Starting A Freelance Writing Career

Posted on March 20, 2008

Numerous people today are looking for ways to earn a living from home. This has led many to the field of freelance writing. With modern technology and a home office equipped with a computer, branching into a freelance writing career is easier then it has ever been before. Word processing programs replace ink and ribbon typewriters and afford the novice writer luxuries such as automatic word count, instant grammar checks, and tools that will correct your spelling errors. However, these modern comforts will not take the place of fluidity with your writing or the mechanical process necessary to produce great copy.

Before you embark on a career as a freelance writer, you should ensure that you have covered the basics. You should have a thorough understanding of grammar usage, be comfortable using tools such as a dictionary and thesaurus, and have an innate enthusiasm and zeal for writing. Nevertheless, if writing is your passion, but you feel that you lack technical skills, don’t hesitate to take a writing class. There are a number of different writing programs available in your local community college as well as a plethora of courses available to enroll in online.

Now that you are ready to begin your freelance writing career, it is time to get busy. First, you’ll need to choose some places to submit your articles to. One very popular site for beginning freelance writers is Associated Content. At Associated Content, you can learn the basics of keyword optimization and SEO content, as well as network with other writers. A major benefit of beginning your freelance writing career with Associated Content is that you will build up an online resume of your writing while being paid.

Once you begin to feel comfortable with you writing and have published several clips, you may want to try freelance writing offline. Some great places to break into freelance writing offline is in your local community papers, as well as church newsletters and bulletins.

After you have some of your work published in both online and offline media, you may decide that you would like to move into one genre. You’ll discover that there are so many avenues to work in and freelance writing offers a wide variety of choices. Beyond genres, you may decide to focus on resumes, newsletters, Ebooks, online web content, press releases, news reporting, magazine articles, or greeting cards. There is no limit to what you can do with freelance writing. Once you find your niche, stick with it. Develop as many clips as you can and begin to build your portfolio. Your portfolio may be both online and offline. You should have clips that are readily accessible via your website as well as media clips from your offline work.

The Internet allows many possibilities for displaying your work as well as your resume, and you’ll find that you can contact editors easily through email. However, it is important to realize that not all editors or publishers prefer to be contacted via the Internet. Always read the terms specified by any editor or publisher before contacting them.

Charisse Van Horn is a freelance writer and webmaster. You can view her writing site at Prime Writer. If you are looking for freelance writing jobs, please visit her site Writer Leads

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