Make money freelance writing

Who couldn’t use a bit more money in a tight economy? If you find yourself agreeing with this statement, and you possess the basic skills needed to write an interesting, well-worded, and carefully researched article, then you might be interested in making money with a freelance writing job. It offers you: flexibility, challenges and it can be a lot of fun.

As a freelance writer, you pick and choose which jobs you want with the understanding that, once you accept a job, you must follow the directives of the company or person who contracted the work to the letter. It can be challenging to meet deadlines and to learn to discourse in writing about unfamiliar subjects. It can also prove to be educational and fun, especially if you find a good contract employer who has a wide variety of writing needs for you to fulfill.

Where do you find the aforementioned fun, flexible and financially rewarding freelance writing jobs? You find them where you find everything else, these days. You look on the Internet. Just one quick search for a freelance writing job will turn up dozens of websites. Those sites are often simply clearinghouses that serve to match contractor with freelancer. Companies or individuals who need writers or work written will post their needs, and freelance writers can bid or apply to these ads.

So, brush off you grammar and polish up your spelling skills. There is a great freelance writing job waiting for you on the world-wide-web.

Liven up your articles in four simple steps

Whatever sort of articles you write, you want to keep the reader’s interest. If your work lacks zest or you’ve written about the same thing so many times that you are beginning to sound redundant, even to yourself, then you need to take measures to ensure that your writing will catch and keep the attention of your audience, regardless of the subject matter.

Step number one is easy. Don’t start all of your articles with the same introduction. A live television or radio sportscaster can have a signature intro speech for every broadcast and it can help turn them into pop culture icons. If a writer starts every news article, sports article, travel article or whatever-it-is-about article with the same routine introduction, they will lose their readers. This doesn’t necessarily mean simply that you start with the same phrase, but that the introduction follows the same format. For instance, if you start with a question every time and then provide some vague allusions regarding the answers that will be provided in the body of the work, before ending with a trite segue into the next paragraph, you are stuck in a rut. Change it up. You’ll enjoy your work more if you freshen up your angle and your readers will, too.

Next, refrain from the use of repetitive phrases. If you tend to use certain allegorical statements or draw conclusions with a particular introductory line, stop. Find a new allegory. Come up with a better line to lead up to that concluding point. You are a writer. Be creative!

The third step is to put a new coat of paint on the old vocabulary. You have a broad mental dictionary, but your words have been used so often they’ve faded. Find new words and make them your friends. There are books and websites dedicated to helping you broaden your language horizon. Use them.

The final step to putting a little of that old zing back into your writing is one you might enjoy. Take a break from it. If you regularly write articles about sporting events, see if you can arrange to spend some time writing about a totally different subject, like travel or art. If you normally work on short articles or filler pieces, try your hand at some fiction in either short story or essay form. You might not be burned out as a writer. You might just be a bit rusty. A change, at least for a week or two, could be just the lubricant you need to get those creative juices flowing again.

Remember, writing is not work. It is fun, at least most of the time. Many of us became writers because we enjoy the act of putting words together to create ideas. Don’t lose sight of that in the day-to-day grind of contract or article writing. These are just a few steps you can utilize to take your work from deadpan to stepping lively. The best way to keep your work fresh and interesting, however, is to always remember that you love what you do.

Freelance writing to make money

You love to write but aren’t ready to take on a full-time job. Maybe you like living in the country but all of the jobs are in the big city. Whatever your reasons for not being a full-time, “employed” copywriter, there are plenty more good reasons to make your money as a freelance writer by applying for freelance writing jobs.

First, you enjoy the flexibility of being able to work when, where and how you like with freelance writing job. There is not commute, no dressing up for board meetings (at least seldom) and no nine-to-five grind. Some freelance writers, it is true, do visit their employer’s offices on occasions to take part in brainstorming sessions or client input meetings, but those events are not regular and far from common. This sort of flexibility is bound to appeal to anyone with a creative personality.

Secondly, you can work on any sort of writing you enjoy. If you like writing travel articles, you can find a publication or other buyer who’ll snap up your work. If you prefer fiction, you can contribute freelance to publications or submit works for anthologies. Maybe it’s poetry, gardening how-to essays or any other sort of writing genre. Entities that publish in any of these areas will need good freelance writers to keep their reader’s happy.

So, don’t take that full-time job and face rush hour commutes. Kick back with your PC and kick start a career as a freelance writer. It could be the smartest move of your writing career.

