Mar 13, 2009

A Slow Start

Through Associated Content, in the past week I've managed to earn three cents. Granted, there have only been two articles that were published, and both of them were album reviews. There was the Synchronicity review, and there was Pink Floyd's The Wall review. Both of these were test articles more than anything else; something to put up to see how long it would take to get published, what the process is like, etc. When I wrote those reviews I was writing for myself as the audience, but as I read more articles on AC I think I've begun to tailor my writing towards that specific audience.

For me, personally, I've been enjoying writing "How To" articles. Such as, How To Propose, an article where I give some thoughts on what I learned from proposing to Ashley. Within the article, of course, there are some personal examples as illustrations. I also wrote How To Plan an Inexpensive Wedding, something that I'm learning about as I'm doing. My third article of the week was A Beginner's Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Mixed Martial Arts. It is partially informational, partially a tribute to men wearing nothing but shorts and trying to hurt each other.

So that's the good news. The bad news is two fold. For one, as mentioned, I've only made three cents. I can recycle a can for more than that, so why should I put significant time into writing, editing, and publishing articles. The second is that all those articles that were published (finally, yesterday and today), were written and submitted on the weekend. So not only does it take forever to get it up on the site, but I also haven't had a scrap of time to write more for the site.

It's frustrating, to have a number of ideas for short articles, or a series of articles, and not be able to express them. I suppose it would be like having a song, or a photo, or a video in your head, and be without the tools or the time to pursue it. So a very frustrating week. This weekend is also extremely busy, so amongst wedding planning, visiting friends, and attending an engagement party (rough life, I know), I must find time to continue to write, so that I can earn three more cents, and hopefully, save you a hundred dollars.

4 comments:

  1. I can sympathize... all those half-formed sentences floating around in your head. Why not take a page from really good TV shows and Twitter?
    Limit yourself to X number of words/characters per article for AC... let's say 500 words... you probably type between 30 and 50 words a minute so that's roughly 10 to 15 minutes of your day. Now thi influence of really good TV shows (like Dexter, or Big Love, or The Tudors, or Arrested Development) where every episode is self contained, but fits squarely into an overarching plot line...
    It would be an interesting style excercise, and encourage clear and concise writing... which I am clearly not very good at
    Much Love
    Nate

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  2. wow... I just read that last comment and realized that I make a whole lot less sense than I think I do...
    Break the beginner's article on MMA into 5 instalments (assuming an average article is 2500 words on the net... maybe less) Each enstalment is a self contained article that can be read outside of context and everything will be perfectly clear... but put it in context, and then all of a sudden you realize that there were sooo many hints about who the Ice Truck Killer was early on in the season... or you get a much richer picture of enjoying MMA from reading the whole series...

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  3. Yeah, I've already started doing that with my next series of articles that I'm planning on writing. Not only will it make it easier for me to write a bit at a time, it will also make it easier to digest for the reader. If I wait until the majority of the articles in a "series" are published, I can then write an overarching article that then links to all my previous articles that were more specific, cross pollinating my own work.

    I think it would be better, but harder to do. But it probably would be worth it.

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  4. Cross polinating... the beauty of the internet. I'd be willing to bet the hardest part won't be building the web of articles, but actually being concise ;D

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