Good Website for Writers and Aspiring Writers
Every time I start talking with someone about becoming a freelance writer, or someone who is a freelance writer looking for some new ideas or other help, I find myself nervous that I will accidentally send them into the hands of a shark who will somehow scam them out of their money or identity.
So, it was with some relief that I came upon this site. This is technically at a science-fiction writing site, but it is good advice for everyone. It is a Writer Beware page that lists some of the more common scams. This list is by no means complete, but at least you get a heads up on some of the common tricks.
Other Safety Tips
- Never ever give out your Social Security Number. (Give out your EIN on a W9 Form)
- Only give out your name and other info AFTER you have been given the job (more important online than offline)
- Never “just sign up” for a website in order to APPLY for a job. (You may have to sign up to AFTER you get the job, but a legitimate employer will give you a username or way to do it for free.)
- Don’t leave money in your Paypal account. (It is way harder for them to get money from your bank than from paypal.)
- Never give out your banking information, even for direct deposit unless it is a real world, real building, real offices that you have been inside company. Otherwise, give them a Paypal account or an online banking account. And, do not leave money in either one.
- Get a business phone number (use GrandCentral or other service so you don’t need another phone line)
- Use *67 to block caller id any time you call a business contact, especially if you are calling from your cell phone. (Otherwise, expect plenty of calls at 11:00 PM).
It isn’t that bad out there, but where the scams are, they are mean. So, keep you head on straight and go for it. Just don’t get so excited you forget your basic safety rules.
Experience in AP Style or AP Style Required
Why, do so many job postings or Requests For Proposal demand an ability to use AP Style? Most often, it is short hand for, “You have to be able to write better than the average non-professional writer.”
I once heard someone say that photography and writing are the two professions that everyone thinks they can do. From the outside both of them look very simple. After all, all you have to do to get the same picture as Ansel Adams is stand in the same place with the same kind of camera at the same time of day in similar weather. Of course, that isn’t the point. No one cares if you can copy Ansel Adams. What makes him a great photographer is being able to see a great photograph where one hasn’t been seen before.
Writing is similar. Everyone can write. That isn’t the point. Describing what a murder scene looks like doesn’t make you Stephen King, and telling people why you think Microsoft sucks doesn’t make you a professional technology writer. A professional writer can hide their writing style. More specifically, they can write in the style that is requested. This skill is not common and therefore hard to quantify. Often, it falls into the, “I know it when I see it,” realm. So, when a client is paying good money for professional writing, they default to saying “AP Style” and hope it scares off the average non-professional. I’m not sure that it works, but I suppose it is better than nothing.
Learn AP Style
There are a lot of things in writing that can’t be taught, or that only come with experience, but the AP Style is not one of them. There is a book. Buy it, and flip through it a little. Don’t bother trying to read it cover to cover. It is a reference not a how-to book. Keep it on your desk next to where you write. As you go about your daily writings, don’t skip over those things you don’t quite know, and don’t guess. If you don’t know whether something should or should not be capitalized, look it up. When you don’t know if that phrase requires a hyphen, or is considered slang, look it up.
In the mean time, that doesn’t mean you can’t make yourself a better AP Style writer by doing some up front homework.
Here is your AP Stylebook Study Guide:
- Legislative Titles (how to reference politicians properly)
- Abbreviations and Acronyms (when you to use and not use)
- Time (AM, PM, AD, BC, and so on)
- Punctuation (a whole chapter, pay particular attention to comma)
- Organizations (look up ones you write about regularly)
- Race and Gender (which words to use in these touchy subjects)
- Titles (formal, royalty, judges, job titles, and more)
Then, when you come across someone who wants AP Style, tell them that you can do that. If you can write well and are willing to look up a few things, you aren’t lying.
Moonlighting as a Freelance Writer
The worst advice I’ve ever gotten came in written form. I can’t remember where exactly I read it, but I remember exactly what it said. It said that if you want to be a writer then you need to be a writer. Successful writers don’t moonlight as writers, they write and they moonlight on something else to bring in money if necessary.
