Advice for beginners

[seedoubleyou]

Hi I'm new to this forum but not new to professional writing. Thank you for your effort in compiling lists of useful information they were really an eye opener. Before I became a mom my work experience centered around marketing and I have done copywriting, report writing, market research papers, creative writing, creating press releases, and such. I have been writing since a child. My first paycheck was for an article I wrote for a key newspaper in my teens.

To address concerns if writing is the career for you I have this to say. You don't need a writing degree to begin, you don't even need a degree. If writing is second nature to you then go for it. If you are often stuck and don't know how to begin writing, or take a whole day to compose a 500 word article on an already familiar subject, then it may not be the right path for you and you may be better off earning $5 per 15 minutes rate on something else YOU already enjoy doing and can do well. Then again some income is always better than no income so it's entirely up to you to make it happen.

[B2BWriter]

If no one has mentioned it, it would be worth your while to take a Journalism 101 class at your local community college. You'll learn incredible discipline, tight writing and how to get to the point effectively and quickly. It will change the way you write forever. Even many great novelists started out as journalist. Look for night classes or if the school has daycare during the day.

Good luck.

[FreelanceWriterGuild]

Great thread here! Great help and reference for a beginner like me.

[JCjohnson]

I just wanted everyone to know that a poster from WPLH is sending new writing leads every day. They seem to be great ways to find private clients.

[Alexa_]

I remember when I was starting to work in this field I had some problems with concentration. It was rather hard to focus on my task sitting in front of the computer at home. But when my work was praised with substantial income I got rid of all the troubles with motivation.

[limonfahmi]

I am highly passionate about with writing, but i can not understand what is the most easiest method for writing.

[kelbachj9]

Thanks everyone! These are great ideas!!

[believersbelieve]

Thank you for directing the new members over here with the sticky posts. At least we wont be posting the same thing over and over again

[ocsandygroup]

Originally Posted by Wendy

Great idea. One thing that helped me get started is by reading everything I could get my hands on that related to freelance writing.


Some good sites to learn about freelance writing:


Absolute Write | Write hard. Write true. And write on.
WritersWeekly.com
http://www.writersrow.com/
Writing for DOLLARS!
FREELANCE WRITING . COM : Helping Freelance Writers to Succeed since 1997
OrganizedWriter.com - Tools for the business of writing
WriterGazette.com - Writing Resources | Writer Gazette | Writing Resources
Write From Home-Freelance Writing Community For Parents
Writing Corner.com | For writers who love to write, and the readers who love them.
Welcome to Writing-World.com!
Freelance Writing Success: Resources to Help You Make Money Writing
Check it out: writersontherise.com


There are hundreds of articles on these sites that give great information on everything from writing technique, to finding jobs, to how to apply to jobs, to what to do if someone doesn't pay for work you've done.

Thanks for this post, helped a lot!

[jeannel]

One of the best ways to find clients is to look on different sites, which will give great chances of getting hired. If you're a writer one thing that can help you attract clients is to create a website and post some of your post so possible clients can see it. When looking for clients on freelancing sites, be extra careful, especially to those who are newly registered that might scam you. Always look for employers that established there online reputation on each site.

Here's a good article regarding How to find a job online that I believe good for beginners to read. How to Find a Job Online: 13 Steps - wikiHow