What was that New Yorker short story? Plot details as I remember... [more inside]
posted on Jul 23, 2008 - 3 answers

How can I make aesthetically pleasing RSS feeds for the readers of my Web site, specifically so that my feed will keep the formatting like a lot of sites do in Google Reader? [more inside]
posted on Jul 17, 2008 - 4 answers

An agent is interested in my book but says that they only have an "optional" contract- authors can sign it or not, given their preference. Should I give them my book? [more inside]
posted on Apr 13, 2008 - 15 answers

I'm looking for names of writers that rose from obscurity to commercial/critical success from using the internet. Know of any? [more inside]
posted on Feb 25, 2008 - 36 answers

What are the marks of a true professional? [more inside]
posted on Jan 22, 2008 - 40 answers

Is there such a book as "The London Times Historical Atlas"? Google and Amazon are clueless. [more inside]
posted on Dec 22, 2007 - 6 answers

How to get started writing comedically? [more inside]
posted on Dec 19, 2007 - 9 answers

In high school (the late 1990s) I read an essay on marriage -- the writer's main contention was that it's unrealistic to think that a single person can ever be at the exact same life stages as yourself, e.g. Young & Passionate (teens), Ready to Have Children (30's), Wanting Intellectual Companionship (60's), and thusly, that having just one partner over the course of a lifetime is a near impossibility. [more inside]
posted on Dec 18, 2007 - 3 answers

How do I keep language settings and fonts consistent in Open Office Writer (2.3.1)? [more inside]
posted on Dec 15, 2007 - 2 answers

The DVD writer in my laptop seems to be dying. Although it can still read pre-written DVDs and CDs, it has problems reading home-burnt DVDs. Am I right in thinking that if I buy an external (USB) DVD writer, I can open the enclosure, swap over the mechanisms and effectively end up with: 1. A new writer installed in my laptop, and 2. A slightly dodgy external DVD reader?
posted on Nov 17, 2007 - 9 answers

I need help writing a bio for an indie band. [more inside]
posted on Sep 14, 2007 - 17 answers

How can I become a funny writer? [more inside]
posted on Jul 31, 2007 - 15 answers

["Halp!!eleventyone! Diagnose my computer troubles from far far away" filter]: Why does my DVD-+R drive show up on the computer, let me apparently record, burn and/or write data to the disc, and close the session, but not actually do any of those things? [more inside]
posted on Jul 6, 2007 - 5 answers

I've been asked to co-author a nonfiction book with a woman who is an expert in her field, but not a writer. I have some questions about contracts and rights to the material. [more inside]
posted on May 26, 2007 - 6 answers

Help me find something to say to novelist Sue Miller over lunch. [more inside]
posted on Apr 5, 2007 - 5 answers

How do I build a technical writing portfolio when all of the docs I work on at my current company are proprietary information? [more inside]
posted on Feb 9, 2007 - 11 answers

I'm 23 and working as a sales assistant/helpdesk support/office admin/web designer/receptionist in my hometown. How do I go about getting a paying job as a writer, without formal qualifications? [more inside]
posted on Dec 7, 2006 - 10 answers

I love my 9-5 editing job, but as a certain hobby becomes viable as a (very small) part-time job, I need a much more flexible schedule. How can I quit while guaranteeing that my fellow editors then hire me as their writers? [more inside]
posted on Dec 5, 2006 - 7 answers

Turducken said it concisely: "When (most) freelance writers want to have a family or buy a house, they get jobs as... editors." I am wondering just how they (we) do that! [more inside]
posted on Oct 30, 2006 - 7 answers

My question is pretty specific. I'm a freelance writer. I have zero clips. I'm trying like hell to get noticed, but it's tough. I like to write about a wide variety of things (which may be part of the problem), but one in particular is music. There's a small band coming through NYC soon, and I want nothing more than to break them in print or web. They're playing a well-known and respected venue next month. [more inside]
posted on Aug 25, 2006 - 30 answers

Would anyone read a blog (if I wrote one) about my nightly dreams, or would that suck for everyone but me? [more inside]
posted on Aug 16, 2006 - 35 answers

Is technical writing the right job for me? [more inside]
posted on Aug 6, 2006 - 19 answers

Full-time freelance writers: how do you divide personal/professional time? [more inside]
posted on Aug 3, 2006 - 6 answers

Creative ways to promote a self-published book online without spamming? (UK) [more inside]
posted on Jun 19, 2006 - 5 answers

GiftFilter: a friend has been accepted into a prestigious graduate program for screenwriting. [more inside]
posted on May 22, 2006 - 8 answers

I am beginning to experience a small amount of success as a freelance writer, and want to put together a professional website so that folks may hire me/contact me if they desire. [more inside]
posted on Apr 24, 2006 - 4 answers

What is the cheapest and most user-friendly magnetic stripe card writer? (A hi-co writer is greatly preferred.) [more inside]
posted on Apr 22, 2006 - 4 answers

Help me find the best writers' workshop in NYC. [more inside]
posted on Mar 30, 2006 - 5 answers

Does anyone out there know of grants available for aspiring fiction writers?
posted on Feb 2, 2006 - 12 answers

A few questions about our Pro-Tools setup. [more inside]
posted on Dec 12, 2005 - 7 answers

Where do you find old drivers and software? HELP! I'm looking for an old version of the DYMO label writer software version 4.2.0. Its the only version that works with my database. The company doesn't have a copy in stock. I've googled. I've called. I've emailed. Any suggestions?
posted on Nov 17, 2005 - 2 answers

How come I never feel successful, only jealous? [more inside]
posted on Aug 15, 2005 - 23 answers

Kendall Hailey wrote a delightful book and was a talented stage actor in Pasadena a few years later. It surprises me immensely that she seems to have done no writing or acting since then (or at least none that I can find out about). Anybody know what she's been up to?
posted on Apr 28, 2005 - 1 answers

Which dictionaries would you recommend as a gift for a writer friend? [more inside]
posted on Apr 27, 2005 - 35 answers

Does anyone have some good info on writer Langston Hughes, aside from obvious Google sources? Any information gotten off the beaten path? I'd love to get some relatively unknown info on him, if anyone has it, or some particulary good access sites/books. Writing a paper and am tired of following everyone elses footsteps with information access.
posted on Mar 12, 2005 - 15 answers

I used to consider myself a decent writer. It was one of those things that I did well. Over the last few years though I can hardly seem to link two cohesive sentences together. Those last few years also seem to coincide with my entrance into working on the web. Does anyone have any tips for learning how to write again?
posted on Dec 6, 2004 - 15 answers

I'm trying to write an essay on the current nostalgia for guilt-free (and information-free!) smoking, boozing and drug-taking and desperately need sources, whether web-based or bibliographical. [More inside.]
posted on May 5, 2004 - 16 answers

How do you become an internet phenomenon? I am a writer who wants exposure and my friends keep telling me to start a website. I've started many a blog--all dismal failures--and need perhaps good advice on how to (a) construct a unique, functional website that is easy to post on and (b) get exposure. Figured this was a good place to ask. Thanks!
posted on Jan 6, 2004 - 32 answers