By Mike Rumble, www.rumblesrumblings.wordpress.com I sat in a business seminar one time, and heard it said that “An organization is only as good as its leadership.” When it comes to TAF, we are very blessed to have Don Vaughan as our founder and the driving force behind the organization. I swear that if you look up “freelancer” in the dictionary, Don’s picture will be next to it. The highlight of 2023 was that it was TAF’s 20th anniversary. One of the upcoming highlights [...]
Backstage joking before going on stage as Gooper in “Cat In A Hot Tin Roof” at Neuse Little Theatre in Smithfield By Mike Rumble, www.rumblesrumblings.wordpress.com There are two things I never thought I would do in my life: become a writer, and become a stage actor. Back when I was in high school, the world of business was where you wanted to aspire to, so I headed off to college to major in computer science with the dream of becoming the youngest Canadian-born president of IBM.[...]
Photo by Fizkes on Shutterstock By Drew Becker, www.RealizationPress.com After an initial examination, I sat in the medical office waiting to see the doctor for a consultation on my cataract surgery. My wife didn’t have her phone, so she was playing Wordle on mine. Another older gentleman joined us in the waiting area, taking a seat across from me. He wore a burgundy golf shirt, carried a four-wheel black walker, and sported a baseball cap with a PP logo. The two Ps intertwined, the[...]
![Writing While Dyslexic, and "e;Oh, Look, a Squirrel!"e;](https://tafnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/squirrel-eating-nuts-200x200.jpg?quality=100.3022033014090 "Writing While Dyslexic, and "e;Oh, Look, a Squirrel!"e;")
Photo by Caleb Martin By Chanah Wizenberg I’m a writer with dyslexia and ADD/ADHD (the “H” is intermittent, depending on the mood of my doctor). What motivated me to write this post was an emotional response I had to a discussion in our TAF Google group on this topic a few months ago: “What’s the grammar/style/editing beach you’re willing to die on?” More specifically, the answers to that question, which were turned into a post on this site titled Quirks that Irk. It [...]
Photo by Robert Linder on Unsplash By Don Vaughan, www.donaldvaughan.com I love anniversaries, and not just the one I celebrate each June with my lovely wife. No, I’m talking about the celebration of more newsworthy events, the kind that can mean big bucks for savvy writers. Over the years, I have received numerous assignments from magazines large and small pegged on special anniversaries. They’re fun to research and write, and can be quite lucrative. The key is to uncover events [...]
Photo by Cathryn Lavery on Unsplash By Deanna Martinez-Bey and Elaine Klonicki Writers are often advised to set reasonable goals for themselves. The key word in that sentence is—you guessed it—reasonable! If you’re writing an article or blog or are contributing content to a site, you will likely be given a deadline by your editor. External deadlines serve to keep us on track. Even if you write your own blog, hopefully you have established a set schedule and are trying to keep to [...]
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash by Michaela J. Lawlor Writing is hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.” I’ve heard this quote millions of times, but I cannot say I know who the original author is. The same thing can be said about Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs, but allow me to rephrase it a bit: “Completing your MFA is hard. If it were easy, every writer would do it.” So, if you’ve been there and done that, congratulations! Give yourself a pat on the [...]
Photo by Lee Soeburn By Lee Soeburn What’s the most irksome grammatical quirk you can’t ignore? You know grammar rules are made to be broken, are all subjective, and you recognize style plays a role. But if you catch yourself making this “mistake” or see it in someone else’s work, your heart immediately screams: “ARGH, my nemesis! Foiled yet again!” TAF got the new year started off right with this fun, conversational ice breaker. The inbox of a Taffy (the nickname of TAF [...]
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash By Kristy Stevenson, KristyStevenson.com Dear Current (and Future) TAF Members: Did you know that one of the benefits of your membership is inclusion in our Find A Freelancer bank of professional profiles? Many members have landed paying gigs after being found here – you could be next! It’s fast. It’s easy. And it’s a great first step toward building a professional online presence. This is your opportunity to build a business card-size [...]
Meeting Details Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2020 Time: Zoom opens at 7:00pm; Meeting starts at 7:15pm Zoom access: Details will be published in the Google group The Program: An Exploration of Political Journalism Photo by Alejandro Luengo on Unsplash Who is your most trusted political news source? Do you still rely on the mainstream media or have you headed elsewhere? Do you have any interest in writing about politics? The year 2020 is a big one in [...]