I would like a "MENTOR"!

[Wandering Sensei]

Deleted by poster, who has learned by now not to expect any kind of courteous, intelligent reply.

[William Haskins]

if you're referring to my response to your earlier post and the subsequent deletions and private message, i did not call you names, and i certainly didn't say (or imply) that you couldn't make it. in all instances, i wished you luck and success.

that said, the keys to freelance writing, in my experience, are diversity in writing style and subject matter, a lot of research (both topical and market), and building as broad a network of contacts as possible.

most scientific writing is done by either professional or academic scientists, though there may be some opportunities in lay publications. technical writing cuts a pretty wide swath, from writing instruction manuals to writing how-to articles and the like.

assuming you're kicking off pretty much from scratch, it's going to be difficult to make a lot of money right away. the variables of acceptance times, pay cycles, etc are tough to gauge.

there's a lot of information available on the web just by googling "freelance writing". that would be a good start. you really should also consider ms. glatzer's book.

if you're not interested in articles and advertising, what is it you see yourself happy as doing? fiction is certainly not (at first) going to get you that middle class income. payment is negligible in the smaller magazines one most likely has to break into.

anyway, if i offended you earlier, i apologize. if there's something i can do, feel free to email or send a private message.

best of luck in your endeavors.

-william

[William Haskins]

Deleted by poster, who has learned by now not to expect any kind of courteous, intelligent reply.

read the post. i may not be intelligent, but i was damn well courteous.

[Wandering Sensei]

You really can't think of anything important to do, can you? You're on IGNORE. You can scream and whine and sniff all you want, and it won't do you any good.

I have to admit that my respect and opinion of Absolute Write has plummeted, considering that they're encouraging and supporting your kind of trash.

You know, you might do something really innovative and come up with something useful and courteous to say.

Oh, who am I kidding?

Bite me.

[MacAllister]

Errr...Wow...I've dispatched a super-mod to look at the goings on. Let's all take a deep breath, and maybe a quick walk around the block before we hit "send," eh?

[Birol]

Children, children, children.

I've been following this bickering about the boards and I'm still not quite certain where it started, but it's ending now.

William, I have not seen anything in your posts or any indication that you've edited them to justify the reaction you have been getting. I can't speak for any PM's you may or may not have sent. Be that as it may, it's obvious Sensei does not want to play with you, so please, take your toys and walk away rather than responding.

Sensei, you've had a rough week and a bad day. It's understandable you're feeling out of sorts. I sympathize. But if someone has been harrassing you through PM or e-mail and it is connected with these boards, you need to report it to a mod or Jenna rather than lashing out in your posts.

We can neither support nor correct a situation that we know nothing about.

[William Haskins]

it's obvious Sensei does not want to play with you, so please, take your toys and walk away rather than responding.

i'm way ahead of you, believe me.

[Birol]

No worries. Jenna banned (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9409&page=1&pp=25) Sensei this morning.

Now back to our regularly scheduled shenanigans.