audrabianca?

[airwolfe777]

Does anyone know when audrabianca joined? She is a writing machine! I'd like to know when she started - so I can get a barometer on how quickly one can get to that number of articles.

MJ

[Ed]

Audrabianca has been here between 1 1/2 and 2 years. She took a break for a few months, but is now back with even more energy. A similarly prolific writer is beconrad, who began writing when I was still new - about 3 years ago. Other writers, like Celeste and Word Gypsy, have been here even longer and have continued to submit without flag.

When I was still naive to the superhuman capabilities that some writers have, I thought that this type of speed and accuracy was impossible. But it isn't. These writers blast through their obstacles and keep going.

Ed

[Hans]

But at what cost?

I'm not going to point fingers, but some articles i've seen recently from one the aforementioned authors simply aren't well-researched or lacked refinement. It almost seemed like the author was trying to write using the minimum amount of words the public request was willing to take while providing ambiguous information of little value.

Wanting to build up a collection of articles is great. We all have that desire to different extents. Just remember not to give up on the ideal of quality over quantity, even if profit-maximization might point to a different route altogether. :)


-Mr Hans

[audrabianca]

I'll let you in on a little secret.:) Last year when I didn't work at all, I wrote hundreds of articles. On a good day I wrote about 15 to 20 a day. This year I am revising some of them and resubmitting them while I am working full time. That accounts for about 30% of what you saw this week. Lately, I've just had a lot of ideas. In life, there are people who do not have to revise/edit/draft very much. I am usually one of those people, unless I am particularly tired or distracted.

Since I have not been writing for public requests lately, I hope Hans isn't referring to me. If the quality of my articles was low, I would be interested in that feedback. Remember that Ed does not fact-check. If the article is well-written, it usually passes.


Now, MJ, if you could only give me tips on breaking into screenwriting, we'd be able to exchange pointers....:)

[Ed]

I'd be interested to hear what others have to say about this criticism, but there are other facets to this discussion:

1)Many webmasters need a lot of content that draws readers to their sites . . . they do this by purchasing these pieces of content, which are easy-to-digest and may also be search-engine optimized, or able to be optimized. They aren't necessarily interested in in-depth masterpieces; they need pages that support the information contained on the rest of their site. Writing for the web is different, generally, than writing for print publications.

2)Many writers here must support themselves or their families. Some people *do* have to weigh quantity over quality. That's simply reality, whether or not they agree with it, I agree with it, or other writers agree with it.

A person can *always* improve his or her writing. It is my hope that the sales of better quality content encourages others to step up their efforts in general. So far, this has been the case.

Ed

[audrabianca]

Case in point, for Ed: I slaved 8 hours last Sunday over an article that I hoped would make it into the premium articles section. Although it didn't, thinking back, I could have written at least 16 articles in that time. Quantity over quality? Chances are that one or more of the 16 articles would sell faster than a premium article.

[Ed]

You don't have to make the point to me, Audra. But your article was still accepted, which means it's available for purchase. The premium category showcases work, yes - and, I may add, it was never intended to increase anyone's sales - but you may still ask whatever price you think is fair for you work, whether or not it is in the premium category.

In my experience, the authors who are the most versatile - those who can write short, snappy articles that focus on limited salient points as well as in-depth, sophisticated articles - cover the widest customer base and eventually have the most success.

[airwolfe777]

I agree that I'd rather write 5 general knowledge articles that don't take too much research than spend time sifting through tons of information to gain some obscure knowledge. In my opinion, quality is important, but quantity is key. Time is money! Of course, I've only had one sale - so what do I know?

I wish I had some screenwriting tips for you Audra! I have never written a screenplay - only a short, low budget film. I have met many actors on set who have sold the rights to their screenplays for thousands! Some as much as $30,000!

You are right Ed, becronrad is amazing too! She can churn out 10 different high quality articles on the same topic in no time!

