Freelance Writing Tips: Blogs

"A blog is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.

Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of most early blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media.

The term "blog" is a portmanteau, or, in other words, a blend of the words web and log (Web log). "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

In November 2006, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 57 million blogs."

There are many blogs out there I enjoy, but there are only a handful I visit frequently (some daily, some weekly - it all depends). Here's a look at five blogs I won't stop visiting and why: (these are in no particular order of importance or priority)

1: The Golden Pencil: The Freelance Writer's Resource
Not only does this blog contain job leads, but it also provides many other resources important to a freelance writer's career. Ann Wayman provides job postings, links, tips, a newsletter, and a list of even more blogs. Make sure you have a notebook (like your writer's notebook, for example) next to you while working through this blog.

2: Freelance Writing Jobs: Deborah Ng
Keeping the work flow steady is a very important cog in the freelance writing machine. If the leads dry up (or if you don't know where to look for new ones), you're pretty much determining the fate of your business. Deborah Ng's efforts prevent any of this from becoming a reality. This blog is all about the jobs! Yes, she scours the "net for new leads and receives email from prospects looking to hire. To top it off, it's updated daily!

3: InkThinker
Have you ever wanted to pick a professional freelance writer's brain? Well, in this blog, you have the opportunity to take a look into the inner workings of Kristen King's career. In this blog you'll find tips, leads, links, announcements, articles and experiences. It's a must see for both novice and seasoned writers.

4: Angela Booth's Writing Blog
This blog touches on many aspects of writing (fiction, non-fiction and copywriting) extensively. There's something for everyone and, with the organization and flow of the blog, all areas are covered effectively and no one feels pushed aside by another.

5: A Quote a Day For Writers
I love this blog because I'm constantly looking for inspiration, catchy quotes to add to my blog, catchy quotes to add to articles and so on. And, the fact that each of the quotes are specifically for writers, it makes me feel like these were harvested and organized just for me.

There are many other blogs I enjoy visiting frequently that really do deserve mention but, as I've already mentioned, these top out my list. I tend to find blogs that art linked to blogs typically from other blogs. As you can see, there's a lot of opportunity to explore the "blogosphere" and find your own treasures just from clicking from blog to blog to blog.