The first edition of “The Write Career” introduces Vonda Sines, a two year writing veteran who previously worked in the federal service. Her retirement—and interest in Kentucky Derby sensation Barbaro—inspired her to start her online freelance writing career.
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Freelance writing was not Vonda Sines’ first priority. ”Although I was formally trained to write, it always ended up way down the to-do list because of full-time job commitments,” says Sines. “Now it pays the electric and gas bills.”
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Sines began her online writing career on the website AssociatedContent.com, inspired by the story of …
Learn about new online gigs, reviews on popular user-submitted websites such as Associated Content, and much more.
Need helpful advice about how to find new writing gigs, tips for attracting clients or help just staying organized? This category has you covered.
Get the edge on the competition by learning about new print publications, how much they pay and tips for writing the perfect manuscript for them.
Although optional, Associated Content highly encourages writers to format their articles in small, easy-to-read paragraphs with clear subheadings to improve readability. You’re also more likely to be featured on Associated Content if you stick to this basic format.
Download the guide (PDF viewer required) here.
This article is a part of the AC Tutorials series on WJR. To view all of the articles included in this series, visit the AC Tutorials section.
So which one did you pick? If you picked D, you’re correct.
Why: The first sentence is filled with two obvious passive phrases–”should” and “can be”. Although the second sentence starts out as an actionable sentence, it goes off track quickly by stating the obvious (it’s obvious the Control Panel screen pops up when you click on the Control Panel–you don’t need to say it).
The third sentence starts out by explaining where the cursor should be, which really doesn’t instruct a person to do anything. You want them …
Example 2#: “After turning it on, the USB cords can be moved near the computer.”
To fix it, bring the action to the front. State what happened first, including additional details later.
Example 2# (fixed): “After turning it on, move the USB cords near the computer.”
Now that you understand the basics of eliminating passive writing, let’s apply this to a sample paragraph. Let’s say the topic is about accessing Windows Ozark’s Uninstall a Program feature*.
How to Access Windows Ozark’s Uninstall a Program Feature
Step 1: To begin, you should click on …
You may have seen Demand Studios toss around the phrase “passive writing” a lot. It’s not something they made up either–it’s a real (and common) problem new writers make in an attempt to lengthen or fluff up their article.
Unfortunately, passive writing is hard on the eyes, especially for the Internet readers you want to attract. It also makes it more difficult to understand the article’s purpose because of the needless extra verbs–a sign of amateur writing.
But what the heck is passive writing?
Demand Studios and Passive Writing: Definition
You probably …
Everyone has “sources” they depend on to write well. I rely heavily on the Mayo Clinic’s website (for useful health references) and Rhapsody of Fire blasted on MAX (for inspiration) to help me get started. For others, Tagcrowd or Textalyser helps keep their articles SEO-rich and focused. When I’m deep into my article, though, I’ll use Thesaurus.com and the sources listed below to flesh it out.
If you really want to improve your writing, these three sources are a must. It won’t make you a writing god, but …