Four Steps to Writing Marketable On-line Articles

In today’s world, we market products through medias undreamed of a few decades ago. Articles only appeared in print publication and then, suddenly the Internet happens and articles have become a way to market or “sell” products. They can be subtle and segue a reader towards a site or a search about a product, or the articles can be up-front, filled with SEO (search engine optimization) words and keywords that will be picked up by popular search engines like Google®, Yahoo®, Ask®, Bing® and more. Whichever sort you are contract to write, a few simple steps can ensure that your article is more than just a well written piece regarding it a particular subject. It can also ensure its “marketability”.

The first step is simple. Use the key word or phrase somewhere in the title when writing articles for web. If you can use the entire phrase, pick out the most important world. If a search engine picks up the title and nothing else in the web article, a good title is enough to hook a reader. A hooked reader will then follow those subtle nudges toward the desired web sites for more information or to purchase a product.

Secondly, it is imperative that you don’t overload your writing with awkward insertions of the keyword or phrase. That means keep the usage to a minimum and insert it in a sentence or phrase where it sounds natural and not contrived. The readers are not stupid and will be able to tell an article written just for the SEO content and one that is well written and focused on the subject.

Step three involves the use of back links. Never hyperlink or back link a word or phrase to a client’s site unless directly authorized to do so. Many times the client will elect to handle that sort of thing without your assistance and your presumption might cost you the next assignment.

Finally, you must ensure that your writing flows. Instead of random facts or thought about the subject, it must follow a logical sequence or course, taking the reader from introduction to conclusion by following an interesting and informative pathway of words.

Following these simple steps can assist you in furthering your article writing career for on-line marketing purposes. By improving the quality of your writing, at least as far as its marketing value, you can enhance your prospects of landing more work and establishing yourself as a “go-to” source for this type of work.

Four steps to writing a book

Dreaming of writing a book? Perhaps you work in a field where publishing a book is a mark of your success. Specialists in many professional fields often pen books that become learning texts for those who follow in their footsteps. Most would-be novelists, however, want to pen an epic story that will merit them a spot in literary history. Whatever sort of book you’re writing, be prepared to spend time and expend a great deal of effort to complete the piece. Then, the hard part will begin. Writing a book, any author will tell you, is much easier than getting it published. Still, if you are determined to follow this dream, here are a few steps to help you on your way.

First, you want to fall back on something you learned in high school. You want an outline to follow. An outline for a book will evolve as the story does. Some writers actually refer to their outline as a story map. These “maps” outline not only the plot, but can help you keep track of timelines, characters, events and even the name of the fictional cat. Your initial outline will be bare bones, but be sure you leave lots of room for scribbling in notes as the story evolves. In the end, some outlines are as long as many short novels.

Secondly, you will need to begin your book. If you are basing it upon past events, you might choose to include an epilogue that outlines those previous events and brings the reader up-to-date with your introduction. If no epilogue is required, you can launch right into your introduction. Unlike a story or a paper, your introduction is going to be pages, sometimes chapters, long. The first few chapters in a book are crucial. Don’t forget, these are what you’ll be sending to publishers or agents to earn their acceptance should you be so fortunate as to merit their interest. They should be interesting, intriguing and very well written.

In the third step, you will be following your outline to create the story. Many writers do three, four or even five drafts of a book. The first, or the rough draft, is simply the story without too much embellishment. Then, the second adds the extras that will flesh out the tale. Take as many drafts as you need. Yes. This is time consuming. Writing a book is not like penning a short story. It is a job and one that, until the book is published, often feels quite thankless.

The fourth step, upon the completion of your final draft is to seek out either a literary agent to represent you to major publishing houses, or to be bold and seek a publisher on your own. Be forewarned that many of the bigger publishers don’t read work by authors who are not represented by an agent. Before sending any of your actual writing to an agent or publisher, you’ll compose a query letter describing their book and attempting to interest them in your manuscript. Most will not actually want to read any of your work unless this letter piques their interest.

If you’re lucky enough to have your manuscript read by either an agent or publishing house, you still only have a slight chance of being accepted. Some agents might send it back with suggested changes or perhaps offering advice on a firm better suited to representing your type of work. Often, even works that are accepted require massive revisions and rewrites to meet the publisher’s criteria. If you think this sounds like hard work, then you are right. It is. Still, the dream of having your work published is enough to make taking all four steps worth the while.

Four steps to put more passion in your article writing

Article writing of certain types can be either an indulgent time spent waxing most eloquently about your favorite topic, or it can be a chore. It is not only the topic, but also your approach, that determines which it will be. Obviously it is easy to convey your enthusiasm when the subject matter is one that interests and excites you. If, on the other hand, the topic is one of those that might serve as a cure for insomnia, the task can be a little daunting. So, how do you put more passion, more zeal and more pizzazz into an article about a subject you dislike? Easy! You improvise with words.

