I saw today's freelancer speak at a conference a few years ago and was impressed by her success but also the fact that she was fun to listen to, who made freelancing sound fun and funny and not a perilous existence. She is a longtime freelancer and author, former contributing editor at Self and Allure, and co-host of the public-radio show about language, A Way with Words produced by KPBS in San Diego.

What's your advice for freelancers on finding time to write books when they're working on articles as well?
That's a really tough one. I tend to focus in like a laser on one thing at a time, so I usually end up working madly to finish paying work, so I can buy myself some time to concentrate solely on a book project for a while. A dear friend of mine, a theologian named Wayne Oates, wrote 57 books and a zillion articles before his death at the age of 82 - and all that in addition to a career in teaching and counseling. Dr. Oates once told me that his secret of productivity was to "rest with your labors," rather than "rest from them." For him, alternating between two projects provided its own kind of rest and mental restoration - a kind of cross-training in which each activity enhanced the other. Then again, Dr. Oates is credited with coining the word "workaholic," so go figure. (You can look it up in the Oxford English Dictionary!)

I tried to take his advice, but I find that hard to do. I think the biggest key is to keep reminding yourself what you're really passionate about. Don't ever lose sight of that. It's too easy to get caught up in the paying work and let your passions slide.

And I can't emphasize this enough: Listen to those passions of yours, and find ways to pursue them, no matter what. It's funny: The two most counter-intuitive things I did in my career turned out to be precisely what got me the dream job I have now. First, I left a good job in newspapering to go off and study ancient Greek, of all things. Couldn't explain why, except that I really wanted to learn it and was willing to sacrifice to do so. The other thing was that for years, I played in a rock-and-roll band. Again, it was simply something I was passionate about, but made no sense career-wise. As it turned out, both the background in ancient Greek and the performing experience were key to my getting a job discussing word origins on the radio.

What did you learn from your awful interview with Mr. Blackwell that helped you with subsequent interviews?
Remember that you can salvage a bad interview by doing a lot of observing and describing rather than just quoting the interviewee. That's exactly what I did in that piece. In fact, I think every would-be writer should take at least one art class. Learning to draw really teaches you to observe - I had an art teacher tell me, when I was looking at an object and trying to draw it, to "be an ant, crawling slowly, slowly each and every line." I've felt myself applying that kind of disciplined observation whenever I'm in an interview situation.

Also, when I moved into radio interviewing, I realized how much more power a writer has to go back after the fact and make a person more interesting or colorful or intelligible. You don't have that same option so much interviewing someone in real time in a radio studio - you're kind of stuck with the person's words, how their voice sounds, whether they're animated or dull. You can do so much more framing of everything in a written piece - and put more of yourself into it -- so why not take advantage of that?

What's your advice for new freelancers on how to network effectively yet relatively naturally/painlessly?
Join an online writer's board like Freelance Success, for example. And be sure to search the archives and lurk a bit before piping up with newbie questions. My other piece of advice is to be nice to everyone you meet in this business - partly because it's a good and decent thing to do. But if you need a selfish reason: People move around ALL the time in this business. An editorial assistant I used to deal with regularly at one magazine, for example, went on to a fabulous career writing books and occasionally appearing in the New Yorker. And you never know where magazine editors are going to land next - maybe at a publication you want to write for.

When you're editing your work, what's the first thing you do to make sure that you've used your words as effectively as possible? I think this comes more naturally to some writers than others.
Absolutely give yourself enough time before your deadline to let your work cool off - preferably overnight - and then give it one last shake to get out all the extraneous stuff that just detracts from what you're trying to say. Also, very important: Read your work aloud. It can make the difference between writing that's just okay and writing that really sings. In fact, when I thought I'd finally finished my book Ladyfingers & Nun's Tummies: A Lighthearted Look at How Foods Got Their Names, I was so excited that I collared my partner and began reading the first page aloud. The writing looked just fine on paper, but when I started actually speaking the words, I found myself tripping over this phrase and that. I ended up rewriting the entire book, listening to each sentence, then fixing the ones that didn't work when read aloud. (It really didn't take that long because the book was already written, and I was just smoothing out various infelicities of phrasing. I do think it made for a much better book. And trust me - editors LOVE writers who make their jobs easier for them! That's one of the secrets of getting repeat business.)