A few weeks ago I wrote about writing articles in Excel. But one of the hiccups I encountered was tracking word count in Excel — which is pretty technical! Here’s an easy way to do it.

Monday night I attended a panel given by a Boston-area writing group. My own writing group is coming up on our one year anniversary, so here are some take-aways from their talk, and from my experience.

“Great!” I said. “But you’re aware that half of writing a blog is promoting it and getting it out there, right?”

“Once upon a time…” A great storytelling framework for your writing is the Hero’s Journey. Let’s go over its steps, and where you’ll recognize it in the stories around you.

In 1937, the Hindenburg flew over Boston on its way to its fate in New Jersey. There was another airship that flew over Boston, though, that caught everyone’s attention but that no one has been able to explain…

Want a way to truly get to know your characters? Pick a Myers-Briggs personality for them.

If you’re a freelance writer, you’ll probably need to do an interview or two or a dozen in your time, whether you’re writing a profile or feature on a person and their work, or simply need some experts for an article. Here’s my process for conducting an interview.

Before we jump into the greater Hero’s Journey, here’s a simple storytelling structure you can start using today.

“The Library of Babel” meets The Matrix meets Narnia meets Arthurian legend meets 1,001 Nights meets…

You’ve probably walked around the waterfront along wharves that were once the hub for Boston’s maritime trade and not have even known it.

Take the anxiety out of writing — especially freelance writing, which is compounded by having to create great work for others — by simply pounding out a shitty first draft.

I’ve heard that being even a little bit professional will get you a long way as a freelancer. Huh? How could you not be professional! Here are some tips from my years of working on high-functioning teams for ways to be a bit more professional in your freelance life.

It’s no surprise that a place like Disney cracked the code on storytelling, but what does their immersive approach have to say to those in business and marketing?

I just finished The Bluest Eye, my first Toni Morrison. It’s an incredibly crafted novel of humanity, ideas of beauty, the nuances of racism, and how we can so easily let people fall through the cracks.

There’s a weird stone in the wall of a building in downtown, around the corner from the Union Oyster House. Legend has it it marks the center of old Boston. Or is it a ploy?

I’ve recently started using an approach to my writing that’s keeping everything much more organized, and makes the act of writing much less daunting. What is it? Writing in Excel.

Going freelance isn’t (also) just completing cool projects — it’s about managing yourself as a business. This week, I’m going to simplify invoicing for the new freelancer.

Storytelling can be one of the greatest strategies your business can employ. Today I start a series on “Storytelling in Business”: what it is, the science behind it, how to use the Hero’s Journey for your marketing, examples from the business world, and more.

With the Boston City Hall Plaza renovations uncovering the old fountain, I took a look at its origins, why it was covered up, and what the future of the Plaza looks like.

I’ve been busy lately! But as freelancers, we need to make sure that we’re balancing working in our business with working on our business. Here are some things to keep in mind.