P.S. McFadden: Children’s Writer

I’ve just started a new job, writing for an online news webpage, Informify.com.

I’m learning a lot about the difference between writing for print and writing for the web. It seems that reading on a computer screen accesses a different part of the brain than reading from a page. This is why it’s so hard to retain information off the Web–at least it is for me. I always have to print out anything I want to remember, and also anything I intend to edit. Maybe younger writers can edit on the screen, but I can’t.

Also, people tend to have a shorter attention span when reading on a screen. Because of this, web writing needs to be succinct and have a lot of visuals. As anyone who has been reading my blogs knows, succinct ain’t exactly my middle name. Neither is visuals. But, I’m getting better.

Anyway, back to my new job. I get my assignment every morning at 8:00 and spend anywhere from three to five hours researching and writing an article. I’ve only been doing it for a week and the lists of corrections I’m getting back from my boss are getting shorter, so things seem to be moving in the right direction.

The pay isn’t princely–it averages out to less than $10 an hour to start with. However, this is enough to cover my student loan payments and buy a few groceries. It’s steady and ongoing. It leaves me plenty of time to work on my other writing. And, last but not least, I get to work in my pajamas. Not a bad patch to add to my income quilt!