A freelance writer is a writer who works for an individual or company under contract. You can become either a full-time freelance writer making a living from your writing or a part-time freelancer supplementing other income. There are a wide variety of freelance writing jobs available such as business writing, copywriting, magazine writing, newsletter and brochure writing, press release writing, technical writing, travel writing, writing marketing copy, and writing for the Web. Continue reading →
In a February survey by the Pew Research Center, 21% of 3,000 adults revealed said they had read a e-book in the last year, compared to 17% who reported doing so in December. The Reading Habits Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Continue reading →
I’ve been surfing the internet to locate more free tools for bloggers and writers. Editing your writing can be difficult for professional writers, and it can be twice as hard for those whom English is a second language.
Granted that relying on the spelling and grammar checking programs included with most word processing programs is not the best choice, as automated spelling or grammar checkers are not as accurate as proofreading performed by a human they are becoming better tools.
This post contains brief descriptions of free grammar checkers you can use online to detect and correct errors in your draft posts, prior to publication.
After the Deadline is an intelligent proofreader that checks spelling, misused words, style, and grammar. Besides English Language, it is available in Portuguese, Spanish, German and French languages.
Spellchecker.net allows you copy and paste text into a free online tool to quickly identify spelling and grammar errors. An online thesaurus is also available for your convenience.
SpellCheckPlus is a free grammar checker that finds common spelling errors and grammatical mistakes in English. Simply type (or paste) your text into the window and hit the “check text” button. SpellCheckPlus features:
It is free;
It catches thousands of commonly confused words that other spellcheckers ignore;
It is available online and therefore accessible from any computer (and not just in the computer lab!);
It follows a pedagogical approach that encourages learning;
It updates automatically;
It is extremely easy to use;
It won’t overwhelm you with messages about sentences that are perfectly correct!
It targets a number of errors made by second language learners of English.
GrammarCheck.me uses an advanced, web-based grammar checking engine to power its free online spelling and grammar software. You can use this free online service as often as you would like for both personal and business purposes.
This advanced spell checker has built-in innovative spell check technology, which is able to detect and correct spelling errors with one simple mouse click. The technology behind this online tool not only detects spelling mistakes, but also run-on sentences, dangling modifiers, misplaced commas, and embarrassing typos.
Discussion
I’ve been using After the Deadline as a Firefox add-on for a couple of years now and do recommend it. I’m wondering if my readers use grammar checkers and if so, I wondering which ones you use.
It’s true that the best blogs are frequently updated. Publishing fresh content frequently helps a blogger to retain the readers/subscribers they have and to attract new readers/subscribers too.
It’s also true that publishing short “meaty” posts frequently and long posts occasionally is a successful blogging strategy.
According to Technorati’s index, a minority of bloggers are posting daily, or even weekly. When looking at average posts per month and per day by Technorati Authority, bloggers in the Top 100 generate 36 times more content than the average blogger. We also see a higher use of tags as part of their arsenal of strategies to bring audiences to their content, with 92% of the Top 100 bloggers using tags. – State of the Blogosphere 2011: Part 3
Readers today have little time and patience. When it comes to reading long, poorly constructed posts that wander all around the point without making it – forget it!
All writing is focused on clarity. If you can say what you aim to say in a few sentences, do so. If you need more sentences, write them. Regardless of post length, keep in mind these two points.
The worst blog posts leave readers wondering what the point was.
The best blog posts inspire readers to engage with the content and act on it.
To blog effectively:
Create a writing schedule and stick to it.
Take some time to decide what you want each post to accomplish and who your audience is.
Focus on clarity and brevity.
Don’t be afraid to use power words. “You”, “your”, “yours” create a direct connection between you, the blogger and your readers. By using them you can encourage reader feedback.
Create an effective title that tells readers what to expect, and place a keyword or keyword phrase as close to the start of the title as possible.
Use your opening to provide general information and context.
Use a structure that delivers the message in as few words as possible.
Conclude by summarizing and inviting questions.
Discussion
I’m eager to hear reader feedback on this post and would like to know what tips you have on the subject of becoming a more effective blogger.
A freelance writer is a writer who works for an individual or company under contract. You can become either a full-time freelance writer making a living from your writing or a part-time freelancer supplementing other income. There are a wide variety of freelance writing jobs available such as business writing, copywriting, magazine writing, newsletter and brochure writing, press release writing, technical writing, travel writing, writing marketing copy, and writing for the Web. Continue reading 
It’s true that the best blogs are frequently updated. Publishing fresh content frequently helps a blogger to retain the readers/subscribers they have and to attract new readers/subscribers too.
