How to Enhance Your Freelance Articles Using Google Documents

As a freelance author writing articles for eHow, it is important to constantly improve your writing skills with each new project so that your work stays fresh and relevant. Use Google Documents as a tool to help you enhance your articles in several important ways.

Sign up for a Google account if you do not already have one. Google offers a valuable collection of free products that may be used to enhance your experience on the Internet in several crucial ways. One tool specifically, Google Documents, is a handy resource for eHow article writers. Create an account with Google Documents. Once your account has been set up, you may access Google Documents by visiting the main Google website and signing in. To the upper left of the Google logo, you will see several links and the word "more" with an arrow pointing down. Click "more" and then select "Documents" to access your Google Documents account.

Create a new document with the title, "Article Ideas" or something similar. As you think of new ideas for articles, type the proposed title into that document, one title per line, and save it. When you have time to write the article in its entirety, you can use the list that you compiled to remind yourself about your earlier ideas. When the article is published, remove the title from the list. Spend some time brainstorming ideas for a rainy day when you may have more time to write than you do creative topics. Set a goal to have at least one hundred article ideas on that list.

Create a second document with the title, "Article Categories." This document will contain the title and URL of each article that you write for eHow. Copy and paste the article title first, and then on the next line, paste the URL. Leave a blank line between articles so that they may be easily distinguished from one another. Once you have all of the titles and links entered into the document, arrange them into categories and type the category title in bold above each section. Some examples are "Family, Automotive. Financial, Technology, etc." This list will be valuable when it's time to add resources to your articles. If you write a new article about an automotive topic, paste that title and URL at the end of the existing titles for that category and then choose at least three relevant titles and links to add to the "Resources" section of your article. If you use a web browser like Google Chrome which utilizes tabs, it is very easy to switch back and forth between your Google Documents account and the eHow website.

Maintain copies of all of your articles by pasting them individually into Google Documents. This will provide you peace-of-mind in knowing that you have a backup copy of each article stored safely online where you can access it at any time. Create a folder in Google Documents called "My Articles" and move them into it. You could also create sub folders based on the articles categories. By grouping your articles into categories, you can see which topics you write about most frequently. This will help you to determine your strengths and also show you areas where you may want to produce more content in order to achieve maximum exposure. Only do this, however, if you're knowledgeable in those areas and you have something important to share.

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How to Spend Time with your Family and Still Write Articles

Writing articles for websites like eHow, Bukisa, and Associated Content is a great way to express your thoughts and to also put some extra money in your pockets each month. Just like any activity, writing articles needs to be added to your schedule in a responsible way so that you don’t neglect your family.

Budget your time wisely. Writing articles for websites has become a popular way for writers on every level to express themselves and harness the power of the Internet to generate traffic and ultimately revenue for their work. Writing can consume a large portion of your time and can draw your attention away from other responsibilities. Like any other activity, time for writing should be isolated into its own time slot in order to allow time for other activities.

Experiment to find the best time of day for you to write. The most obvious time to write articles is late at night after everyone in the house has gone to sleep. By then, your chores are done and the house is quiet because everyone is sleeping. The problem with late night writing is that you could begin to lose more and more sleep and you don't typically have anyone to tell you when it's time to go to bed. If you are going to stay up late on the computer, set an alarm for yourself, but nothing audible or you'll wake everyone up.

Utilize break time and down-time. If you have access to a computer at work, you could use your break time or lunch time to write an article. The only problem with this is that if people see you sitting at your desk, they may think you are on the clock and approach you with business. Don't start writing articles on company time. It's dishonest and you shouldn't lose your job, while working on secondary income. If you can afford it, a laptop or netbook is a good investment because you can take it to a quiet place outside the office and write.

The most important thing is to use discipline and spend writing time for writing and family time for family. If you want to try both, you could brainstorm with your family for ideas and they could help you write articles, but if they aren't interested, then don't impose it on them. Everyone has different tastes.


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