Dogs: Taking care of writers since 2008

Okay, maybe the year just applies to me, but my canine companions definitely get credit for keeping this writer healthy. Which is important, because if I'm not feeling well--I'm not thinking well. And unclear thinking leads to sloppy writing.

My canine caregivers.

No, I don't have a trio of Doggie Bowser, MDs on my hands. Just normal, lovably active dogs.

As a primarily online freelance writer, it's not hard to get lost for hours down the internet rabbit hole. There are days where I'm so engrossed in what I'm writing that it's doubtful I would leave

Cowboy Up: Find a home for those rejections

Writers get rejections. It's inevitable and what you do after receiving these disheartening emails often decides whether you can make a living as a writer or not.

What do working writers do? They cowboy/girl up and get creative.

Because we have bills to pay.

You probably do too, so take a look at the rejection and decide if the piece is salvageable. Give it an honest once over and decide if it is publishable. Is it out of date? Have too many errors? Need fixed?

Is it worth fixing?

Yes? Then look for other--preferably paying--avenues of publication. Find websites, blogs, trade magazines, newspapers, contests, etc that accept that type of content and send it off

Branching out towards your writing bucket list

Are you moving towards or away from your goals?

When it comes to a writer's bucket list, it matters not whether you take cautious steps or brash leaps towards your goals. The importance lies in the actual movement and the direction it takes. 

That story or novel you want to write before you die isn't going to automagically appear. 

Especially if you are spending all of your time writing to a niche that has nothing to do with what you want to accomplish. Not to say you should give up all your paying gigs and live the not so romantic life of a starving writer. Just take--or better yet create--at every opportunity a chance

April Fools from Klout

Have you hooked up your MySpace account to your Klout profile? No, I'm not joking...but Klout is. In exchange for pulling our influence-seeking legs, Klout is offering a glitter-rific animated makeover for your score.

To get your--admittedly female-centric--MySpace inspired score:

Are you taking the A to Z Challenge?

April Blog-A-Thon

It's almost A to Z Challenge time! Throughout the month of April over 1,000 blogs will be participating in the challenge, which was started by Arlee Bird in 2010.


We will start on April 1, 2012, with the letter 'A' and continue blogging through the alphabet.


Not only will I be participating in the challenge here on Tamara Writes, but I will also be tackling political trivia from A to Z over on Pundit This.

Promotion Tips to Breathe Life into Older Content

Pin It

Remember that blog post you wrote six months ago that was so popular or the one from when your blog was just a baby that failed to gain traction? Of course you do. Unfortunately, your readers might not or missed it completely.

That's OK. Older content doesn't have to instantly die as soon as you hit 'publish' on another piece. You can promote content year-round, even if you're a busy freelance writer like Lana Bandoim.

Infographic: Top 5 Twitter Mistakes Writers Make

Fail whale moments for freelancers.

Freelancing Fail Whale

What writer doesn't look back on their first few days of tweets and cringe? I sure do. Here's a chance to look back and laugh at the mistakes we made before getting the hang of the Twitterverse. For new tweeps, take this as an opportunity to shorten your learning curve.

*Infographic after the article.

5. Irrelevance & Obscurity

Twitter isn't the social network to go to the artsy outfield. If you aren't tweeting something relevant or current, you aren't going to be relevant to the medium. Attention spans are short and no one is going to follow your storyline 140 characters at a time. There could be 50 tweets in between each one. Who could keep up with that? So save your novel excerpts for your blog or website, where they'll be