Addicted to Writing

Manage Your Freelance Writing Career While Writing What You Love

  • About Pinar Tarhan
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Hire Me: Services
  • Contact Me
  • Portfolio
  • Favorite Resources
  • Newsletter

How to Follow Your Heart and Writing Dreams In Multiple Niches: Interview with Olga Mecking

Posted on June 8, 2017 Written by Pinar Tarhan

UPDATE: Olga released her book Niksen: Embracing the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing, and I interviewed her again here. We talked about niksen, her thoughts and experiences regarding self-publishing and traditional publishing, her writing process and more. 

I’m a writer, blogger, and screenwriter. As a screenwriter, I’ve mostly written romantic comedies or romantic dramas. But I’ve co-written a fantasy/action/drama TV pilot with my writer friend Liam Kavanagh, and I dream about the day I’ll wake up with the perfect sci-fi, thriller or action feature idea.

As a non-fiction writer, I’ve written about health, beauty, dating, career management, travel, mental health, entertainment, any and all aspects of writing, as well as all aspects of writing and blogging. I run 4 blogs: Pinar Tarhan Entertainment, Beauty, Fitness, and Style for the Fun-Loving Girl, Dating and Relationships in the 21st Century, and this: Addicted to Writing – my writer’s blog and portfolio website.

I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite niche. When it comes to writing services, if you pushed me to pick, I’d say blog writing. When it comes to topics, I could list what I don’t write about. It would take less time.

I’ve always been interested in multiple topics. And while picking a niche or two has certain advantages, not all writers are made for this path. Today, I have such a guest on the blog, my good friend Olga Mecking.

 

 

Olga Mecking is a successful international writer with bylines in so many prestigious pubs like Teen Vogue, Yes Magazine, Ozy, City Lab, and The Washington Post. But what makes Olga the perfect person to talk to about writing in multiple niches is that she didn’t get all those impressive bylines in sticking to a niche: She has written about being an expat, mother, traveling, current news, being a polyglot, science, and beyond.

She is Polish and lives in The Netherlands with her German husband and their kids. She speaks 5 languages including English, German, French and Dutch.

Olga Mecking.

Off to Olga:

  • How did you start writing? And how did you start writing professionally?

I started my blog The European Mama after a Dutch woman called the police on me because of my kid’s temper tantrum. By blogging, I taught myself to write, and then after a while my friends were all starting to submit their writing, so I thought, “maybe I could do this too.” Turns out, I can.

  • How do you find and pursue your story ideas?

I always have a million ideas in my head and think stories are everywhere. For example, once we ate something called The Dutch Weed Burger (it’s made of seaweed, not grass!), but I thought with a name like that there had to be a story. And there was! Sometimes, my idea comes from current events, or from stringing two lines of thought together in unexpected ways. Sometimes it’s a place I visit or something I eat. And sometimes, it’s something someone says or does.

  • Why do you prefer writing in multiple niches?

Well, there are topics I stick to, for example, parenting, living abroad, travel, food, etc. But I also like learning new things and acquiring new skills, so I am trying to break into other types of writing (for example, I wrote for Teen Vogue about politics). Also, I get bored easily. If I had to stick to just one thing, I’d stop writing.

  • Do you feel like this has ever worked against you? In what ways has it worked in favor of your career and life in general?

In many ways, it has worked in favor because I can always use my stories to “get into the next level”. So for example, next time I have something about politics, I have my Teen Vogue story to prove I can do it. If I’ve written about food in a certain way (for example, as a feature), I can use that to write features about other topics.

  • What would your advice be to writers who also can’t dream of sticking to one niche?

Just write whatever you feel like writing.

  • Where can we follow you on social media?

Facebook, Twitter and IG.

*

Do you also write in multiple niches? Or do you want to? Let us know in the comments about your adventures and concerns!

Filed Under: Blogging, Career Management for Writers, Inspiration and Motivation Tagged With: blogging, choosing your writing niche, olga mecking, should writers pick a writing niche, writing, writing in several niches

Lessons on That Elusive Big Career Break: How Ed O’Neill Became Al Bundy

Posted on February 27, 2017 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Ed O’Neill with Sofia Vergara in the middle. Image via Mental Floss.

