Yay, Bottlenose! Social media app saves drowning writers from a sea of constant status updates

Using the Bottlenose app feels just like this.

Come up for air and enjoy social networking again!

Looking for real-time results on what your network is talking about, but don't want to spend an hour surfing the feed? Same here.

So I checked out Bottlenose, a social media app that reads your Facebook and Twitter feed and lets you know what topics are popular.

How does it do that? With real-time Sonar, an interactive visual way to see your network's trending topics, people and more. It even shows you how these topics relate to each other and lets you click on each topic to really delve into what people are chatting about. Next to the Sonar graph are the related messages in your social sphere.

How does Bottlenose help writers?

In multiple ways--from social to promotion. Now you don't have to waste time finding someone

Xenophobia produces poor journalism, writing

That is an obvious statement, perhaps, but think about it. How true could the reporting of xenophobe be if they are writing from a skewed lens of unfounded fear or suspicion of the strange or foreign, especially in regards to people? Even the form of uncritical stereotyping renders their writing dishonest. Maybe not intentionally so, but still inaccurate.

Pinning My Writing Inspirations on Pinterest

Pinterest is a magical tool for visually inspiring writers.  I know I said that before in January, but thought it was worth stressing again. The photo pinning social network can be used to create topic boards on all the topics you like to write about, but it's more than that. If you just use the site to pin things you like--and create niche topic boards for these pictures--it hones in on things you really love.

Keeping Old Writing Clips: Super smart, sweetly nostalgic or just plain old hoarding?

Maybe I should make a clip book like this.

Throwback Thursday

Do you have a massive stack of old clips sitting lonely in a box? I'm slightly embarrassed to admit I do. The frail newspaper could-set-your-house-on-fire kind. Okay, even the xeroxed almost as flammable paper kind, from junior high. The problem is figuring out whether they've outgrown their usefulness, professionally and personally.

It started out innocently enough, even naturally. I wanted to be a journalist growing up, so I saved the yellow copies of my junior high paper and the newspapers from high school. Making a spiffy neon clip book, I proudly showed my work to my college newspaper adviser. It's what I had read writers do.

Joke Time! Writing humor and gags worth a giggle

Writing can be serious business. So today I want to lighten the mood by sharing a few of my favorite writing jokes and gag gifts.

Sadistic Mouse

Want to keep a writer productive? Gift them this chocolate bar ice cream sandwich mouse, from Amazon. Tell them they can have the real thing when they make deadline. We really will work for food--if it's yummy enough!

Exception to the Rule

A linguistics professor was lecturing to his English class one day. "In English," he said, "a double negative forms a positive. In some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative."

A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right."

Identifying interesting interview angles & subjects

Interview, originally uploaded by smiling_da_vinci.

 It would be nice to have instant access to the most famous or obviously newsworthy people on any given subject we're writing. While it doesn't often work that way, freelance journalists can still dig up some interesting people to interview on any given subject. All you need is an angle.

Writing about a movie? Interview real life people who have been in a character's situation or worked in the portrayed profession. Talk to fans.

Political news breaking? Get the opinion of lesser known or retired politicians. Talk to the people who the news will affect. 

Big event? Look for the smaller story within the larger picture. Go after that interview. Here is an excellent recent example by freelance writer Marie Anne St. Jean: "Dogs of the Titanic: a Dozen Aboard, Three Survived."

Here's a harebrained idea.. drop that horrific client

Wave buh-bye to terrible clients. 

Seriously. Just do it. Live longer.

Yeah, it sounds crazy to fire a paying client. Maybe also a little tempting?

Don't get too eager--I'm talking about that client that gives you nightmares, fills your days with dread and prompts spontaneous bouts of sobbing at the thought of writing for them.

You know which one I'm talking about. They are literally ruining--and stressing years off of--your life.

Be professional, but tell them your writing services will no longer be available after x amount of time.

Then take a minute to breathe and go out and find a better client. Actually, you may want to do that last part first, depending on the severity of your situation. Just don't remain trapped in a cycle of unhappiness and unrealistic