My friends and I are starting an artist collective in Phoenix, Arizona and we desperately need help thinking of a name. Can you help? [more inside]
posted by Bageena on Dec 7, 2009 - 21 answers

Mac voice-recognition software for a writer with arthritis. [more inside]
posted by grumblebee on Dec 3, 2009 - 9 answers

How do authors ensure that they aren't copying older stories? [more inside]
posted by amicamentis on Nov 30, 2009 - 15 answers

I'm working on a project that requires at least 3 or 4 full days attention each week. What are some places in the US or world I could move to, &/or unusual living situations, that would give me a good chance of doing this? [more inside]
posted by cotesdurhone on Nov 19, 2009 - 6 answers

I'm looking for the name of a writer who writes about perfumes in a really beautiful way. [more inside]
posted by bunny hugger on Oct 27, 2009 - 15 answers

With NaNoWriMo looming ever nearer, I would like to hear your best tips, tricks, habits, and techniques for staying chained to the keyboard. [more inside]
posted by BitterOldPunk on Oct 22, 2009 - 26 answers

Updating my online portfolio and need help with web navigation, images, hosting and more. [more inside]
posted by mintchip on Oct 5, 2009 - 2 answers

Improve your writing by imitating the greats. [more inside]
posted by ekpyrotic on Oct 1, 2009 - 27 answers

I am obsessed with artist&writer Lynda Barry, and don't believe she has any peer or equal in the world of comics. Prove me wrong; who else would I love? [more inside]
posted by Juliet Banana on Sep 24, 2009 - 30 answers

How do I successfully do freelance writing (my night job) about my industry (my day job)? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Sep 10, 2009 - 3 answers

I have savings and, soon, no work. I want to do something interesting, write about it, and publish - ideally to kick-start a writing career. How should I go about these 3 things? [more inside]
posted by jeatsy on Sep 8, 2009 - 14 answers

What's the best way to change my engineering resume into one more appropriate for a freelance writer? [more inside]
posted by olinerd on Aug 21, 2009 - 5 answers

Where, oh where, can I make money online? I have a great computer expertise! [more inside]
posted by ptsampras14 on Jul 10, 2009 - 17 answers

Please Help Me Find This Random Famous-Writer-At-Her-Desk Photo [more inside]
posted by missjenny on Apr 16, 2009 - 15 answers

Who are the best magazine and newspaper feature writers, past and present? [more inside]
posted by reenum on Apr 8, 2009 - 20 answers

n00b Open Office Writer: 2 questions [more inside]
posted by Meatbomb on Mar 9, 2009 - 2 answers

What do I need to know about writing for the web? [more inside]
posted by Miko on Nov 15, 2008 - 9 answers

Are there any reasonably well-known (or even famous) writers who are truly multi-genre? [more inside]
posted by wackybrit on Nov 10, 2008 - 54 answers

Beyond being a freelance writer and a professional practitioner of public affairs, my base nature, I realize, is that of a data researcher, collector and organizer. [more inside]
posted by CollectiveMind on Nov 6, 2008 - 8 answers

I'm a writer, and I have a job interview on Tuesday afternoon. While I have my work lying around in folders on my PC (some video, some print, some flash, some radio), I haven't organized them in any meaningful, presentable way. How can I organize my work quickly into a decent portfolio that I can burn onto a CD as a leave-behind? Difficulty level - no Flash ability whatsoever, conversant with HTML.
posted by micketymoc on Oct 31, 2008 - 6 answers

I would like to start working as a speech or letter writer for a political/government office. What advice do you have for me on how to best go about this? [more inside]
posted by orange swan on Oct 17, 2008 - 5 answers

Help me make sense of my career. Advertising copywriter, now working in marketing agency as a creative whatsit, also an About.com guide on the side. I want to do more stuff like the latter, want to dump the former. What should I be doing to get there? [more inside]
posted by micketymoc on Sep 7, 2008 - 2 answers

What was that New Yorker short story? Plot details as I remember... [more inside]
posted by miles1972 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 by thebreaks 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 by arnicae 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 by JaySunSee on Feb 25, 2008 - 36 answers

What are the marks of a true professional? [more inside]
posted by PinkButterfly 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 by grumblebee on Dec 22, 2007 - 6 answers

How to get started writing comedically? [more inside]
posted by aleahey 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 by acorn1515 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 by sudasana 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 by Kiwi on Nov 17, 2007 - 9 answers

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

How can I become a funny writer? [more inside]
posted by nitsuj 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 by yggdrasil 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 by anonymous on May 26, 2007 - 6 answers

Help me find something to say to novelist Sue Miller over lunch. [more inside]
posted by grobstein 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 by tastybrains 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 by saileyn 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 by nevers 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 by Eater 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 by raconteur 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 by nintendo on Aug 16, 2006 - 35 answers

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

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

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

GiftFilter: a friend has been accepted into a prestigious graduate program for screenwriting. [more inside]
posted by simbiotic 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 by Thistledown 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 by Symeon on Apr 22, 2006 - 4 answers

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