When you’re thinking of becoming a freelance writer, you will find a lot of advice about starting a writing career. However, there’s one thing that you should do above anything else. That’s to write. If you don’t write, you are not a writer.
Skills Development
There are several reasons why it’s a good idea to form the writing habit. First of all, you get to practice your writing skills. The more you write, the better your writing will become. It’s as simple as that. Writing every day is a good opportunity to try out different types of writing and see what you like best. It’s also a chance to study the writers you want to emulate and use what you learn as a basis for developing your own style and writing voice.
Creative Freedom
Another good reason to write is to enjoy the creative freedom of writing what you want. When you start writing for clients, you won’t be able to do that as often. I find that most of my writing time is taken up with clients’ work, with very little time left for my own creative pursuits. However, it’s essential to spend some time on your own projects. That will keep you motivated to write and creatively fulfilled, helping to stave off the burnout that affects many freelance writers.
Forming The Writing Habit
Third, writing gets you in the writing habit. I recommend writing every day, even if it’s only for a little while. It makes writing part of your daily routine and it makes it easy to draw on the skills you have built up even if a particular writing project isn’t very inspiring.
The great thing about writing for practice is that you don’t have to show it to anyone if you don’t want to. However, once you feel confident, try showing your work to a critical friend or a group of fellow writers who will give you constructive criticism on where to improve. This will make you a better writer.
Building Your Confidence
As you get more confident, you will begin to find freelance writing opportunities that appeal to you. You have nothing to lose by trying to get a freelance writing commission. In fact, there’s everything to gain. Since you have been practicing every day for the last little while, you have the skills you need to do the writing and you will be able to deliver a competent job.
I’m not saying that freelance writing is always easy. At first, there may be rejections and days when you doubt your own worth. But forming a writing habit and sticking to it will help you to overcome these obstacles and start a successful freelance writing career.
Notice: Due to popular request we have finally released our Freelance Writing Course. Come check it out if you want to get started freelance writing online.
Thanks for yet another great article. 🙂
my name is haifa and iam 26 years old..i am graduated from khartoum university in literature english language..and now iam an english teacher in a primary school.
“Thanks for yet another great article”??
Please. This “advice” is like telling someone who wants to be in the NBA that, well, they need to practice their basketball skills.
No kidding?
Wow….
“The Best Way To Start Out In Freelance Writing”
“Thanks for yet another great article.”
You’re serious? This article would be like a basketball coaching saying the best way to get into the NBA is, well, to practice basketball.
No kidding, Captain Obvious?
@ Tim: You’d be surprised how many people say they want to become freelance writers because they like the idea of working from home and making easy money, yet they don’t take the time to develop their writing skills.
I have been working with very good company for the last 2 Years. What my problem is i cant speak infront of the huge amount of people. When i start speaking most of the time one question always runs in my mind whether i am speaking is right or wrong.
Even when i start writing i do not consistently get the words for forming the sentence.
Hey, Tim — are we supposed to help you decide which version of your slam we like better?
Keep writing.
much help especially for fresh freelance writer..most of us in asia like to talk less to write…in fact both of those need creative ideas..
thank….never give up writing
The only thing that is necessary to make writing strong is to first work on the vocabulary and make it handy, then work on some advance grammar that is often used in normal writing and comes frequently, including the punctuations that has often a great contribution in taking u-turn in times while writing.
Once you are conversant with the advance vocabulary, punctuation and grammar, try to work on the diction and language and sentence structures. For that we can take help of our daily national newspapers. Make sure, you don’t miss the editorial section of the daily newspaper or magazines that comes your way.
Once you are done with all these things, start to write everyday. It doesn’t really matter whether it is short or long piece of writing. If possible try to share your writing through your blog or your site. Community sites are also the best medium to share your writing and ideas through their individual pages. Like: You can create separate page for each of your section in facebook.
Hope you will enjoy after that.
Good luck,
Rajesh Chaudhary
Your article is very informative as well as inspiring. I am a Registered Nurse but I also have a passion for writing. In fact, it is one of my frustrations. I really would like to try freelance writing but didn’t know where and how to start. I did have some collections of my writing compositions, mostly creative writing. Unfortunately, I lost most of it. However, after reading this article, I have been enlightened and somewhat guided with what to do with freelance writing and develop my writing skill. Anyway, continue with what you’re doing and more power to you all. Thank you so much.
Hi I am Bora 27, from Cambodia. I have a Strong commitment to grow up in a field of journalism. what are the most interesting things in journalism and its real benifit to me and others. Where is the right place to start, how to start, and can hepl me to start?
Mabuhay! I am an elementary teacher and I love to read and talk but unfortunately, I have difficulty in scribing those words. I am striving to do it and I’m confident enough that sooner or later I can make it. thanks for the post. It’s a big help.
Good article. I like to think that I am very skilled at sentence structure, grammar, and spelling. However, for some reason I sometimes have quite some trouble organizing my writing. For example, I would start out writing the beginning of what would seem to be a great paper or article, but then somewhere in the middle I get all my thoughts scrambled around and I lose the point of the paper altogether. I have found that part of my problem is due to the lack of prep time before writing, for example, making an outline, brainstorming, or just simply making a list of points to make and what to write about first and so on. I have tried doing this many times and have become more successful than when I just write, improvising as I go. I know that many writers have the wonderful gift of just writing from scratch and being very good informative and persuasive writers, but there are also some out there that can be potential good writers, like myself, that need a little more time to gather their thoughts. Any more tips on my particular situation, as I do find that it takes a lot more time for me to finish a piece of writing when I do these outlines and so forth. Any suggestions would be appreciated.