I'm an Internet junkie. I shop online. I write online. I make doctor's appointments, buy movie tickets and connect with friends all online. I read my news online, and I generally won't go to a restaurant if they don't have a web page. I even met my husband online. More than anything though, I use the Internet for information. If I have a question, I'm on the Internet within seconds looking up the answer. As a quick sample (and an intimate view into my life,) in the past week I've typed the following things into a search engine: can dogs eat sunflower seeds, what shrubs survive through winter in Texas, how much to feed a fat cat, do you need a rabies shot if you get scratched by a wild squirrel, baked sweet potato fries recipe and how to prevent hairballs in dogs. I have a hunch that I may be independently fueling large portions of Demand's titling algorithm.

In my constant quest for random tidbits of knowledge, I've come across a lot of information. Some of it is good, but much of it is bad. I may love the Internet, but I hate text speak and the incoherent rambling found on message boards and poorly sourced answer sites. I'm a writer, so I want my information professionally written. I want it to be factual and authoritative. I want reputable sources and reputable authors, and I don't want to go to traditional print media to find them.

Maybe it's this extreme reliance on the Internet for quality information, or maybe it's just my writing background, but I revel in coming across an article from a Demand Studios writer. I love it because I know that what the Studio is doing is integrating all the wonderful qualities of traditional media with the convenience of web content. Articles are written by professionals, facts are cited and checked, and I won't have to wade through horrendous grammar to get the information I need. Moreover, I know the article I'm looking at will be about the title I clicked. I know the information will be concise and well-organized, and I know that the author of the article worked hard to research and create just what I was looking for.

So, while I respect those people in traditional media who are mourning the ailing print industry, I'm celebrating the fact that all that knowledge and skill is on its way over to the online world. Are things perfect just yet? Of course not, but as more and more professionally trained journalists and young graduates make their way over to web content, whether willingly or begrudgingly, the quality of information on the web will improve. Not only will that quality improve, but the quantity of quality articles will increase. While we work on this transition, this melding of the old and the new, I think it's important to remember that despite the kinks and frustrations that need to be worked out, we're all on the cutting edge of something that's going to be really good for both writers and readers around the world, and there’s really something to be proud of there.

"In the South, perhaps more than any other region, we go back to our home in dreams and memories, hoping it remains what it was on a lazy, still summer's day."  --Willie Morris

They say every journey begins with a single step. For me, it began with an 1,800-mile drive to a bustling city where turn signals are a sign of weakness and a friendly “hello” to strangers gets you funny looks.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m no country bumpkin, but I certainly wouldn’t call myself a “city girl.”

I grew up in Baton Rouge, La., a town that revolves around work on Monday, church on Sunday and (most importantly) LSU football on Saturday.

I’ve always loved my hometown, with its ancient, hanging oak trees and fragrant, delicate magnolias. I love the people, who know that anyone deserves a smile and even a random grocery store cashier can become your temporary best friend.

But you see, I’ve always known I wouldn’t spend my life there, especially when I decided upon journalism as my career. The main news arteries in my town remain a game of “who knows who,” a remnant of old Southern aristocracy.

All the while, each of my professors continued to speak about “The Death of Journalism” in dark and hushed voices. All anyone seemed to know was that media is rapidly changing, and online is the inevitable and unfortunate absolute.

“Good luck,” they’d lament. “Don’t say we didn’t warn you.”

But I didn’t want to be the new starving artist. I wanted to jump onboard the journalism train, hold on tight and ride out its aimless, racing journey to wherever it will end.

I decided that by the end of my college career, I would get a taste of each form of media. If I could jump into each arena and survey the playing field, maybe I would know which team would be my best bet. I interned at two online media companies (one of which was LIVESTRONG, the opening to my eventual position on the DS team), a national broadcast news network and completed two years as a managing editor at a local magazine in Baton Rouge.

Now, as I become part of the community here at Demand Studios, I feel as if I’m actually ahead of the drifting, stumbling train.

I still miss my old life every day. I miss the wider streets, the sense of belonging and the food... Oh, the food. All my fellow Southerners out there don’t need to question why I brought two bottles of cayenne pepper in my spice rack arsenal.

But in addition to learning how it feels to be just one in a crowd of thousands, I’m learning how it feels to be a part of something unique and exciting. We’re standing for something completely new. For the first time, readers decide what journalists write. It seems so simple when you put it that way, doesn’t it?

So, rather than focus on my longing to be back home with family, friends and a little Cajun gumbo, I’m hanging on tight to this exciting new form of media.

As we say in Louisiana, laissez les bons temps rouler!

We're pleased and excited to announce that Demand Studios will be offering access to health care to our creators. As you know, many of us on the staff have been freelancers and we realize how challenging it can be to get access to affordable health care.

