Not a good writer

[JLP248]

Originally Posted by rjweaver10

I wish I could "like" all of these responses!

Me, too. That's a gret idea! We should have a like button in this forum.

[Purse-onality]

Most college essays would bore even the most seasoned writer. Once you become established as a freelancer, you really can pick and choose what you enjoy writing about. My main areas of expertise and interest are fashion, beauty, health and finance articles. I try to only write articles that require little to no research to maximize my earnings. Occasionally I'll take on a topic that I don't know much about simply because the topic interests me. Getting started, you may have to pay your dues by writing about things you may not have a particular interest in. In time, though, you will build a rapport and an online presence and have more freedom about the types of articles you write and the topics of your choosing.

[anng]

Posted daily goals to the wrong screen... UGH. What I meant to say here...

I agree that TB is the best place to try out your skills. If you can't write TB articles quickly, it's unlikely that writing will be the best fit, because to make a decent wage writing, you usually have to be able to at least get one or two articles done per hour (depending on length and price per word.)

[JennWith2Ns]

If you want to improve your skills, like sentence structure, spelling and grammar, there are tons of online resources that will help with that. An Internet search should you find you tons of resources.

As far as the quality of your writing, it just takes practice, and some people will never get as good as they want. I am no award-winning author, but I stay busy so I must not be too bad.

You might be better than you think you are. I would take the others advice and start at TB, or possibly start writing rev-share articles just to get some practice and see if article writing is something you enjoy doing. Personally, I am a perfectionist so I will never think I'm good enough, but it doesn't stop me from trying and getting work.

[adbullock]

Originally Posted by JLP248

It's not that I don't like to write, I am just not good at it and it's hard for me to get my creative juices flowing. For example, I had a 750-word college essay and it took me all day to finish because I could not get my ideas on paper. I would like to write and I think I would enjoy it. I just have to get better at writing first before I try to earn an income from it which is why I asked for tips on how to get better at it.

It would be nice if writing one 750-word article per day would pay the bills. Most of us need to write quite a few of them in a day in order to bring in a decent income. There is a product I purchased a long time ago that was worth its weight in gold. It's called Instant Product Creation by Jason Fladlien, and it's about writing articles in 7 minutes. I was never able to write articles THAT quickly but it did help me significantly improve my research and writing speed.

It's $37 and I'll tell you that I thought it was money well spent. I've recommended it several times to people over the years and have never once had someone come back and tell me they regretted the investment.

[MalloryObKnoxious]

I think the best way to become a better writer is to write, and write often.

Start a blog, write a journal, make prolific debate forum posts. Or, just get started with a place like Textbroker where you can get a better feel for what kind of writing people are willing to pay you to do.

Good luck!

[mommy2onelittleboy]

Ummm, I'm not quite sure why you think that writing would be an ideal job for you if you're not a strong writer. If you're thinking this is a quick way to make money from home, it isn't. It takes hard work, dedication and plenty of marketing. My best advice is to reconsider what you want to do if you're just looking for a way to make quick cash; however, if you have a passion for writing, which you need in this field, then try reading up on grammar. There are plenty of helpful resources online. Also, practice writing as much as possible, even if you're just writing articles to post a revenue share sites or articles for content mills. You might benefit from hiring someone to help you as well.

[summer868707]

If you really want to improve your skills, get someone to read your work and give you feedback. It doesn't have to be a writing professional, just someone who can point out obvious mistakes or tell you when things got boring, went off track or didn't make sense. It has to be someone you trust to tell you the truth, not someone who will gush about how great you are when you're really not. It is a good way to find out what your strengths and weaknesses are. Writing is something that you can improve with practice, but you have to put in the work.

[Syn R.]

Originally Posted by JLP248

. For example, I had a 750-word college essay and it took me all day to finish because I could not get my ideas on paper.

It sounds like you have trouble organizing and distilling your thoughts.

Do you outline or use concept maps to refine your ideas?

You need to practice looking at a topic and mapping out how your can approach it from beginning to end. Eventually, something like this can be done in 5 or 10 minutes, max, once you become skilled at it. When you have a blueprint in your mind, it's much easier to charge forward.

Or trying talking to yourself out loud/on tape until you brainstorm an approach to a topic that suits you. There are tons of other organizing tricks you can find if you research.

Again, you have not said anything to suggest your trouble is with sentence structure or grammar. You have identified trouble with quickly and effectively exploring an idea/premise to completion. Have I understood you correctly?

[rpriest]

Are you really not good at writing or do you suffer from a self-doubt complex? I ask because when I first began exploring legitimate ways to make money from home, writing was one of the first things I came across. I have always loved writing but I passed on the possibility because I didn't feel I was good enough to get paid for it. I have no degree of any type, had very little experience writing for others outside of short advertisements for a few local businesses, and figured there was not one person in their right mind who would take a chance on me. 2 years of potential income down the drain, all because I didn't believe I was "good enough."

One day, I found a thread on this forum in the telecommuting moms folder. The poster wanted someone to rewrite existing content for a website. I decided, after having tried numerous other work at home ideas, that I needed to just take a leap of faith. So I contacted that person, explained my interest, my willingness and ability to learn, stated up front that I had no experience, and let her know that I was absolutely open to feedback and criticism. Even though other, experienced writers also expressed interest, she said she was truly impressed with my honesty and could tell just from my email that I had potential.

To make a long story a little shorter, it turns out that I am a far better writer than I ever believed myself to be, and even now it's almost a shock when clients send me rave reviews of my work. Taking the chance and jumping in opened up an entire world of possibilities that I would have never before dreamed of. Writing has made it possible for us to keep our heads above water for these last 9 months that my husband has been out of work. Today, I'm filling all sorts of orders from simple blog posts and product descriptions to white papers and complex web copy for some pretty big names on the internet. I have to laugh at myself sometimes when I think back to a time when self-doubt kept me from pursing what I truly love.

Now, that said, this is WORK. When you have written 500 unique articles about gum disease, you tend to burn out and run out of new ways to say the same thing. If you're going to make any kind of decent income doing this, then you have to be committed and you have to develop a thick skin. Not everyone is going to love your work. I am a 5-star writer on a couple of content sites and I have several private clients that almost always praise what I deliver. But every now and then, my tone and style just isn't a good fit for what a particular person wants. It's always a hit to the ego, but you have to be able to take it, learn what you can from it, and move on. If you can't accept criticism for the learning opportunity that it is, then you're not going to get very far. Don't get me wrong...I'm not assuming that you can or can't. I'm just stating a fact.

I don't post here very often, partly because I stay fairly busy and partly because I tend to write novels like this that most people probably don't want to read--lol. But I saw your post and wondered if you might be just a little bit like I was. I'd like to echo the advice others have given and encourage you to sign up with Textbroker. The pay isn't great, but it's an excellent platform for new writers to get their feet wet and learn what internet writing is all about. You can only take one job at a time, which can be frustrating, but it also means that there is no way you're going to take on more than you can handle. If a title turns out to be more than you bargained for, then you can throw it back with no penalty, so long as it's before the deadline.

If you use Textbroker for a while and discover that this is something you'd like to pursue further, then you can look into other sources of work. If you find that it isn't a good fit, then you've only lost a bit of time and gained a valuable learning experience. Either way, you'll never know unless you try and you'll find plenty of opportunities for learning and developing your skills along the way. With that, I will end this mini-novel by wishing you the best in whatever you choose to pursue. Good luck!