Best Tips of the Decade

[Ed]

Hi Writers,

Constant Content hasn't been around ten years, but the combined knowledge and experience of the authors here is impressive. As has been said over and over, the CC forums are the best place to learn about writing and submitting to CC, as well as how to make sales, price content, set personal schedules and goals, juggle writing and life, choose topics, and find success in your writing development. What is some of the best advice you've encountered on the forums? What are some of the most helpful tips you can offer to others?

If you've got a tip to share, copy it from the original forum post and paste it here along with the name of the original author. We'll put all this information in one place for current and future CC writers.

Thanks,
Ed

[Celeste Stewart]

Cool idea! It makes my head hurt to try and remember, but cool! I will be scouring the pages with this thread in mind in the days to come. In the meantime, seriously, the forums are a huge wealth of info to newbies. It's worth the time to read through the threads found here!

[Ed]

Thanks, Celeste. I thought it would be easy for authors to recall those instances where they were struck by a piece of advice they actually used and do a search for the thread where the information was found. Maybe I was wrong. I can go through and find tips and suggestions that I think are useful, but an author-generated list might have more value for everyone.

Ed

[Ed]

Control +A followed by Control+Shift+F9 removes all hyperlinks! - Celeste and Antonia

[Celeste Stewart]

From the "Research Tips Thread:

I don't recommend Wikipedia because it's user-generated, so credibility is an issue. Rather, I like to use Google's Advanced Search feature. You can enter .edu, .org, or .gov into the domain filter and your results will be from educational, non-profit, or government sites! This is a good way to find credible sources of information.

[Amy W]

I have no idea how to quote from a past thread, so I'll just copy and paste.

Celeste said:

"While going with a per word charge has its downside it does give both writer and customer a budget from which to start. Customers know that if they assign you a 1000-word article at ten cents per word, then it will cost them $100. You know that you must deliver a decent article at the $100 price point. If you want to make ten bucks an hour, you have ten hours to get it done. If you want to make fifty bucks an hour, you have two hours to do it. If you want to make one hundred dollars an hour, then your time limit is just one hour. If the article is a quality piece that meets the customer's needs, the customer won't care whether you spent one or ten hours writing it. It's up to you to produce the desired end product in a time frame that makes sense for you and gives the client the expected article."

Before I read this, I never paid attention to how long it took me to write an article. Now I actually time myself to make sure I earn a decent hourly wage. Thanks, Celeste!

[Celeste Stewart]

You're welcome, Amy. Sometimes I think I'm stating the obvious and should just shut up so it's really nice to know that this helped.

I've been trying to find a quote Ed said about a month ago that explained the three strikes rule beautifully and can't find it for the life of me. While searching Ed's posts, I did stumble on this one:

Re: Random Questions
If the customer requests an article and specifies that the article must be written in a certain way, even if it deviates from our guidelines, the author may do so. But a request is not automatic permission to play fast and loose with all of the guidelines. Thanks, Ed

and this:

Re: The word "etcetera"
Please avoid the use of "etc." The reader shouldn't have to fill in the blank, which is what the "etc." creates. The information should be provided for the reader or the "etc." should be left out.

Both quotes are good to remember for us all. The "etc" one is a pet peeve of mine. What do you mean "cookies and cakes, etc."? Do you mean "desserts"? Cookies, cakes, pies, ice cream sundaes, and other high-calorie indulgences? Just say it, don't etc. me! Tell me what you mean! LOL. It's a great reminder to choose our words carefully and not get lazy.

[Amy W]

My recent pet peeve is the word "literally". It bugged me to no end hearing the host on the Amazing Race use that word every week. Is going down a water slide "literally" taking a leap of faith? Really?

And one of the best tips of the decade isn't really a tip - it's a website. I visit the Owl at Purdue site every time I have a grammar question. It is "literally" a lifesaver. So thank you, Ed, for linking to the site in the forum.

[Ed]

I'm really glad you found it helpful, Amy.

I was trying to find the tip Lysis gave about submitting her articles in rounds so that she can make sure that she submits articles that she has given a few days to mature while others that have gone through the same process are pending review. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

I've given so many explanations of the three strikes rule so many times (as has everyone else - thank you), so I have no idea which one you thought summed it up better than the others, but I am curious.

Ed

[Celeste Stewart]

Ed, I think it was this one:

This is not a site for writers who need to improve their writing up to a point where it meets our requirements. This is a site for writers who can already bring to the table content that meets our requirements. Three chances are what everyone gets . . . total. This is our policy and it applies to everyone.

And this quote helps to clarify the "but what if it was a dumb newbie mistake" question:

While accounts are not usually suspended for formatting errors or for not following some aspect of the guidelines the first time around, authors are expected to thoroughly review the guidelines and take them to heart. Repeated rejections and failure to improve are grounds for account suspension, no matter if you are a new author or one who has been here awhile.