a checkup at said clinic, with special concerns about my blood pressure.
Read more on Those of us without health insurance appreciate ‘sliding fee’ clinics…
How do you support your writing habit? Are you fortunate enough to be able to make a living writing full-time? Or do you rely on some sort of “day job” to pay the bills and write when you are able to fit it into a busy life?
Read more on How do you support your writing habit? What’s your ‘day job’?…
I have to confess that I’ve spent most of my writing life in a sort of tension between “wannabe” and “gottabe.” I’ve always told myself I want to be successful as a novelist. But most of my writing life has been taken up with writing I’ve had to do in order to pay the bills.
Read more on Establish your writing priorities; restablish them when you stray…
I wrote a recent article here about insurance, especially health insurance for freelancers, and even invited comments from anyone who’s found a good, reasonably cheap resource for such insurance.
We’ve recently, in my household, begun looking at the many ins and outs and options of Medicare. Yes, the years are rushing by and my wife, not ME, is approaching Medicare age in the next six months or so. What we’ve learned already is this: It’s much easier to find simple, cheap life insurance rates than to find anything resembling easy, SIMPLE answers to health insurance for Medicare clients.
Read more on The more I learn about insurance, the less I like what I find…
From time to time, I still hit the temp agencies looking for part-time or temporary work. (We all gotta eat and pay the bills, don’t we?) One of the odd things I see about most of these agencies is the way they are divided into such specialties.
Read more on Personal note — why such divisions among temp agencies?…
If you’re more dedicated as a writer than I — and you undoubtedly are — you probably put in lots of hours at the computer most days, tap, tap, tapping away at the old keyboard, adding words to your great works. Over the weeks and months, those words build up and your great works reach various stages of completion, maybe even publication.
Read more on Mini-vacation may really improve your writing perspective…
Most writers I know who have had any success getting published, or who blog regularly or otherwise self-publish, have a great love of words, all sorts of words.
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about idioms and how they make language colorful and interesting, as well as difficult to learn.
Read more on Most writers have a love of words, all sorts of words…
Sometimes you make a decision and you just feel downright good and RIGHT about it. I did that about 10 minutes ago when I deleted my Twitter account, freeing up some time and getting untangled from a horrifically sp*mmy mess.
Read more on Goodbye Twitter, hello all my blogging friends…
I doubt that many of you visiting the blog noticed, but there is no longer a sign-up form on the left side of the page for you to sign up for my “once-in-awhile” Writing Tips Newsletter.
Read more on You probably haven’t noticed, but I killed the newsletter sign-up…
I’m writing this from one of our public library study rooms here in beautiful Springfield, MO. My “real” office at home was offline all day yesterday and I was stuck at home — but maybe I can use that experience to impart a useful tip. But first, a little background information is in order.
Read more on Helpful hint: Locate and learn to use public ‘office space’ to stay online…
I’ve spent most of this afternoon setting up “AutoResponder Plus” software to handle a simple Writing Tips Newsletter I’ve been threatening to get started for several months. (You’ll notice a very simple subscription form in the sidebar closest to this content.)
Read more on Making new effort to get newsletter going — look for confirmation email…
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