This program starts on November 1st.  We will email full details and enrollment forms on Thursday, October 29.
   

Demand Studios has negotiated 3 different plans that should be about 2 to 3 times less than what you can get as an individual (for similar coverage).

We are offering access to health care coverage at a discount based on the power of our freelancing network. This is only for Writers, Copyeditors, and Filmmakers to start.  You must meet DS eligibility requirements to access these plans. 

Eligibility is as follows:

 o   Writers – must have written for the past 3 months at 30 articles a month

 o   Copyeditors – must have reviewed for the past 3 months at 200 articles a month
o   Filmmakers – must have produced for the past 3 months at 30 videos a month

For the November 1st kickoff we will go back 3 months from October 31st to determine initial eligibility.

Those who are already at these levels on November 1st will get emailed enrollment forms and are available to immediately enroll.

Ongoing, at the end of every month we will invite the new set of writers/CE/filmmakers that have qualified for these benefits.

Again - more info next week! Be sure to join the conversation in our Forum Thread or on our Facebook Page.

When I was writing for my college newspaper I sometimes felt like I was sent on some wild goose chases with the story ideas from my editors. Because my ambitions to become a great writer wouldn’t allow me to avoid these challenging assignments, I usually wandered out on campus without a clue about how to approach the subject. Would my story turn out to be chicken turd or chicken salad?

This is a problem all writers probably face at some point in their career, and they’re lucky if it only happens once.

The way I solved this recurring problem was to build a network of sources I could use more than once. My intent was not to interview the same sources for every story, but to utilize their social networks to find new people who would make great interview subjects. Without great sources it’s practically impossible to write a good article.

This is something that you can apply to your writing in the Studio as well. Instead of searching blindly on the Internet, build your own research library of trusted sites one source at a time. Eventually you will know exactly where to go for credible information on gardening, health, legal or any other categories you regularly cover. This will save you research time and help you avoid rewrite requests based on untrustworthy sources.

I also encourage you to take one article a month and give it a little extra attention by finding a person to interview. Just to be clear, I’m not speaking about a new editorial policy. I’m just encouraging you to, every once in a while, spend a little extra time on an article when you find a title that really speaks to you. Or better yet, try it out on a title that makes you scratch you head and question the sanity of Demand’s title algorithm. Sometimes those titles turn into something really interesting when executed properly.

Here are two examples of titles most people would not even think twice about claiming, but they turned out to be really good articles.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5391278_build-turtle-robot.html

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5256421_reasons-against-back-window-car.html

One of my most memorable oh-my-lord-how-am-I-going-to-handle-this-one moments was when I was asked to write an article during Black History Month about black students at our school who defy stereotypes. I had three days to find people to interview and come up with an interesting angle. This was the end result:

http://sundial.csun.edu/2006/02/studentshelpdefystereotypesofyoungafricanamericans/

Chicken turd or chicken salad? You be the judge.

If you're anything like me (and I know I may be just setting myself up here), you have a love/hate relationship with writing. In one respect, you love it because there is just something about laying down words in an engaging and almost lyrical way that just flows effortlessly from word to word, sentence to sentence, and paragraph to paragraph that, ultimately, communicates an organic concept from writer to reader. For me, that's a quite a thrill. But at the same time, getting to that point can be one of the most painful, tormenting, hair-pulling, excruciating experiences ever. And sometimes that's just trying to decide on whether to use a gerund or an infinitive. I tell you, Abu Ghraib is nothing compared to being stuck between two relative clauses. And then you hit it. The wall where nothing is coming out of you. And you're just staring at that dreaded, hypnotic blinking cursor, actually counting how many times it blinks in one minute. So, naturally, you take a break. Just for a moment at least. But then that moment soon stretches into hours and suddenly you're not quite sure why you're about to order a Snuggie at three o'clock in the morning.

Often times, I tend to lose focus when I actually focus too much on my overall goal. A journey of a thousand miles may begin with one step, but I'm always thinking about the thousand miles and how I don't seem to be getting any closer to it. So to help myself overcome this hurdle, I break up longer writing sessions and goals into smaller ones. To me, it's kind of like chunking--the psychological term where you break up longer strings of information into smaller digestible units. Like 23801967 is harder to take in than 23, 80, 1967. If your goal is two pages an hour, that's much less intimidating than 10 for the day or 300 pages total. And between every small goal, I make sure I reward myself for accomplishing it. It's OK to have that cookie now. It's fine to browse ESPN or TMZ for a bit. The reward provides closure for me and makes me feel comfortable about moving onto the next goal because I can see the units of progress I'm making.

So my question to everyone is what do you do to help yourself stay focused, on course and productive?