I’m pretty sure as I remember it from the context, the author of those words was essentially saying that if you weren’t going to dedicate your primary job focus on writing, then you were wasting your time. I sort of believed it and went on accordingly, waiting for my time to come when I could switch what I do to the freelance side and the writing to the “main” side.
That chance came and I did switch. In fact, I just quit the other side. I don’t moonlight anywhere. I am a professional freelance writer, and I make all of my income in that way. Don’t get me a wrong, we have other income sources and another way to get health insurance (which is probably the biggest key to going freelance).
What I know now, is that those words of wisdom were actually words of stupidity. It is a lie that you cannot or should not moonlight as a writer. It is completely false that your writing, your craft, or your freelancing career will suffer in any way if you moonlight as a freelance writer. In fact, only good things can come from comporting yourself in a professional manner as a freelance writer.
Professional Freelance Writer Skills
For starters, you will develop your writing skills. You may think you are a good writer now, and you may be right, but trust me when I tell you that when you write all day every day professionally that you will come across dozens of nuances and subtleties that you have never considered. If the freelance project calls for a newsletter with a “conversational tone” but the target audience is high-ranking municipal court judges is it acceptable to use the word “you” in the writing? Before you answer, keep in mind that whenever you are addressing judges in their professional role as judges (which you are, because they are getting the newsletter because they are judges not because they wear black in the summer) you are supposed to address them as “judge” or “your honor” depending on the jurisdiction and level of court. Now what do you think?
As a professional freelance writer, you develop a wide variety of skills that don’t come up for most people who are just “really good writers.” For example, how to handle sex based pronouns: he, she, him, hers, and so on. There is the “fake plural” format where the writer converts sentences to read with they or theirs to avoid the issue. There is the “switch hitter” format where the writer bounces back and forth between masculine and feminine pronouns to avoid any gender bias. Then there is the “forced pronoun elimination” format which I am using in this paragraph by referring to “the writer” without ever using a pronoun. There are others, and many times, the person whom the writer is submitting the article to has no idea which one they want (they probably haven’t even thought about it!) – Did you notice the false plural there?
There are thousands of other skills a professional freelance writer needs that have nothing to do with writing. There is marketing, sales, taxes, corporate structure, copyright, publishing, web development and design, not to mention setting up computers, fax machines, and printers. Every one of these skills can be developed on a part-time basis, and when you do go full time, you will be much better off for it. (By the way, there is another professional skill right there in the previous sentence. Do you know when to hyphenate part time and when not to?)
How to Get Started Moonlighting as a Freelance Writer
The first step to moonlighting as a professional freelance writer is to forget about “moonlighting.” There is no such thing. Many professional writers do not work what would be considered full time. That isn’t important. What is important is that you are a professional freelance writer. That is important. As a professional you will return calls and emails in a timely manner, you will keep track of your billing, and you will act professionally on the phone and in person. As a freelancer you do not have an employer other than yourself. This is not a detraction, it is a blessing, it allows you to specialize in clients that you work best with. And, last but not least, you are a writer, that means you write things. Remember all three and you can’t go wrong.
So, where to find your freelance writing jobs. Start small. Look for opportunities to write for established blogs. They don’t have to be big or flashy, just a step up from where the same blog would be if you started it today. You don’t even have to get paid. Right now, you want a credit of some form (a link back to your business page is good) so that you can point to a website that you do not own and say “That is my work, and it is good enough to be published by someone else.” Check Craigslist (don’t restrict yourself to your city) and forums. Read blogs that you respect and could write for if given the chance, then look for the chance. If the blogger posts about being busy, offer to help. If you see a job ad, jump on it.
A lot of people will tell you to offer your services to non-profits to build up clips. This advice only works if you find a struggling, “we’ll take anybody” non-profit. These don’t always make the best clips. The Ronald McDonald House already has fifty top-notch professional level guys who do their writing, so bring it down a notch and you can make this work for you. Think local. The Omaha Humane Society is much more likely to need some help with their writing than the national level organization.
