Getting Started with Freelance Writing

If you want to get down to the sheer basics of what you need to know about getting started as a freelance writer, here it is.  It's not a tough process, but it can be tedious.  If you are dedicated and talented, though, you will start earning an income from writing in no time.

READY

Start writing. 

Do you spend any time writing now? Even if it is simply some time spent journaling or composing letters to friends and family, this type of activity will help you.  You may have decided to start writing because it was something you enjoyed years ago when you were in school.  If you haven't written anything in some time, you may be surprised to find that it isn't as easy as you remember it to have been. 

Before you make any major commitment to become a writer, spend a day or two trying to write a couple of different articles or stories.  If the process is tedious or boring, and if you don't seem to be enjoying it, then maybe this simply isn't the time for you to start writing.  Yes, being a writer can be a lot of fun and a rewarding career, but if you don't enjoy it then you will be miserable.

Will you write full time or part time?

Perhaps you have the luxury of not necessarily needing the income from writing, and it is just something you are looking to get into because you have always wanted to be a writer.  On the other hand, you might be in a position where you have no other choice but to find a way to earn some money from writing, so you need to succeed as a writer no matter what. 

Whether you're a stay-at-home mom who just wants to give writing a try, or if you are someone who cannot seek employment outside of the home for whatever reason but still needs an income, you should enter into your writing career with a good idea of if you intend on writing part-time or full-time.  Just keep in mind that writing takes some time when you consider research and revisions… taking on too much work might turn part-time gigs into something you wind up doing all day long.

Although you don't necessarily have to pigeonhole yourself into being either a full-time or part-time writer, you should have some sort of idea of how much work you can manage. 

What will you write about?

If your response to this question is "whatever I can get paid to write," then one of two things will probably happen.  Either you will be wildly successful because you are willing to write about absolutely anything, or you will instead get burned out from spending so much time writing about things you have no real knowledge or passion for. 

If you look at an online writing jobs website then you will undoubtedly notice a diverse listing of various subjects available to write about.  It helps to survey the various writing job websites before you ever start applying because you will see if there are generally topics you like available.  For example, if you really want to write about reality television shows, you will be pleased to find quite a few opportunities to compose articles and blogs about this particular topic. 

You can also take a look at what type of pay you can expect for this type of writing; if you can only find listings for very low-paying jobs for your preferred subject then you cam either consider your first few jobs as ways to get your foot in the door, or you can instead switch things up and start searching for other topics you can write about.

What can you expect? 

If all the mention of menial writing work in the beginning of your career has you confused as to what you may actually be writing when you become a professional, you're not alone.  Many new writers think that with the right talent they will automatically be blessed with a fantastic writing career, complete with offers to write books and have monthly columns in national publications. 

The truth, however, is that even the best writers need to start somewhere, and for many of these writers the beginning falls within some of these common writing jobs for beginners:

• Web Content:  The Internet is a fantastic place to get started writing, and there is certainly no shortage of work for new writers who are willing to produce quick articles rich in keywords.  What are keywords? Keywords are the words embedded within an article that direct people searching the web to the site.  For example, if a person inputs the term MLA Format into a search engine online, the website will return several suitable (and some not-so-suitable) results from websites which feature the term MLA Format consistently throughout the page.  Some webmasters cheat this system and hire writers to fill up articles with certain terms to the point to where they are virtually unreadable.  For the most part, however, finding legitimate website writing jobs is fairly easy as long as you have some writing talent and you are willing to adjust your writing style to suit the Internet.

• Local Coverage:  Depending on where you live, there may be a local newspaper that is always in need of new writers.  This may or may not be true based on where you live; a small local newspaper may be desperate for new writers whereas a metropolitan newspaper will have a long list of potential applicants when a writing position becomes available. 

• Copywriting:  Companies need writers to make their ads sound great, but not every company has the type of finances needed to keep writers on staff.  Finding small companies and doing some small projects for them is one of the more popular ways for writers to get started in their writing careers.

• Paying Writing Contests:  There are plenty of writing contests out there for writers which feature prizes that are nothing more than bragging rights and prestige.  Although these things are important, when you are starting out as a writer you may be much more interested in putting some money into your pocket.  If you are looking to get started in the realm of fiction writing because every other form of writing bores you, then you might want to enter a good amount of writing contests in order to bring in some cash and get recognized.  You will have to spend a good portion of your time seeking out contests and composing the pieces for the contests.  This is one viable way to get started as a writer if the other forms of writing simply do not appeal to you.  It's not an easy way to make money, however, so you will have to be quite dedicated.