Many of you probably know Ed O’Neill as the older dad in Modern Family, Sofia Vergara’s husband. But if you got exposed to 80s and 90s television, Ed O’Neill is hilarious Al Bundy in the sitcom Married with Children (1987-1997).

If you love Modern Family, Married with Children’s comedy might be too obvious and over-the-top for you. And I love it for exactly that reason. I still couldn’t get in to Modern Family; I’m still in love with the ridiculously dysfunctional and hilarious family that is the Bundys.

Applegate), Bud Bundy (David Faustino), Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill) and Peggy Bundy (Katey Sagal).
From left to right: Kelly Bundy (Christina Applegate), Bud Bundy (David Faustino), Al Bundy (Ed O’Neill) and Peggy Bundy (Katey Sagal). Image via tbs.com.

And since a lot of people know Ed as a funny actor, it might comes as a surprise that he is also great at drama. Hell, he was discovered for the role of Al Bundy while he was playing Lenny (from Of Mice and Men) on stage.

Let’s take that in for a second. An actor plays a heavy, significant role on stage. A producer likes him. A year later, they’re casting a sitcom. He remembers Ed’s performance and suggests they try him out. Others think he is crazy, but casting had failed to find the ideal leading actor at that point. So they try him out, and by luck (or intuition), he goes with a different approach. Instead of the angry portrayals of fellow actors, he does resigned.

And voila! They get Al Bundy right.

The moral of the story is do what you love, do it well, and never give up. And it never hurts to use your own take and voice on projects.

To sign off, below is some Bundy footage:

Filed Under: Career Management for Writers, Inspiration and Motivation Tagged With: al bundy, ed o'neill, married with children, modern family, writing

2016 in Writing: The Best of This Blog, Year in Review, and Goals for 2017

Posted on December 30, 2016 Written by Pinar Tarhan

This post contains affiliate links.

As I’m writing this post, it is 3.45 pm, and it’s snowing heavily outside. Power is out for the second time, and I’m just glad we live on the sixth floor of a seven-storey apartment. (My intolerance of heights disappears when there are floods everywhere, and I’m just glad we are safe, warm and dry.)

2016 has been a weird year, to say the least. I’ve had personal and professional ups and downs, as well as financial ones. I’m not going to talk about what a terrible year it has been on a global scale. We all know what happened. News and social media feeds and friends’ updates, and even our favorite cartoons, constantly reminded us that the world had become even more dangerous than many of us knew.

Best of 2016 for This Writer

Let’s not mock anyone who feels 2016 has been the worst year ever. If they live in a country where terrorism attacks have increased, it might truly be the worst year ever.

Now that we acknowledged that, below are some of my highlights:

  • I finally decided on the theme and launch date of my travel blog.
  • I was published on The Washington Post’s Solo-ish blog.
  • I took some great courses on advancing my writing and my writing career.
  • I started to stick to some of my earlier resolutions.
  • I read some great books.
  • I’ve made some important decisions to make 2017 different in a terrific way.
  • I was active on some amazing FB groups, made great connections and friends.
  • I started cold-pitching.
  • I responded to calls for submissions, meaning I wrote according to a given theme and sold two articles in this vein.

Some of My Favorite Movies of the Year:

  • The Girl on the Train starring Emily Blunt and Justin Theroux.
  • Hacksaw Ridge starring Andrew Garfield.
  • Allied starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard.

Favorite Novels

  • The Girl on the Train (My review on the blog.)
  • Behind Closed Doors  (My review on the blog.)

