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What's New With Me?

I wrote 2000 words today — yay! That does seem to be my personal ceiling. My story gets away from me and turns blah after 2000 words.

Dictation Software

I've had some success with Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.5 so I've ordered Version 10. I think it's quite affordable, and I'm hoping it'll allow me to attack my wordcount from some different angles. Version 10 is supposed to be less laggy and be better at understanding regional accents.

Barter Me This

What is barter — is it trying to pay off your dentist in live chickens? I think a more modern definition of barter is trading labor for labor, expertise for expertise. What sense does it make for me to struggle with something that another person may do easily and well, especially if I can trade them a service that I'm good at and they're not?

Some cities have formal barter systems in place. You could set something up quite easily among your online friends.

Bartering is a challenge for me because I suck at delegating tasks. I'm striving to get better about that. I think it's critical as a business person to delegate.

Your Assignment

• List 5 usable writing/publishing/web (or other tradeable) skills you're good at, or you could be good at with some training
• List 5 things you could delegate to someone else

You don't necessarily need to run out and start bartering with someone right this second! What I want is for you to begin thinking of your writing as a business, and realizing that some tasks should eventually be farmed out.