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Learning From Other Freelance Writers

Guest post by: Rebecca Garland

Article Overview: There seem to be a few schools of though in the writing world. There are the writer artiste types who focus on the craft and the artistic nature of the writing. There are the business writers who write as a business â€" worrying more about maintaining their brand and getting money in the door using their skill than writing the Great American Novel. Then there are the writers who enjoy pulling together pieces as part of their hobby or because they want to pick up a few dollars here or there.

Learning From Other Freelance Writers

There seem to be a few schools of though in the writing world. There are the writer artiste types who focus on the craft and the artistic nature of the writing. There are the business writers who write as a business â€" worrying more about maintaining their brand and getting money in the door using their skill than writing the Great American Novel. Then there are the writers who enjoy pulling together pieces as part of their hobby or because they want to pick up a few dollars here or there.

Fortunately these three types of writers don't have to exist separately, and there is much to learn from all three - especially if you find yourself dissatisfied at times with your own area of the freelance writing business.

Writers as Artists

There is a great deal of glamour in the image of the writer holed up in the cottage by the sea for months on end banging out a novel on an old fashioned typewriter. Hollywood loves these writers for their sheer romantic imagery. The problem with that image, however, is that very few writers are getting paid to sit in rented cottages writing books on spec. Hence, a bit of practicality is in order.

By all means get a cabin by the sea - why not? Freelance writers can live anywhere there's an internet connection. And pound away on the typewriter until your fingers bleed, although a laptop might be more practical in the long-run. But live the starving artist lifestyle to protect your artistic integrity? Only if you're into Ramen noodles. Taking the artistry down a notch, at least a few days a week, and you can ease into better business practices and earn a bit more to sustain yourself until that novel is finished.

Writers as Businesspeople

The writer who recognizes a craft and then markets it can turn a fair profit. The better your business skills, the better your writing business will be. There are many writers today who can bring in business and turn out finished products, but it all gets a bit dry sometimes. When you realized you're forcing yourself to write about dog food and you'd rather stick pin in your eye than write another word, take a step back.

Learn from those that love the craft and turn what you do into an art form as well as a business model. Write prose or poetry. Start a blog just for the sake of writing about things you love and enjoy. You can monetize it later. Or don't monetize it at all and just enjoy journaling online to get some of the demons out. Write something pretty just because it's, well, pretty!



Writing as a Hobby

Hobbyist writers are the best of the breed. They don't have to earn a living and they don't have to craft a tome worthy of the classics. They can just write about cooking shrimp or local politics to make their hearts feel super happy, to borrow a phrase from a rather annoying show my kids watch on occasion. If we were to all focus on writing more about what makes us feel good, the simple pleasure of the hobby can blend with the artistry or words to make us enough money to satisfy the capitalist in us all. It's a potent mixture, but one spicy enough to make writing fun every day - or almost every day, which is good enough for me.

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Article Tags: freelance writers, freelance writing, work at home, work at home parent, working from home, writing for moneybusiness writers, writing from home



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Consult your customers before you change your procedures.... - Not sure where this topic should go, but... I just finished reading a rather funny series of posts on MySpace. I belong to a group called WritersCafe. This group also has a webpage, where people post their stories and poems for other people to critique. Apparently, today, the Writers Cafe website has undergone a complete makeover...and its users were taken completely by surprise - apparently no one in charge at Writers Cafe bothered to tell anyone that the format would be changing, or asked for any input on what the changes should be. So there's over 2 pages of complaints on the Writers Cafe group message board, with people saying they can't log in, they dont' like the new design (it looks too "girly" - whatever the heck that means!), and other complaints. And while this only happened today, I have seen other instances of this. Every once in a while yahoo.mail or google groups implements a change in design - and it is never as good as it used to be. Then of course there's the IMDB (internet movie database) which also recently changed its design without telling anyone first or solicting input - and the new design stinks. Fortunately there's a button so you can use the old design, which is what I do... But in all these experiences, the main point of irritation is that no one in "charge" ever asks the people who use their site, if they want changes made and what they should be. It's like they've got all these programmers on staff and have to justify their salaries, so they have them work up "improvements" - but these are techheads who probably don't use the site, so they just do what they like, rather than what users like. The fact that it happens continually, across various businesses, is a rather disturbing trend.
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