This month, we're shining the writer's spotlight on a husband and wife writing duo known on Constant-Content as "eekane." Emma Kane does the writing while Evan Kane does the editing. Below are Emma's thoughts about writing for Constant-Content:
When I was young, I loved to read books because they took me on adventures all over the world. I thought I wanted to write books as a grown-up, but instead I went and had a few adventures myself. I met Evan when he picked me up at the airport of a Mediterranean island. We worked together for several years for a non-profit foundation, during which time I wrote and he edited. When we returned to the U.S., we just kept doing it that way.
Between Evan's knowledge of everything that runs or can be made into something else, and my willingness to try anything, we managed to buy a derelict house in the country and make it livable. Evan promised it would take three months and sure enough we were moved in by that time, but it has taken over a year to make it my idea of livable. Since it's always best to "write what you know," I've used the experience to write many articles about home improvement, from how to get rid of construction waste to how married couples can put up with each other while remodeling.
Perhaps I should write an article some day about writer-editor marriages. The only reason it works for us, I'm sure, is because we started out in those roles before we were married, and I became immune to Evan's pronouncement that something I'd written was "no good" or "pure drivel." I'm very grateful for his editing, even when he slashes entire paragraphs. When he writes an article he has me edit. I think of the two of us, I am the more critical editor. Once he gave me a children's book he had written, and I rewrote the entire thing. He must love me a lot.
Constant Content provided a profitable avenue of opportunity for us almost from the very beginning. I was just beginning to submit our work to various publications when I found CC. It remains to this day the very best site for writers to place work for sale. I write for a few other publications that I found on my own outside of CC, but I still spend the majority of my time writing articles for Constant Content. It is absolutely wonderful to write about nearly anything, name your price, and know that about 7 times out of 10 that article will sell. Eventually. Which is great because Evan and I feel like we have a world of experience in our heads. Maybe we're only experts at a few things (well, he's an expert at quite a bit more than I am, but I have curiosity, which goes a long way for a writer). But you don't have to be an expert to research a topic, talk to a few people in the know, and write about what you've learned.
Most memorable assignments? One of the first private requests we received was for a CC public request. A client asked for writers who would be willing to conduct phone interviews and write up a short summary afterwards. I was new and eager and jumped at every feasible public request at the time. The client chose a few CC authors, including us. What I didn't realize was that he wanted us to tape the interview and send him a copy of it, from which he hoped to use blurbs of the interviewees in a future media advertisement. We managed the technology of that okay, and the interviews were a lot of fun, but I'm pretty sure someone experienced in radio or television would have done better.
We have tackled a few subjects for clients that were outside of our comfort zone. These were slightly New-Agey subjects, and because we've read about and studied various religions,it was easy enough to write about them objectively. It's great writing for Constant Content because if a public request comes in that doesn't appeal, you can ignore it and go write about something that really interests you. Strangely enough, that handful of topics that we wrote about received great comments from readers.
Writing for Constant Content has worked out very nicely for us since we joined in February 2007. It's given me the flexibility to help remodel a house, and now I enjoy the lovely view of the Midwestern countryside from my office window. I've also had the freedom to build up my portfolio of topics I am most interested in or qualified for.
And now I'm going to take advantage of the beauty of freelance writing and leave the computer for the rest of the week, because my mother is here and everything in the garden is simultaneously ready to pick.
View Eekane's CC Writer's Profile
When I was young, I loved to read books because they took me on adventures all over the world. I thought I wanted to write books as a grown-up, but instead I went and had a few adventures myself. I met Evan when he picked me up at the airport of a Mediterranean island. We worked together for several years for a non-profit foundation, during which time I wrote and he edited. When we returned to the U.S., we just kept doing it that way.
Original Articles. Constant-Content.