Blog Day Planner

I’ve been offline for a month until yesterday, which is something an online writer never plans to see happen. There were extenuating circumstances in this case. My husband and I were stranded in the Santa Fe National Forest when our transmission went out.

We went to attend a peace and prayer assembly and made it to the 9000 foot elevation mountain top when it happened. For the last couple miles as we tried to ascend the mountain road, the van spewed and sputtered spilling out billows of black smoke through the tail pipe until it died in place. We managed to get it parked after several attempts. Frustrated, we left it there and walked about four miles to the gathering entrance.

A few days later we found a parking spot at the top of the hill with everyone else. Our friend Badger helped hold the spot while Raven hiked the few miles to the van hoping to bring it closer to where we were camped. At this point in time, we did not know the transmission was out. We believed the carburetor needed a major adjustment due to the high elevation.

The van fired up without too much trouble and started to climb the hill, but it died in the middle of the road unable to shift into lower gears to make the climb. Raven flagged down a passing motorist who towed our van with his SUV into the parking lot. Folks had to push the van into the actual parking spot and the realization hit home. Our transmission was out!

Here we were on the mountaintop without a transmission and without knowing how we would replace it or where the money would come from to buy another one. We didn’t even know how we would get to Albuquerque to find a transmission or if there were other mechanics to assist with the installation.

We spent an interesting month on the mountain. The good news is that we got another transmission, had it installed and drove off the mountain in our van.

There are other interesting stories to tell from our month long stay in the New Mexico mountains. Watch for those stories on my other blogs like The Midnight Writer or The Midnight Writer’s Journal or The Midnight Writer’s Freelance Quest. Till then, I have to roll up my sleeves and get busy on my blog planning. Want to get to work with me? Let’s swing into full action rocking the cybersphere with some fantastic blog improvement plans!

Have fun and keep on blogging.

The Midnight Writer

Image via Wikipedia

Today I wanted to take just a minute to share my joy at being in a spectacular place of beauty on earth. I'll be working with the view of Mount Shasta looming close by. We drove through last night and it is like coming home because we used to live here for the better part of three years. Cephas and I camped all over this region and walked through much of the forest here while climbing her wooded hillsides. We endured spring, summer, fall and winter here with a tent pitched in a foot of snow. It's great to return to a place of such wonder.

Of course, Cephas overdid it again yesterday. We scoured the hillsides of Weed looking for an old campsite. A housing project is taking the foothills of Mount Shasta there. Developers cut down a lot of trees so we could not establish our original path. We haven't given up and could go back again. Our markers were tree lines, shrubs, wood piles and the contrast of tall trees next to short ones on the moonlit horizon. It's been four years since we camped there which seems like a lifetime. The world here is much different now than then.

I have some photos that we took yesterday that I need to upload but until I do that, I wanted to share a photo of Mount Shasta for all to enjoy.

There are some tasks that I need to finish today and lots of new ones to begin. Work is coming in a steady stream now and I am reminding myself to be disciplined enough to sit for several hours to write. The sunshine and brisk spring air is calling to me to explore the mountain forests again. I'll enjoy after my work is done. Resist! Resist the temptation to put leisure before my freelance writing assignments. That is an important part of working at home...knowing when to work and when to play. Even though your time is your own there are certain principles and guidelines you must abide if you are going to be a successful freelance writer.

My tasks for today can be categorized by levels of importance and due dates. That is a good way to prioritize. Here is a basic routine that I have established for myself and it might work for you. Of course, it varies.

• I check my emails first and my invoices that might need submitted from various companies.
• Respond to urgent emails such as job providers who need assurance that I'm working on their article or pending work to accept or follow up on mistakes made on blog posts. Many times clients will give you a chance to correct your mistakes, if they are minor.
• Edit blog posts with mistakes.
• Review my latest blog posts in search of errors such as typos, photos that need resizing, or slight content editing. Sometimes I find one or two posts that just don't measure up to my quality standards. I rewrite those posts.
• Submit completed work and email the clients to let them know that posts or articles are ready.
• Upload all my blog posts from Live Writer, which is a service that I use when I'm offline.
• Check all job boards for new assignments and send emails to current clients to find out if they have new tasks for me.
• Outline the new articles according to due dates and start working my way down the list.
• Upload all recent photos onto computer, sort and look for relevant photos to put in my most recent blog posts.
• When paid assignments are finished, I look at my blogs and attempt to write five or more posts per day. (I have lots of blogs!)
• Social Networking. Follow up on all my social networks and make a few updates.
• Entrecard. Drop cards on all recent advertisers, find new blogs to drop on and buy some advertising.

The above outline can vary from four hours to twelve depending on the number of assignments that I have pending . On days like this, I work in two shifts starting in the morning for about five hours. I break for about the five or six hours for recreation, dining, personal relaxation, chores, family time. At night, I'm at the keyboard again sometimes for six to eight hours if I have a lot of work to finish.

I'm anxious to get started on my day. I'd love to hear how you manage your freelance writing life. Leave a comment to share with us.

The Midnight Writer

Image via Wikipedia

Our wheels hit the pavement today after we left Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls, Idaho. Cephas and I made a one hour pit stop at Starbucks before driving west. I made preliminary ideas in my head about what I'd like to accomplish today online then checked my email and we rolled on down the highway once again. The rest stop in Twin Falls was nice, I have to admit. Too bad for Cephas that he is still in pain from over-exerting his back and kidneys while fixing our van.

The sweet part was camping at the canyon last night and waking up to its stunning extreme beauty. The canyon rivots down a steep ravine to the river. I'm always fascinated by its intense and majestic scenery. This time, I actually took some pictures and video. I forgot to bring the camera into our room tonight to upload the film. I'll either have to brave the dark and leave the comfort of my chair, or put that on the list for tomorrow's "to do". As for tonight, I 'm writing for Pay Per Post and for myself on some blogs. My goal, write ten posts if I don't run out of wind and steam, then take a hot bath and try something called sleep. I know, it's a foreign word to some of us freelance writers, but it is a life necessity at times.

Tonight, I'll keep it simple. Tomorrow is a busier day.

Six posts for Pay Per Post - they're short ones and don't pay very much but I need the coffee money and the practice. These travels are very expensive!
Four posts on these blogs: Mountain Spirit Productions, Keep It Simple, The Midnight Writer's Freelance Quest and Blog Me Back 2.
I have to do a quick report on The Midnight Writer's Blogs to wrap it all up. It's 12:30 am so I should finish around 3 am. That's a good time for a midnight writer to go to sleep.

We'll discuss some of our blogging adventures tomorrow and talk about some freelance writing tips. Will you share your ideas with me?

The Midnight Writer