One question for you guys, are weekends typically slow for purchase? I sell my stock photos online and Saturdays and Sundays are far inferior to weekdays when it comes to sales. I get unmotivated quickly, I need another sale! I wrote 4 articles when all of you guys inspired me from that last thread - and now I am lazy again. Maybe I just need "Constant Coddling from the Constant Content forum" - haha!

[Ed]

Weekends are slow for purchases. Customers are out playing. This is when writers often find time to write. In addition, requests usually aren't processed over the weekends; the home office works a regular week.

[audrabianca]

Ed, when I said case in point, I was trying to illustrate your point for the newbies about why authors might focus on shorter, light articles versus time-intensive articles.

[Ed]

Okay, it's cool. :) Doi - Wouldn't it be great if I could read minds?!

[Celeste Stewart]

I agree with Ed about what many of the CC customers want. Sometimes, they are more interested in the keywords and having a decent article surrounding these words is a bonus. This type of market simply won't pay the high dollars that an in-depth article would normally command. Others appreciate a unique perspective or a witty voice. Others want the same topic covered a dozen different ways. Others want expert information.

Just as so many different customers have different requirements, the same is true of writers. Some writers can crank out decent articles in no time flat while others may take five times as much time to create a similar article. Some writers are content presenting the basics while others want to dig deeper. In the end, the writer decides whether their article is worthy of their own personal standards while the customer ultimately decides if it meets their needs.

I do think it's entirely possible to find a good balance between quantity and quality. It helps to have a strong command of grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, and spelling as well as an understanding of the Internet writing style. WIth that foundation, it's easier to write in quantity.

The top writers here find themselves under a microscope as they are examples to others to the site. Yes, you can, and will, find errors or articles that aren't quite what you expect. I remember my own writing being publically scrutinized in the forums when another writer complained that a sentence of mine wasn't exactly the best sentence ever written and yet their article was rejected. It's not a fun position to be in but it's easier to take knowing that no one is perfect and that despite being less-than-perfect, you can make a decent living doing this.

[audrabianca]

Just to give you some encouragement, MJ, I probably submitted about 25-35 articles this weekend. Remember I don't have any private requests going and write on spec mostly. Two got snapped up tonight on housing, bringing in well over $100 before the cut. Although some articles will take months to sell, the housing articles were a good bet because we've seen a lot of those selling lately. I feel that my 15 hours writing everything this weekend were worth it after seeing those sales. If you figure minimum wage for writing those two articles, I've already recouped my time. Any money I make on the other articles will be a bonus. The articles also sold above the typical 30-50 dollar range.

Like someone said above, while the customers aren't always biting on weekends, a lot of writers find it a good time to write. I find it a good way to save money on gas and eating out by writing. Post-Fay, the weather was nice yesterday.

Also, parents like me set up their home to work around kids. Most of my work is done with Sponge Bob blaring in the background. Let's just say there are a lot of mysterious marker marks I can't explain.

[Celeste Stewart]

Working with those kids underfoot . . . Audra, I have mysterioius marker marks too (mostly yellow, blue, and brown). And I cannot find one of my cordless phones for the life of me! Last I remember, a little guy was cruising around going "Blah blah blah" pretending to be a big shot with the phone next to his ear, and next thing I know, the phone is long gone. . . I've searched and searched but it's nowhere to be found.

Back to writing, even with plenty of assignments, I try to write a few articles when I can just for me. For example, I recently finished a big project that wasn't terribly easy to write and am faced with another one much along those same lines (it'll be fun enough but not necessarily easy). In this particular case, I really needed a bit of a break before moving to the next- some fun writing so to speak - so I took a few days to flex my writing muscles a bit. I believe that I'll do better in the long run by giving myself permission to relax a bit and just write out of pure love of writing. Having done so, I'm ready to tackle this new assignment. Sure, I could have spent the time writing for a "sure thing" but I needed the break - and now that that's out of my system, I can move on and give my customer what he expects of me - hopefully with the renewed energy and focus that he deserves.

So, write for customers but write for yourself as well. In the end, it all should work out.