The first step is acknowledgement. You might say to yourself (aloud if no one is around to question your sanity) something along the lines of “I hate this subject.” After owning up to your less than eager anticipation for the work, do the routine things like research and planning your lay out or outline. After all, you still have to write the article.

The second step starts once you are ready to write. Now try to put the subject, if not into an entirely new light, then at least slant the light from a direction that makes it appear a little less dull. For instance, if your assignment were something like, “write a three-hundred word article on making potato salad”, you could spice it up with finding some exotic types of potato salad or getting a quote from a famous chef on the subject.

If no light is going to make this subject look good, at least to you, then go to step three. Simply write the article from a purely factual angle. Write it quickly and worry more about getting your facts straight than your phrasing. Why? That would be because you are immediately going to re-write it completely. In the rewrite, you keep the facts but play with the phrasing. Where you find passive verbs, insert some action. Add interesting adjectives and adverbs and even a tricky prepositional phrase. Punch it up and make it more fun to read.

Finally, get advice from someone who might actually like the subject. If you hate cooking but your neighbor wants to be on the Cooking Channel, ask her for some ideas. Don’t use her as a source, but get a new look at the subject from the perspective of a person who is biased toward, not against it.

Whether it’s a four part series of articles on toenail fungus or a set of how-to articles on preventing diaper rash, these four steps can take the tedious subject matter and, with some effort on your part, transform the finished article by adding a passion and a life it might not have if you had written it in the “I hate” mode. Four simple steps take the article from passable to passionate, and can any of us really have too much passion?

Four steps to more believable fiction

While we are suspending reality when we write fiction, we still want our readers to be able to travel into the fantasy with us. For fiction to work, it has to be credible. So, how do you make the incredible, credible? You follow some basic steps.

First, you want to draw some boundaries for your reader. Offer them familiar concepts and ideas from the reality in which we all live. The further from that reality you intend to stray with your tale (science fiction, fantasy, etc.), the more you need to ground your work in such a way that both you and the reader at least begin in the same place. Think of yourself as a guide into the story and the readers as your travelers. You need to begin the trail at the same place so they can follow your lead.

As you lead them down the trail, keep in mind that new and unfamiliar concepts should be introduced in a manner that makes them seem either extremely ordinary for this fictional place and time, or they can be made to be as extraordinary in that world as this one. The way you introduce a new concept will affect how the reader perceives it throughout the work,

Since the worlds we invent and share in writing fiction are uncharted territory, it’s easy to lose our own way. Keeping an outline that can be updated and that includes a character map and a timeline are invaluable tools to keep the writer on track. The better you follow your own guidelines, the better guide you will be to your readers.

Finally, don’t be afraid to bend reality. That is what fiction does. It allows us to invent realities of our own. From the most out-there kind of sci-fi to the modern love story set in a real world place, we still get chances to create a window into a new reality that the reader can look through, and for a time they become part of it.

Good fiction needs to be grounded and built with realistic boundaries that give the reader a context from which to view the work. The writer needs to act as a guide, introducing new ideas and concepts in a way they can be understood. A good work of fiction, especially a long work, needs to follow an outline and the writer will need to keep track of a multitude of details to keep it “real” for the reader. Finally, the author of a fictional work can experiment. Pushing the reality envelope is what good fiction writing does, but it also makes sure the reader is able to share the experience by the use of effective communication of new ideas and concepts.

Four steps to freelance writing that sells

To succeed as a freelance writer, you need to have the same basic skills as a writer who does their work as an employee at a publication or an advertising agency. You need the ability to research a topic and present the required information in a manner that engages the interest of the reader. In almost every instance, outside the realm of news reporting and even that could be argued, the writing we do is intended to “sell” something. To create freelance writing that really sells, you need to follow a few key steps.

First, identify the idea or product or person that you are selling. The project may not come to you with a list of keywords or a specific sales agenda, but it is there, somewhere in the work order. It might take a little back-and-forth with your editor, but eventually you’ll get a clear picture of what point needs to come across. That’s what you’ll build from.

Secondly, research the topic thoroughly, but spend some extra time on the area of the subject that will help you to slant the work in the direction it needs to follow. For instance if you’re writing a travel article for a magazine that heavily promotes cruises, you might want to research an island destination’s general aspects and spend extra time discovering what you can about its role as a cruise destination.