Favorite Series (That Premiered in 2016)

  • This is Us
  • Bull
  • Good Behavior (My review on my entertainment blog.)
  • Designated Survivor

Plans and Goals for 2017

  • Train my Dragon Dictate: Apparently, there is a book on it. My hands hurt, but typing has always been my favorite method of getting my point across and recording those points.
  • Move, move, move! I plan on getting a gym membership or taking regular dance classes again. I’m particularly interested in zumba.
  • Travel, travel, travel. I haven’t been aboard since 2015, and I’m itching.
  • Pitch, pitch, pitch! This goes for both fiction and non-fiction. Gina Horkey’s 90 Day Pitching Challenge was an awesome prompt in the right direction, but I still have some organizing to do. I haven’t been able to keep up with the 10 pitches-a-day goal. I fully plan to this year.
  • Eat more healthily. If I can’t eat perfectly healthily, I will at least add healthy stuff to make the relatively less healthy better. For instance, to keep my blood sugar level in check, I’ll have some nuts with your dark chocolate. Advice borrowed from one of my country’s top nutritionists.
  • Launch my first e-book on productivity.
  • Take on more coaching work
  • Respond the more submission calls.
  • When you are taking a course, actually apply the sound advice.

2016’s Top Posts on the Blog

  • Bad Traits for Characters: From Mildly Annoying to Deal-Breaker, From This Makes for a Fine Villain to Let’s Put This Person to Jail Forever. Sometimes, it is harder to “corrupt” our darling characters than killing them. Do your characters need an extra flaw or to make them more human? Read this post for a through list. I also wrote part 2.
  • How Not To Pitch An Editor: Be Vague and Impatient. Pitching is our bread and butter. Whether you’re looking to guest post, apply for a staff writing job or pitching ideas, you need to know your pitching etiquette. I offer two of the most important things to avoid with real life examples.
  • Life is Too Short, David Bowie is Dead, and Why You Should Make 2016 Your Best One Yet. More than a tribute post, this is a post that celebrates life and the living while paying respects to our idols and favorite pop culture influences.
  • How to Handle The Negativity Toward Your Writing No Matter The Source. Whether it’s a tough-loving editor, a bitter client or yourself, you need to be able to handle negativity and rejection. This post shows you how.
  • This Writer Is Getting Smarter About Money: And How You Can Too. A post on knowing how to manage your finances, including setting goals for our dream life, knowing where our money goes and how to make more.
  • A Love Letter to All Freelancers With a Health Condition. Are you a freelancer writer whose productivity takes a huge blow due to health problems? You’re not alone. Read on for motivation, inspiration and support.
  • The Incredible Productivity of Stolen Moments. Will you do better work when you feel like you’re cheating on what needs to be done with your writing? You just might.
  • Starting All Over Again: Rejection and Planning Again. Based on how I got stung by and got back up after being rejected by the University of British Colombia, this is a post on life after big rejections. 

*

That is it. What about you? What are your favorite moments of 2016? What are your goals and plans for 2017? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

Filed Under: Career Management for Writers, Inspiration and Motivation, Writing Tagged With: freelancing, how to be more productive as a writer, how to deal with rejection, how to handle rejection, how to pitch an editor, productivity tips for writers, writing, writing goals for 2017

How Not to Be A Writer: Lessons from Westworld’s Obnoxious Writer Character Lee Sizemore

Posted on December 16, 2016 Written by Pinar Tarhan

 

Westworld series
Westworld series starring Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, James Marsden and Jeffrey Wright. Image via imdv.com.

Westworld is an impressive sci-fi, drama and mystery series on HBO. It recently completed its first season, and got nominated for a couple of Golden Globe Awards. I’ll be soon posting my review on my entertainment blog; I’m a huge fan.

The casting is pretty terrific: Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, James Marsden, Ben Barnes, Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris.

But for those who haven’t seen it, here is a brief rundown of what’s what: (No spoilers):

Westworld is an advanced theme park where guests mingle with (and do pretty much anything they want to or with) the park’s residents: Magnificent AI robots that look, act, think and feel like humans. The catch is that they don’t know they are AIs, and the “merciful” creator of the park, Ford (Anthony Hophins) has designed them and the rules so that they don’t remember what they have done or what they have gone through. This causes an infinite loop for them: living the same day over and over again, with the exceptions of what the guests have in mind.