Google. That’s right, Google. They don’t need you, but they can help you search for someone who does. Start by including your city name when you search. Too many results? Use your actual city name, that is, the specific suburb or town that is “near Ann Arbor”. Smaller towns attract less spammers and webpage builders who just try and lure people to ad based pages, so get specific.
There are also a ton of “auction” sites out there. I’d steer clear of those unless you really need the money. Getting paid can be tough, and there is a lot of low-balling and plenty of clients who don’t care about quality they just want it done cheap. That grad student in India is going to eat your lunch on pricing that deal.
Get Started Now
The important thing is to get started now. By moonlighting as a freelance writer, you can build up experience and connections that will make the transition to full time easier. More importantly, you’ll be building up writing samples all over the place. Nothing screams amateur more than someone who can only produce writings from one or two locations. The more your writing is out there, the more likely someone is to give you a chance. So, don’t wait to be switch your moonlighting. Go now!
How To Get What You Want from a Freelance Writer
One of the greatest frustrations for both freelance writers, and the business owners or managers who hire them is a final product that is not what was wanted. A good freelance writer wants to deliver a good end result to their client and does their best to do so. However, there can be a breakdown in communication over what the deliverable is supposed to look like. Often this can be remedied with just a few simple steps.
Freelance Writing Perfection
In order to achieve perfection, one has to know what perfection is. In gymnastics, a perfect 10 from all of the judges represents perfection. It is not a secret how to achieve such a score. There are published rules regarding what kinds of things the judges must see and what kinds of things they must not see in order to get a 10 score. These rules are specific. They do not say “a flawless routine that is inspiring.” That is what they want, but that is not how to communicate. After all, what is inspiring to one person may be showing-off to another person. However, many clients will give no instruction beyond “something simple, yet inspiring.”
In order to get what they want from a freelancer, clients need to break it out further. In our gymnastics example, it is specified that stepping outside the white mat border will mean a points deduction. Now, the gymnast knows specifically what they cannot do. A freelancer needs the same kind of guidance. The above client has asked for simple, but there are many ways to interpret that. Does he mean black and white? Does he mean short? Does he mean no big words?
Freelance Writing and the Haircut
When a person gets their haircut, they have to tell the stylist what they want. This usually takes place in the form of a conversation. The stylist asks questions to clarify what the client wants. When the client says “short,” the stylist can ask “how much shorter, above the ears?” To which the client can answer, “No, just to the tops of the shoulders.” This illustrates exactly how you should communicate with your freelancer.
When the client says, “simple,” the freelancer should inquire, “No color, or no graphics?” The client can then fill in the details as to what they mean by simple.
Professional Freelance Writers Write First
A professional freelance writer will always try to put your request in writing. At ArcticLlama, LLC we strive to put together a simple looking write up of what the client wants. Of course, if the project is very short, or needed very quickly, this step may need to be skipped. But, if the client has sufficient time, this write up saves frustration for everyone involved. As a client it is important for you to review this document of understanding carefully and make sure that it not only does not say the wrong things, but that it also says all of the right things. So, if your DOC (Document of Understanding) says “A three-page article outlining the current economic environment for rental properties,” and you want a three-page article outlining how the current economic environment affects the people who manage rental properties, now is the time to speak up. The freelancer will now write exactly what you want.
Freelance Writing and Re-writes
Remember, rewrites are not the time to change what is being written. It is a time to add on to what was written, or to take out what was written. It is also the time to add examples, change the “sound” of a line or two, and maybe even to add graphics. Changing the theme, the length, or the audience of the product amounts to starting the project over.
Communicate
Remember, the point of hiring a freelance writer is to get someone who is an expert at communicating. Use this expertise in the beginning and you won’t go wrong.
If you have any questions or would like to see a sample DOC, please email us or call us.
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