Step three is to put together a clear, concisely worded article that provides the reader with the information that they need to either make a decision, or to further pursue an idea. Some articles are sales pitches. They simply sell an item or concept. Others woo the reader and nudge them on to the next article, the next step. Your work order or directive should convey which approach you need to take with your freelance writing. The direct pieces will be strong pushes with their emphasis on the “sell”. A piece that sells indirectly will romance the entire general subject but offer informative nuggets about the product or concept.

Finally, read your finished work and correct any grammatical errors or misspellings. While you’re at it, take an opportunity to polish it for the reader and to shore up any weak points. The finished product should fit not only the specifications of your initial work order, but reflect the quality of your own freelance writing ability.

Freelance writing is a great way to do what you love and do it on your own time, working around your own schedule. Following these basic steps will help you improve the quality of your writing and, as a result, enhance your ability to sell yourself to employers.

Five steps to freelance writing success

“Freelance”. The word itself conjures an image of a wanderer, a person who doesn’t live in a fixed space, much less work in a cubicle or have to track their billable hours for some nameless, faceless boss. A freelancer is, if you break the word down, a weapon for hire. The “free” part is easy enough. The “lance” part refers to a spear or pole used by knights for jousting. Thus a “freelancer” would be one whose weapon was his or her own, and not used under the governance of an overlord. Perhaps you like words, too. You enjoy breaking them down or blending them to create images or ideas. If so, you might be the perfect candidate for a job as a freelance writer. When you’ve decided to give the idea of being a “pen for hire” a stab (pun intended), then here are five steps to help you on your way to become a freelance writer for content development:

First, do not let your lack of formal education in the writer’s craft daunt you. Many great writers, some of the greatest in literary history, had little or no professional training as writers. The best writing is often instinctive. You do, of course, need the rudiments of spelling and grammar. The rest you can learn along the road.

Secondly, you want to start out small. You might want to write travel articles and have dreams of seeing your story’s title on the front of a glossy magazine and maybe getting a byline? Think smaller. A great place to start is in your own home at your own PC. Article writing or publishing an on-line “blog” is a good way to get experience and exposure while fine-tuning your web content writing abilities.

The third step is finding someone who is willing to pay for your work. You might want to work up a few travel articles of varying lengths and keep them tucked away. Then, surf along on the web for the sites that offer freelance writing jobs and editors a chance to cyber-meet and, if you’re persistent, eventually someone is going to give you a chance. That’s when having those samples of your work can come in very handy.

The fourth step is establishing credibility as a content writer. This assumes that you’ve landed an assignment. It doesn’t matter how small, insignificant or boring it might be, do your best at it. Put all you have into it, and ensure that it stands out in a positive light. That’s how you get picked for the next job and how other editors learn of your work. Even if you don’t get picked when you submit your samples, take heart. Better editors will often critique your samples and give you pointers. They want you to improve your web writing skills. After all, they need good writers.

Finally, even when you are not on an assignment, keep writing. Check out books on composition and grammar, and use them to assess and perhaps rework some of your old material or create some new articles. Word crafting is an art that improves, as do most other forms of art, with practice.

The freelance writers enjoy the flexibility of working on their own with minimal supervision, freedom to accept or refuse assignments and can decide their hours and what days will be holidays on their calendars. It is not, however, a great full-time job for the breadwinner of the home. Only top-notch writers can pay the mortgage or rent on their freelancer writing jobs’ salary. Still, be encouraged. Those same top freelancer writers had to start somewhere, and chances are they followed some of these same steps.

Affordable web content writing solutions

All too often, we are aware that our web page content, our company’s newsletter or our product descriptions would benefit from the expertise of professional writers. Still, in a tight economy, small businesses (and even a few larger ones) are cutting costs wherever they can. Many of them believe that getting professional writers to spruce up their material would be too cost prohibitive. They couldn’t be more wrong. Thanks to the internet, there are affordable content writing solutions that will bolster sales and improve your company’s image and consumer awareness of your products.

Specialized web content writing companies operate, primarily on-line, to wholesale written work. These entrepreneurs have “stables” of talented, experienced copywriters who work for them on a contract or sub-contract basis. When you contract with one of the on-line wholesalers to handle your writing job, they’ll sub it out to the most qualified professional writers on their staff. These content writers will turn out consistently high quality work per your specifications, and based on your timetable. You pay the wholesaler a lot less than a pro writer on staff or from some big ad agency would charge. They, in turn, pay the writer. It’s a great solution to content writing problems and, best of all, an affordable one.

So, don’t let sales slip through your fingers because your on-line content needs some polish and don’t let your company’s public image be tarnished by poorly worded articles, item descriptions or printed materials. Get a pro to handle the web page content writing, and save a bundle in the process.

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