Words to Starve By

"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."

—Thomas Jefferson

WRONG! of the Week (WOTW)

Writers and editors are invited to apply by preparing a sample report intended to help us understand your analysis and writing style. We may ask for a revision of your work along the way. Completion of the sample report is not paid.

This was The New York Times! Gee, free work. A tryout. Do NYT people write for free? At the very least, say, "If we use your report, we will pay $500." It's icky old spec then, but not a total rip. Asking for revisions on free work—nice touch.

Words to Starve By

"I get up in the morning, torture a typewriter until it screams, and then stop."

—Clarence Buddington Kelland

"You may be able to take a break from writing, but you won't be able to take a break from being a writer."

—Stephen Leigh

WRONG! of the Week (WOTW)

We are looking for a writer who is good at writing on B2B marketing topics dealing with large-scale industrial projects. Target audience will be high image industrial clients. $1000 for 18 webpages of 500 words each.

Gosh, what a breeze. Can we also wash your car and walk your dog? Those high-end industrial contractors probably would like to see strong, well-researched, easy-to-read copy. Bad news: That goes for more than 11 cents a word.

Words to Starve By

"Writing is easy. All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead."

—Gene Fowler

WRONG! of the Week (WOTW)

I need help with my psychology term paper.

Try the library. They have this thing now called studying. We hope you don't have a meltdown and go to a shrink who cheated. We know we don't want to.