SET

Look for some jobs. 

There is a great listing of writing job websites later in this book, as well as a list of other ways to find jobs when you are first starting out.  In the beginning, you will spend quite a bit of time trying to find someone to hire you.  Without a reputation as a paid writer who delivers things within the deadline, you will need to find someone who is willing to take a chance on hiring you based solely on your writing talent.  For this reason, you probably shouldn't expect to land a high-paying job in the very beginning, but you should instead accept some lower paying jobs so you can start building up a reputation and some experience. 

Don't get discouraged if you have a hard time landing your very first paying gig, but know that as long as you are a good writer it will surely happen sooner or later.  You'll be surprised to find that writing jobs are often like getting pickles out of a jar: the first one is tough, but after that they all come quickly and easily.

Perfect your query e-mail. 

When applying for a writing job from an online writing jobs listing, many time the employer will list nothing more than what they want and their e-mail address.  This means that you will send an e-mail to the job advertiser, trying to convince him or her that you are the person for the job.  Unless the ad specifies an exact requirement for your query, such as links to writing samples or an attached résumé, then you are on your own when it comes to figuring out what to send. 

In many instances, it is a great idea to keep your query brief.  You don't want to burden the recipient with an epic e-mail which details your life story and what has led you to the point in your life where you wane to write professionally.  Simply let the person know that you are interested in writing for him or her, and if you have samples of your writing include them. 

If your work is featured somewhere online then a link usually suffices, but if not then consider embedding the sample into the body of your e-mail.  Most people get nervous about opening attachments in e-mails from people who they do not know because of the possibility of computer viruses and spyware.  You can have a generic query e-mail which you save on your computer and use again and again, personalizing it for each job.  If you aren't sure where to start, use this as a guide:

Greetings,

This is in response to your ad listed at (insert job bank name) for a freelance writer.  I would enjoy writing the (insert subject) article, and have experience from (insert your experience with the particular topic).  I have attached links to some of my recent writing.  Please contact me if I may be of assistance.

Thank you,
(insert your name)
(insert links to your work)

You notice that the e-mail is simple and to the point, and it does not appear overly casual.  One of the quickest ways to have your e-mail disregarded by a potential employer is to pepper it will informal speech or Internet jargon and acronyms. 

Consider this example:

Hey!

I soooo want to write 4 u.  You'd be my first paid job *LOL!* but you can see some of my other stuff on my site.  Hit me up w/a reply or I'll b crying!

Even if the employer works for a very informal website, you can see how this e-mail would probably be deleted immediately.  One more thing which you should always keep in mind when sending an e-mail query: ALWAYS conduct a spell check before sending the e-mail off.  You may usually have impeccable spelling and grammar skills, but you never know when you might make a simple mistake which you just don't notice.  It is much better to let your computer fid the error for you instead of the potential employer.  If you were looking for a writer, would you hire someone whose initial e-mail to you was riddled with spelling and grammar errors?     

Pull your résumé together. 

Writing a résumé for writing experience is a little different from writing other types of résumés.  You can find many different examples online, or you can also check out of the many different books available which detail how to compose a writer's résumé.  If the task seems to daunting to you, then consider paying someone else to do the résumé for you.  Just be sure that the person you are paying actually has experience with writing résumés of this sort. 

You should also make sure that you actually need a résumé before you pay someone else to do it.  Many online writing jobs don't require formal résumés, but as you begin to apply for higher-paying jobs and offline writing jobs you will indeed need to have a quality résumé available to potential employers.  In the beginning, it may be best to simply compose a simple résumé based on an example you find online or in a book featuring your own information, and then as you reach the point where you actually need a résumé you can either alter the one you have or pay someone else to do it for you.   

Do you need an agent?

You may have heard about literary agents.  Many people are intrigued by the idea of a professional writer having an agent, just like a rock star or a movie star would have.  At this point in your writing career, when you are just starting to pick up writing jobs for pay and learn the intricacies of the professional writing career, you don't necessarily need a literary agent. 

