Words to Starve By

"If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."

—Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing

WRONG! of the Week (WOTW)

Must write at college level for $1.25 a page.

Finally a way to make college pay off and get those Beemers we have been wanting.

Words to Starve By

"We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers, we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence."

—Stephen Colbert

WRONG! of the Week (WOTW)

We need to generate sales copy for 8,000 items. We have an Excel file with all the data on it. All we need you to do is generate unique content. Payment is $1000.

Let's see, that's .125 cents for each ad. A little over a tenth of a cent. Even if we had offices in the landfills of Rio, that would be a little on the low side, wouldn't you say? Come on, be a sport, offer at least a dollar an ad. That might come up to $8 an hour.

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