What is it like to be a freelance writer?
September 172009
I want to know as much detail as possible about the profession- preferably from someone who is a freelance writer or knows someone who is. Any information would be great, thanks!
I’ve either been a freelancer or worked with freelancers most of my life. Here’s a brief summary.
You need to be a good writer.
You need to be a good researcher. You have to be able to get background information for the articles you’re writing. And you must be willing to talk to interview total strangers.
And in writing and research, it pays to be reasonably fast. The less time you spend on one article, the more time you’ll have to spend on others.
But you can’t be so fast that you sacrifice thoroughness or accuracy.
It helps to become an expert of sorts in a particular subject area. Many freelancers settle into one area, such as science writing, or travel writing, or business writing. That way, they can develop a reputation for themselves, which helps with the editors who will be clients, and a set of reliable sources and contacts, which helps doing research.
You’ll need to keep current in your subject areas so you’ll know what kinds of articles editors are looking for.
You’ll need to become familiar with different magazines and newspapers, both mass market and specialized. That way, you’ll know what kinds of articles they publish, what topics they cover, anad who their audiences are.
You’ll need to be a salesperson. If you want to keep the assignments and payments coming in, you’ll need to pitch your article ideas successfully to editors.
You’ll need to be comfortable working in an unstructured environment. As a freelancer, there won’t be regular office hours or even workplaces. You might spend some of your time traveling on assignment. And you might spend a lot of your time at home contacting people on the phone or via e-mail.
You’ll need to be able to meet deadlines. If you miss one, you may find it difficult getting more assignments.
You’ll need to be comfortable working for yourself. The definition of freelancer is that they aren’t associated with any one publication.
For information on specific publications, their requirements, rates, etc., check out Writers Market at http://www.writersmarket.com/index_ns.asp.
September 17th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Hell.
References :
September 17th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Freelance writer is an interesting profession which requires training, perseverance and discipline. But the most important condition is vocation, because writers earn their salary selling their work to a market. So, their target are magazines, newspaper, script play for TV, movies and radio including written books. If you are interesting in this profession you can make contact to http://www.pennfoster.edu and read information about Freelance writer career on line. Good luck!
References :
September 17th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
I’ve either been a freelancer or worked with freelancers most of my life. Here’s a brief summary.
You need to be a good writer.
You need to be a good researcher. You have to be able to get background information for the articles you’re writing. And you must be willing to talk to interview total strangers.
And in writing and research, it pays to be reasonably fast. The less time you spend on one article, the more time you’ll have to spend on others.
But you can’t be so fast that you sacrifice thoroughness or accuracy.
It helps to become an expert of sorts in a particular subject area. Many freelancers settle into one area, such as science writing, or travel writing, or business writing. That way, they can develop a reputation for themselves, which helps with the editors who will be clients, and a set of reliable sources and contacts, which helps doing research.
You’ll need to keep current in your subject areas so you’ll know what kinds of articles editors are looking for.
You’ll need to become familiar with different magazines and newspapers, both mass market and specialized. That way, you’ll know what kinds of articles they publish, what topics they cover, anad who their audiences are.
You’ll need to be a salesperson. If you want to keep the assignments and payments coming in, you’ll need to pitch your article ideas successfully to editors.
You’ll need to be comfortable working in an unstructured environment. As a freelancer, there won’t be regular office hours or even workplaces. You might spend some of your time traveling on assignment. And you might spend a lot of your time at home contacting people on the phone or via e-mail.
You’ll need to be able to meet deadlines. If you miss one, you may find it difficult getting more assignments.
You’ll need to be comfortable working for yourself. The definition of freelancer is that they aren’t associated with any one publication.
For information on specific publications, their requirements, rates, etc., check out Writers Market at http://www.writersmarket.com/index_ns.asp.
References :