Westworld starring James Marsden and Evan Rachel Wood. Image via HBO.
Westworld starring James Marsden and Evan Rachel Wood. Image via HBO.

The “main” AIs are Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and Maeve (Thandie Newton). Dolores leads a peaceful existence in their Wild West town with her parents. Maeve runs the brothel.

While some guests prefer family friendly tours and activities, others love wrecking havoc and mayhem: Man in Black (Ed Harris) is on a quest to make the most of it by reaching levels not achieved by other guests. He commits murder, rapes, attacks, tortures….Whatever to get him closer to get to that level.

How Not To Be A Writer: 5 Important Lessons from Westworld

And behind it all is a corporation that has to deal with politics, and the board members are not always pleased with how Ford operates. There is also the work of Lee Sizemore (Simon Quarterman), the writer whose job is to come up with entertaining AI storylines.

Simon Quarterman, Westworld
Simon Quarterman, Westworld. Image via pinterest.

Lee is pretty much a guide on how not to be a writer, man or a human being. He’s obnoxious, insincere, closed to criticism, immature, opportunistic, and insincere. Everyone either hates him, is annoyed by him, or just doesn’t give a damn about him.

Ford thinks he is a joke and mostly ignores or changes whatever he writes. The board sees him as a pawn they can use or discard according to what they need.

Most characters on this show possess grey qualities. They are not entirely bad or good. (It can be argued that Man in Black is mostly bad, but that’s another story.) But Lee? Lee is purely annoying.

So if there is anything we can learn from Lee is what not to do. And we do love a good lesson:

  1. Be rude. It’s simple. Nobody likes an arrogant jerk who thinks they are better than everyone. With the exception of jerks who are actually better than everyone (see House), and they we forgive them. For entertainment purposes. I still think House wouldn’t have lived that long in real life.
  1. Just scratch your own back. It is not cool only to be after your own success. You need to consider other people and help when you can. If you are self-absorbed, you’ll end up without great writing jobs or awesome friends.
  1. Kiss ass. Everyone likes a heartfelt compliment. But ass-kissing? Nope. It shows. If you don’t mean it, don’t say it.
  1. Never accept feedback or consider your employer’s needs. You can do whatever you want…on your own story that wasn’t commissioned by other people. But if you were hired to write stories for someone else, you have to accept that you don’t have full creative control. It doesn’t work that way.
  1. Be drunk and destroy company property. No explanation needed, really. He actually pees on the park model and gets witnessed by his boss. Ouch.

*

There you go. I never understood why and how Lee has his job. And I’m not sure we will find out in season 2. But for people like Lee, good things don’t last for very long.

*

Which writer characters have you seen on the screen?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Filed Under: Career Management for Writers, Fictional Writers: Writer Characters in Movies, TV Series and Books Tagged With: anthony hopkins, ed harris, evan rachel wood, james mars den, jeffrey wright, simon quarterman, west world hbo series, west world series, westworld, writer characters, writer characters on TV

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • Next Page »

Blogroll

  • My Entertainment Blog

My Other Blogs

  • Beauty, Fitness & Style for the Fun-Loving Gal
  • Dating & Relationships in the 21st Century

Categories

  • Author Interviews
  • Author news and coverage
  • Blogging
  • Book Launches and Excerpts
  • Book News and Author Interviews
  • Book Recommendations
  • Book Reviews
  • Career Management for Writers
  • E-Book Reviews
  • Fiction Writing
  • Fictional Writers: Writer Characters in Movies, TV Series and Books
  • Inspiration and Motivation
  • Marketing
  • Marketing Fiction
  • Movie and TV Series Recommendations
  • Novel Reviews
  • Paying Markets-Web and Print
  • Productivity & Time Management
  • Recommended Resources
  • Reviews for Tools and Devices
  • Romance
  • screenwriting
  • Self-publishing
  • Story Conflicts
  • Website & Blog Reviews
  • Writer Tools
  • Writing
  • Writing Tools
  • Writing Updates

Copyright © 2026 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Reject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT