A Few Things Every New Freelance Writer NEEDS to Know
If you want to make a living as a freelance writer, there are some things you need to consider before you start. Fail to follow a few things that are considered the norm in the industry, and you may be doomed to failure before you have written your first piece.
Good Access To Resources
There is more to producing a piece of work than the actual writing. In any one day you could be tackling 3 or 4 different subjects. To write effectively about them, you need to understand them. You need access to good resources for research purposes. You may think you know a subject inside out, but things develop and change all the time, and you should never write a piece assuming you know it all.
Part of this is ensuring you have a good Internet connection, or you will not be able to find the information you need. Next, look for information from trusted sites. Government and university websites are ideal. Zoos, museums, trusted news sites and Consumer Reports are good sources, too. Be sure that the site is unbiased and doesn't have an affiliation with a product for the best information.
Good images are also important. Here are 20 Free Ways to Get Photos and Multimedia Content for Blog Posts and Articles.
Insurance
This might not seem relevant, but what if you have a break-in and your computer is stolen? You should have home based business insurance, as no device means no money is earned. This relatively inexpensive insurance that will pay for you to get up and running again much quicker.
Edit, Edit and Edit Again
Editing the piece you have written is crucial. Walk away from it for a bit and come back with fresh eyes. There are also programs available that will check your work for obvious errors, but they won't turn it into a good piece of copy, that is up to you.
editing
Don’t Miss Deadlines
Never miss a deadline, as these are vital for some of the people you will be working for. Clients don't ask to have your piece by a certain day and time for no reason, there are often other things that need to be done after you have finished. They may have to add links, images or videos and these can all take time to source.
Accept Feedback With A Smile
You could send the same piece of work, as a freelance writer, to two different people and one love it and the other hate it. This could be for several reasons. Each piece has to be suitable for the place it will be published, whether that is online or in print. You may get negative feedback if an article is the wrong tone or aimed at the wrong audience. All these things should have been part of the brief you were originally given, and if you don't follow that you should expect negative feedback.
Don’t take it personally though. Look at is as part of your learning curve to becoming a freelance writer, and remember what has been said. It could be useful in other pieces you do.
Freelance writing needs a strong work ethic as you could find you have very little one day and need to work 20 hours the next. It is the nature of the beast, but one that can easily earn your living if you are prepared to work at it.
Here are some more tips:
