Another Monday and a potpourri of fascinating links to the world of stories. Two of my favorites this week are Mapping Main Street and a talk by Elizabeth Gilbert on creativity. And for those of you considering self-employment be sure to read Leo Babauta’s piece on getting started. He’s got some very practical advice.
- Put Your Ancestors on Our Cover! “We’re looking for a great ancestral photo to feature on the cover of the January 2010 Family Tree Magazine (that’s our 10th anniversary issue!). Maybe your family photo is the one.”
- Mapping Main Street: “… a collaborative documentary media project that creates a new map of the country through stories, photos and videos recorded on actual Main Streets. The goal is to document all of the more than 10,000 streets named Main in the United States.”
- Interview: Sue William Silverman on Memoir Writing: “Sue William Silverman’s newest book, Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir, reads like a memoir about writing memoir – and that’s exactly what the accomplished and respected nonfiction writer had in mind when she decided to do a book about writing craft.”
- The Get-Started-Now Guide to Becoming Self-Employed: “One of the best things I ever did was quit my day job and become self-employed. I’m so happy with it that I’m recommending it to everyone: my kids, my friends, my sisters.” ~ from Zen Habits and Leo Babauta.
- Once upon a time in Palo Alto: “Unlike their bigger oral history counterparts, these videos are low-budget and brief but they give watchers impressions of a city that most of us probably don’t know too well, if at all.”
- I Love My Librarian Award: “… encourages library users to recognize the accomplishments of exceptional public, school, college, community college, or university librarians. The award is administered by the American Library Association with support from Carnegie Corporation of New York and The New York Times.”
- Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity: “Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses — and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius. It’s a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.”
Photo by fdecomit
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Many of my potential clients aren’t familiar with how a book or video life story is actually produced. They’re often quite surprised at the number of hours it takes to do a professional editing job. Over the years I’ve tried to explain the editing process using analogies that might create an “Ah Ha” moment for my clients.
If you’re self-employed as I am, you’re probably all too familiar with the trap of filling most of your days with work. There are deadlines to meet, marketing activities, clients to see, and administrative chores. Maybe you’ve found a way to manage all this and still have a life. If you haven’t, here are some lessons learned from my three decades of experience that you might find helpful. To be honest, sometimes I “mess up” and don’t follow my own guidelines. But they’ve become a habit now and so it’s easier to get back on track when I’ve run amok. Let me know what works for you.
I’m not Moses or even a prophet for that matter. But I’ve been around for a while! As a freelancer for thirty years, I’ve learned some key lessons that can be summed up in these ten commandments that I try my best to follow. Not always successfully! For those of you starting out, these might provide a useful checklist. For the experienced among us, perhaps the commandments will be a useful reminder of what we need to keep doing. What are your commandments? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
