How Do I Become a Freelance Writer?
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 |Any time the economy takes a nosedive and people find themselves losing valuable high-paying jobs, the first question skilled writers ask is, “How do I become a freelance writer?”
Why Become a Freelance Writer?
You may have always had a particular gift when it comes to writing. In fact, many people often choose higher paying careers instead of writing for income, because for so many years writing was never really a very viable occupation. The stigma of the “poor writer” remains integrated throughout modern culture, and it’s difficult for people to imagine actually earning a legitimate income if they become a freelance writer.
So Then, How Do I Become a Freelance Writer?
One of the central reasons I created this blog is because, once I realized that the evolution of the Internet forms new and exciting opportunities for freelance writers every day, the reality hit me - there are countless excellent writers out there who are not doing what they love to do because they believe that writing is not a “legitimate career.” In this post, I’m going to lay clearly lay out the answer to the question: “How Do I Become a Freelance Writer?”
Step #1 - Take Inventory of Your Skills, Knowledge and Experience
If you really want to do well as a freelance writer, take stock of the experiences, skills and knowledge that you’ve already built up in your life up to this point. It doesn’t matter how important or unimportant you find it, if you’ve experienced it then it becomes a good source of information to draw from. Having a degree in a particular field is excellent, but not critical. Maybe you spent a good part of your life working as an ER nurse, an office assistant, or even a special education teacher. These life experiences form what you are knowledgable about, and they’re where you can draw out the information you’ll need to write. And if there are things that you don’t know about (there’s always likely to be) - that’s another reason the Internet is so great. If you need a refresher on any topic, there’s likely a website out there that can help.
Step #2 - Be Honest With Yourself. Do You Really Write Well?
Once I started doing some editing for various websites and blogs, I realized that there are a lot of people out there that have the dream of earning income from freelance writing, but their only asking, “how do I become a freelance writer?” because writing is something they think 
they can do from home with very little effort and overhead. However, if you really have a hard time putting together a sentence that actually sounds good when you read it out loud, you may want to consider one of the following approaches.
- Enroll in a few creative writing classes at a local community college or university.
- Subscribe to blogs (and read them every day) that discuss the many writing techniques you can use to “write well” (like this one).
- Join a local reading club - the best way to learn how to write well is by reading how the published authors do it.
Are you not really sure whether or not you’d classify as a “good writer?” If you’ve been submitting your work to various publishers and agents and you’ve received denial letters, that’s not an indication that you’re a good writer. Most professional published authors were turned down relentlessly. Agents receive far too many submissions to do a very good job judging good writing from bad - and a great many brilliant writers pass over the desks of many agents who, through their own overly inflated ego or just plain laziness, let that writer pass them by.
On the other hand, you do have folks that will likely be frank and honest with you about your writing - your family. Approach someone who you love and trust to be truthful with you and present them with your absolute best writing work. Explain that you’re considering embarking in a career that requires very good writing skills (you don’t need to offer all of the specifics) and you need to know if your writing is good. Tell them to be as honest as possible.
If they love it, then you should be okay. If they hesitate, or offer a series of critiques, then you may want to get a second opinion from another family member. In time, you’ll get the general picture - and don’t let your ego get in the way. If you can’t write, you can learn how, but don’t fool yourself into spending hours each day of your time doing something that’s doomed to fail because you weren’t honest with yourself.
Step #3 - Where Do I Start?
Start out with a simple google search for things like “write for us,” or “we need writers.” Sift through the many sites and look for those that match the field, topic, or career that you have expertise and in which you have a great deal to offer. If you don’t already have some writing samples published online, then your first step should be to either start a blog, or start writing on someone else’s blog for free. Get your name attached to high-quality articles, and preferably published on blogs or websites that have a good flow of Internet traffic. For example, try Associated Content or Helium. These are two sites where you’ll essentially be writing for almost free at first, but at least it allows you a venue to get your name out there and the quality if your work noticed.
Step #4 - Persistence, Motivation and the Rising Income
Most importantly, as you apply for jobs at the various top freelance job boards (more on those coming soon), you’ll first land jobs that don’t pay extremely well. But if you’re willing to put in the hard work to get your name known, you may be writing articles for $5 to $10 at the start, but in time your per-article income will rise to $20 or more once you become established as a stellar author, who’s writing is in demand. Those early days will consist of many hours of very hard work, writing article after article…but in time and month by month, you’ll see your freelance writing income rise.
Step #5 - Never Settle
Freelance writing is definitely a business where all you need are one or two high-paying clients, and you’ll likely find that you are never wanting for more work. In fact, you’ll be struggling to find the time to complete all of your projects on time. Don’t push yourself so hard that you burn out every month. Most importantly, once you’ve been able to establish yourself with a client that does pay $15 to $20 per article, don’t settle for other jobs that pay less. At that point, you are a higher quality writer. Someone has recognized your worth, so all of your writing should be valued at that same rate. Even though you’ll have to start at the bottom, as your name recognition and writing “brand” increases in notoriety, so does the value of your writing - at that point, never undersell yourself by agreeing to write for less than you’re currently worth.
Final Words About Freelance Writing
Ultimately, you are likely asking “how do I become a freelance writer” for very good reason. Make sure that you understand the freelance writing field, how it works, and how to advance within it - and you’ll find that you can earn more through freelance writing than you could in a majority of other careers.
