Comments on: What Freelance Writers Can Learn from Penguins

By: Freelance Writing vs. Writing for a Living: Which One Do You Really Want? » The Life and Times of a Freelance Writer

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:33:24 +0000

[...] What Freelance Writers can Learn from Penguins [...]

By: Jenn Escalona

Jenn Escalona — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:54:37 +0000

I know you wouldn’t! Haven’t you been nothing but good for me? Besides, if we did that, then we’d die as a species and then who would write the world’s “How to Change the Blade on Your Lightsaber” articles?

By: Yolander Prinzel

Yolander Prinzel — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:26:58 +0000

You’re right…unless the other freelancers are giving you bad advice to doom you to failure. I would never do that….I swear….:O

By: Jenn Escalona

Jenn Escalona — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:50:52 +0000

Mwhahaha Maybe I’ll hang around and spring the question on him when he is watching Deadliest Catch. Or the lumberjack show! There’s no telling what kind of blog post we’ll get then. (“How Freelance Writers are like Lovely yet Doomed Trees in Canada”? “Why Freelancers Should Avoid Boats”?)

By: Bumbles

Bumbles — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:47:35 +0000

I’m glad your husband wasn’t watching The Deadliest Catch when you asked him for inspiration :0)

By: Jenn Escalona

Jenn Escalona — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:04:06 +0000

I love that old saying, “When the tide is high all boats will rise.” I really do think that having a lot of good, well written content out there will just increase the demand for that content. And even if that isn’t true, new and fresh voices always increase innovation. Maybe if they start to ding your sales, it will only give you the impetus to change and improve.

I minored in anthropology in college, and one of the things that always stuck with me was how the societies that faced the biggest hardships always came up with the most innovative technologies. When food (or in our case, clients) is plentiful, there’s no reason to invent food gathering technology. But when food is scarce, the person who invents the best weapon or trap is the one that ultimately eats.

By: John Soares

John Soares — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:55:27 +0000

Excellent points Jenn.

Besides my main freelance writing specialty, I’m also an outdoors writer. Lately I’ve helped a few people with publishing and marketing advice, and it felt really good, even though their products could potentially reduce sales of my hiking guides.