3. 1.
Being a freelancer means you're not just a writer.
I pointed out he has
no professional
credentials and nothing
to prove there is an organization
behind him. I think he's just a free-lancer. Heads up.”
From an online message board for Stephen's neighborhood.
Image courtesy Paul Thompson, UCLA/NIH
“There's a guy soliciting donations for 'books for orphans'.
He's chubby, slow, carrying a pop can
and wearing khakis and a
rumpled T-shirt.
5. 1.
Being a freelancer means you're not just a writer.
“If you're a freelancer, you're a small-business owner,
whether you think about it that way or not.”
– Anne Sasso and Emily Gertz
“Minding the Business”
Image courtesy Paul Thompson, UCLA/NIH
6. 2.
Writers toil alone,
but they don't have to be isolated.
“I was soaking my conference-sore feet with three other writers
in a huge jet-tub in the hotel's honeymoon suite. … “
– Kendall Powell
Image courtesy Scott Ehardt /wikimedia
“The actions of choosing
words and wrestling with
your own mind prime the
soil for the invasive weed
of loneliness.”
• – Stephen Ornes
7. 3.
Writers and scientists share
similar compulsions.
– Kendall Powell
Image courtesy Paul Thompson, UCLA/NIH
“Like the scientists I interview, I'm driven by curiosity,
and crafting stories of discovery never fails
to satisfy my mind. It also satiates my
desire to leave the world a little
better than I found it. I hope I'm
making science not just
accessible, but also enjoyable
and meaningful for others.”
8. Image credits: NASA; Paul Thompson, UCSF/NIH; NOAA; Dr. Steven Rosenberg,
NCI Surgery Branch; G. Terry Sharrer, Ph.d. National Museum Of American History.;
4.
This is a great time to be reading
and writing about science.
9. 5.
Envy is a universal job hazard.
“... almost every story by another writer
felt like a tiny threat, evidence of something
I should have pursued
» but hadn't.”
Image courtesy caelo-terra
“Envy is a byproduct of our quest
for love from the world, which means
it's about insecurity and loneliness
and all kinds of incredibly common
things we'd rather not feel,
much less own up to.”
– Michelle Nijhuis
10. 6.
But envy can also be a potent tool to help
writers realize their goals.
“Envy is dumb, but because it speaks from your unconscious,
it knows a few things you don't.
If you can alchemize envy into
a sense of friendly competition,
it can be a powerful guide
and motivator.”
– Michelle Nijhuis
Image credit: caelo-terra
If you envy a colleague's best
seller, maybe you should
finish that book proposal.
11. 7.
Rejection is a part of everything:
Life, writing, and science.
– “Good Luck Placing This Elsewhere”
Hillary Rosner
(who has won nearly every
science writing award out there.)
Image credit: White House Photographic Office.
“Even your idols, even the writers whose careers
you'd give anything to emulate ...
still deal with rejection.”
12. 8.
So is growth.
Image credit: National Park Service
“Sometimes our careers outgrow
the steady gigs that launched us,
And we need to recognize when
a work situation no longer fits our
business needs or our lives.”
– Sarah Webb
13. 9.
Achieving balance doesn't just happen.
“I don't have an off switch....
I think I'm probably like most science writers”
– Liza Gross in “Balance, Schmalance”
*
*
*
*
*
*
Work in an ex situ office
Clock out
Tame your smart phone
Don't accept every assignment
Give your brain a break
Have children
Image courtesy Anne Sasso
Tips from Virginia Gewin:
