writing Archives | Philippa Writes

03Aug 2021 by Philippa Willitts

I was a guest on the Crippled Stomp podcast

Last week, Shabaaz Mohammed invited me to be a guest on his intriguingly named podcast Crippled Stomp. Always keen to talk all things disability, I said yes. We had a great chat about white men failing upwards, abuse in ATUs, the French far right, having EMDR for PTSD. Amongst much, much more. The article I discussed is here. The transcript below was auto-transcribed, so expect errors. Hello, and welcome to another episode of crippled stomp. Today we have another guest. Oh you and Pippa will introduce yourself over the paper. Hi everybody, I'm Pippa or Philippa either goes, not pick that like that. But I'm Philippa Willitts I am a freelance writer and editor, and I have done a lot of disability rights campaigning and feminist campaigning and LGBTQ…

18Jan 2021 by Philippa Willitts

A new year update for 2021

Freelancing, news

Nobody needs another blog post about how weird 2020 was. Nor about how weird the start of 2021 has been already. But, in short, totally weird. Now, onto the rest of it all. What I'm up to I continue to work hard. Most of my work is writing, proofreading and editing. Last year, I proofread four full-length books and many, many job applications. This may be symptomatic of how many people lost their jobs in the midst of the international crisis. Interestingly, I didn't proofread as many essays and theses last year as I usually do; perhaps due to the same. [caption id="attachment_2574" align="alignright" width="334"] Fireworks[/caption] In terms of writing, most of what I do currently is ghost writing blog posts for business clients. Usually SMEs, these businesses know that…

18Feb 2014 by Philippa Willitts

Podcast Episode 68: Working for free and the myth of ‘exposure’

Podcast

[tweetherder]Writers, stop working for free, and certainly never pay for the privilege![/tweetherder] We see it all the time, and it seems to be getting worse: business owners and media outlets put pressure on writers to work for free. Is there any benefit to this, or is the fabled 'exposure' they promise not worth a thing? In this episode, Lorrie and I look at the facts and share some rather strong opinions on the topic! Show Notes Episode 4: Is writing for free ever ok? The Center for Architecture and Urban Design Los Angeles (CALA) logo design competition 99 designs Absolute Write: $5 for 500 word articles Carol Tice on Freelance Writing Scams Philip Hensher stirs debate among authors after refusing to write for free Paying bills with a drawing of…

21Jan 2014 by Philippa Willitts

Podcast Episode 66: Five (and a half) ways lists can transform your marketing

Content Marketing, Freelance Self-Promotion, Podcast

Everybody loves crossing things off a list, right? A to-do list is not the only list freelance writers can use to help their marketing and self-promotion, so tune in to this podcast episode where we talk you through five and a half types of lists that can help you to transform your business. Show Notes 10 most popular episodes of 2013: 10: Episode 2: Setting up as a freelance writer: website, social media and brand management best practice 9: Episode 3: Setting up as a freelance writer part 2 8: Episode 18: How to network like a ninja 7: Episode 7: Freelance Writing: To specialise or not to specialise? 6: Episode 55: Coping with rejection 5: Episode 30: It's not about you: the art and science of commercial copywriting 4: Episode 38: How to break into new freelance…

13Nov 2013 by Philippa Willitts

Podcast Episode 62: How to meet – and exceed – your clients’ needs

Podcast

[tweetherder]Retaining existing freelance clients is generally much easier than constantly finding new ones[/tweetherder], so it's important to ensure that you are always seeking to meet, and exceed, their expectations. If someone hires you, make sure you are impressive! In this podcast episode, Lorrie and I recommend various ways to make sure that you correctly identify the needs of your clients, and how to go about meeting them. Show Notes Episode 18: How to network like a ninja Episode 13: How to be responsive and flexible without losing the plot Lousy Book Covers Lorrie's favourite lousy book cover I couldn't decide whether this one or this one was the best / worst. Free Download: 50 customizable call-to-action templates There are several ways to make sure that you don't miss out on A Little Bird Told…

03May 2013 by Philippa Willitts

Podcast Episode 36: Visual clues to professionalism

Podcast

Working from home might feel like an endless opportunity to work in your pyjamas, but there are times when it is really important to think about your visual appearance - including the appearance of your website and social media profile pages. In this episode, Lorrie and I talk about lots of aspects of your visual presentation, including how you need to prepare for Skype conversations, and how to choose a business name. Show Notes How to name your business: Facebook discussion The top 50 most embarrassing domain names ever purchased Clients from Hell The Essentials of Reuters sourcing Coursera There are several ways to make sure that you don't miss out on A Little Bird Told Me. Subscribe…

24Apr 2013 by Philippa Willitts

Podcast Episode 35: No portfolio? No problem. Get writing work without published clips.

Podcast

We ran out of storage space for our earliest episodes. But fear not, we have made these many, many hours of freelance writing goodness available for just £10. If you want access to them all, please click Add to Cart and buy through our e-junkie account for instant access. Lots of new freelance writers fear that they will never get any work because they don't have published articles or novels already. However, when you remember that every successful freelancer started out in the same way, it becomes clear that it is definitely possible to get hired as a writer even if you have no clips to show. But how, exactly? In this podcast episode, I go through lots of different ways to get yourself some clips, build up your portfolio,…

19Mar 2013 by Philippa Willitts

Podcast Episode 30: It’s not about you – the art and the science of commercial copywriting

Podcast

We ran out of storage space for our earliest episodes. But fear not, we have made these many, many hours of freelance writing goodness available for just £10. If you want access to them all, please click Add to Cart and buy through our e-junkie account for instant access. Commercial copywriting is not what most people picture when they think about freelance writing. It is so different to typical fiction or non-fiction writing, and in this episode, Lorrie and I talk about why this is, what PPC ads can teach us about why good copy might not be that good, and what the deal is with features versus benefits. Show Notes Calmingmanatee.com Entrepreneur.com: Marketing Features Vs. Benefits Google Adwords keyword tool 10 Amazing Free Online Writing Courses Episode 23: How to…

12Mar 2013 by Philippa Willitts

Podcast Episode 29: How to Get Started as a Freelance Writer

Podcast

We ran out of storage space for our earliest episodes. But fear not, we have made these many, many hours of freelance writing goodness available for just £10. If you want access to them all, please click Add to Cart and buy through our e-junkie account for instant access. In this brilliant solo episode, Lorrie goes into detail about how to prepare for starting out as a freelance writer, and what to do and where to go to start finding work. There are several ways to make sure that you don't miss out on A Little Bird Told Me. Subscribe via RSS Subscribe via iTunes Find us on Stitcher Smart Radio And finally, please 'like' us on Facebook to be the first to hear our news and to talk with us about what…

09Mar 2013 by Philippa Willitts

James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher

Language

I love linguistic quirks, so when my friend AJ posted about this sentence on Facebook, I had to investigate. It turns out that, "James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher" is a valid sentence, and an example of lexical ambiguity. With a bit of explanation, punctuation and emphasis it does actually make sense. Wikipedia explains it as follows, The example refers to two students, James and John, who are required by an English test to describe a man who, in the past, had suffered from a cold. John writes "The man had a cold" which the teacher marks as being incorrect, while James writes the correct "The man had had a cold." Since James' answer was right,…

Tag: writing