The gift of time followed by a multitude of writing assignments: test passages, magazine articles, sample chapters for books. I've put aside my novel for these wonderful projects. I know many people who wouldn't touch these types of writing gigs because it would take away from their own ideas and projects, but for me, it's a win-win situation. Not only do I get to work on fascinating topics, which means I learn all kinds of new things, my writing improves under the guidance of an editor, and I get paid for all of it.
My pet projects wait patiently and when I return, some of the pesky problems are already solved (thanks to the subconscious that never stops working) and the time away means I come back with a fresh perspective.
So, do you write-for-hire? And how do you feel about it?
This weekend is our local SCBWI conference. Time for shop-talk, visiting with writing friends, and soaking up all that inspiration and wisdom. I hope to see some of you there.
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3 comments:
HI Vijaya.
I've tried to learn about submitting work to test passage publishers but have had no success learning how to get started. I did have a couple of stories accepted by New Leaders for New Schools. But I don't know how to contact others who publish test passages
Would you care to explain how to get started? Thanks for any info.
Bonita
Hi, Bonita. Some testing companies -- Pearson, McGraw-Hill, Educational Testing Co. A quick Google search using 'educational testing companies' gave a lot of hits. Browse through some of the obvious ones. Most have online guidelines. And you can follow them to get your name into the database. If there's a good match, they'll call you. Make sure you specify what you like to write.
I got started because on the NF listserv, someone had posted a call for authors to write test passages. So I sent them my CV and samples and got some assignments. Later I contacted another company cold and now I'm in their database. Whenever they need a science writer, they contact me. If I'm free for a little while I take on the project.
Good luck.
Thanks for sharing.
Bonita
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