If you will ever need an agent depends on many different factors.  Do you someday hope to publish a book? Do you want representation? If your plan is to compose articles and other short pieces for your entire career and you have no desire to deal with an agent or publishing a book, then you may never need an agent.  If, on the other hand, your ultimate plan is to use your writing in the beginning as a steppingstone towards bigger and better things - such as becoming an author - then you may someday find yourself in the position where an agent's representation would be a logical next step. 

You probably aren't at that point now, however, so looking for an agent and seeking representation is not something that you should be worrying about at this stage in your writing career.  If the day does come when you need an agent then there are plenty of resources for finding literary agent representation, but for now you have other things to worry about.     

GO!

That first paycheck is mighty nice. 

The first pay you ever receive from writing might be a small amount, but the point that you get paid to write is certainly something to celebrate.  You may want to take your first paycheck and do something special with it.  While the money may not be enough for you to take all your friends out for dinner, you may get enough to pay for a dinner out for you and a pal.  You never know though…maybe you will land a fantastic project for your first writing job and get a nice big, fat paycheck the first time around.  If that happens, count yourself as lucky because that is not the norm for first-time writers. 

Seeing your work in print is great. 

Perhaps even better than making money for your writing, at least in the beginning, is seeing your writing in print.  Whether it is online or in a print publication, the first time you get to see something you wrote displayed for the general public to see it feels really good.  Eventually it will become old news to see your work in print, but in the beginning it is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a writer.  Relish it while you can, because if you are able to secure one writing job after another then you may get a little less excited each time you see your work in print.  

What about writer's block? 

Almost every writer encounters writer's block once in a while, and it can take on many forms.  You don't necessarily need to be a fiction writer to have issues with writer's block.  Writers block can be as simple as staring at the computer screen, unsure of what to write next.  It can also be as complex as having a complete brain hiccup where all of a sudden you just can't write another word because there is simply nothing left. 

When you encounter writer's block there are plenty of suggested solutions to get you writing again.  You should figure out what works for you after a series of trial and error so that the next time writer's block strikes you know what to do to get yourself back on track.  Here are a few simple methods which might help you banish your writer's block and get back to your project:

• Take a nap.
• Start working on a different writing project.
• Start working on a different non-writing project.
• Take a walk

The numbers of things you can do to work out your writer's block are endless, but it helps if you can figure out what helps you personally. For example, some writers find that napping helps them immensely when they have a case of writer's clock.  The time spent napping recharges their brains and refreshes them enough to get back to writing.  Other writers, however, would consider a nap a waste of time and would rather hop on to a different project while they are waiting for their creativity to get going again.  Try several different methods and see if there is something that seems to help you above all the other methods. 

You should also pay attention to when writer's block seems to occur.  Do you find that when you write in the evenings you have a tougher time with writer's block? Maybe you should try to do the bulk of your writing in the morning.  Is there one piece or story that you are composing which has been riddled with horrible writer's block? Maybe the time has come to reevaluate the course of the piece, because your writer's block may be an indication that the piece just is not working out.

Allow someone to be your "pre-editor." 

Your submitted work will probably go through an editor unless you are working for a person or company who wants you to take care of all that yourself.  An editor's job is to make sure writing is an enjoyable read, conducive to the pre-specified needs of the buyer, grammatically correct, and without any other type of errors such as spelling problems.  This is not to say that you should send a piece off to your editor and expect him or her to sift through an abundance of errors or switch the writing around to totally revamp everything in an attempt to make it more readable.  Instead, you want to deliver a piece to your editor which is as close to being a finished product as possible. 

You will earn a better reputation as a writer and probably receive more work from the buyer if you make the effort to only deliver the best.  For this reason, you should have someone in your life who you can ask to read through your writing in an attempt to find common errors which you just can't see because it's your work.  After all, your word processing program cannot be expected to catch every little problem, especially when the problem can't be recognized as a problem by the program.  For example, mixing up there and their might not be caught by your computer, but it may result in your editor gritting his or her teeth. 

Someone who reads your work before you send it off to your editor might also be able to point out writing idiosyncrasies that you have a tendency to do without realizing it.  Using certain phrases such as sort of, kind of, or that's like can become a habit which you don't even realize you have until a reader points it out to you.  It is much better to have a friend point it out to you instead of someone who is paying you for your work.

There are undoubtedly other things you will need to do to get a successful writing career.  This brief outline should help you get started, especially if you aren't familiar with what exactly you need to do.  Remember that none of these tips and ideas will do you much good if you don't have a talent for writing or the drive to pursue a successful writing career.

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