Pros and cons of freelance writing

Freelance writing is what I always wanted to do. As a non-English speaker I fought hard to find my way in the world of writing. The beginning was ridiculous from the financial point of view, with 500-word articles paid for $1 and a first 'salary' of $20 and other potential frustrations for someone used with high financial revenues. Add to this the long nights spent searching for new opportunities, struggling to balance the time dedicated to learning and reading with the enormous amount of time required for writing and editing my texts. The last months were for me an amazing journey in humility. 

Freelance writing is not a job when you should expect a decent salary within months. You should be ready to wait 4-5 months until you will have a decent income for covering your basic needs and even more until you will enjoy convenient life standards. Most probably, this situation is available for experienced writers as well, as the competition is very tight. For each ad on Elance addressing English language editors more than 6 offers are submitted instantly by people with apparently high credentials.

Thus, I completely agree with the earlier advices from experienced freelancers that were warned that unless you have some savings for at least one year, you better try to keep your old job while freelancing. 

On the other hand, I am sure that my life as a freelancer will be much easier if most people I am working with would have a minimal responsibility and business ethics. Apparently, I am not in the right freelancing place, as most people I am dealing with prefer to pay weeks after their very high emergency job was delivered flawlessly in due time and for more than a convenient price. Add to this the high chances that, if you are taking freelancing jobs through various networks, you will for sure stumble upon some very kind persons that after 1-2 weeks will disappear without paying. It happened at least once the month in the last five months of freelancing and besides the feeling of deep frustration it prevents me at a great extent to take new work unless I am not sure that the employer is 100% verified. 

However, I will continue freelancing and I am more than delighted to observe my improvements and the new opportunities that I can't wait to cope with. I don't want to be outrageously rich, but only to enjoy my life as a writer, meaning to have enough money for me and my family, my trips and, of course, the healthy provisions of books for my Kindle.

Writing happiness

As a professional writer in the process, I enjoy every piece of advice about how to improve my writing, either it is about simple blogging or sophisticated literary writing. 

Thus, I enjoyed a pleasant lecture of the eBook by Marya Jan - Writing Happiness, How to write blog content that works. You can read this booklet very fast, for free, and if you are looking for some inspiration in-between posts or when you feel that the writers' block is around, it is the right lecture to lift you up.

In the words of the author, it is a "non-grammar focus guide for writers and non-writers who are in the business of generating content". This is the reason why, for instance, you are not scholarly advices that first and forehand your posts should be grammatically correct in order to achieve success. In a way it is obvious, in a world of words facing a very serious confrontation. 

The book includes a couple of very useful advices, more or less evident even for experienced writers. It includes a couple of insightful quotes, mostly from Stephen King's On Writing, a book which I highly appreciate. Regardless of your domain of writing activity, you will find for sure 2-3 tips.

Shortly, here are my lessons learned from the lecture of the Marya Jan's book:

- If you are a writer it does not mean that you should stop reading. You should be in touch permanently with what people from your domain are writing, but also for improving your style and looking for new sources of inspiration. My experience is, when I find something interesting, I prefer to blog about it as well and, eventually, share my impression with my audience.

- You need to find a reason to write. In other words, to find a clear reason to put your words in order. The reader needs to discover something new, and thus clarity is key. The organization of your blog post matter as well: the headline and the first paragraph are very important for a successful reading. The end matters as well as an incentive to encourage the reader to return or to go further to explore other writings published on your blog. 

- Related to the previous aspect, you should find your voice in writing. This is the reason why very often I preferred to put my intensive blogging on hold for a couple of weeks or even months, as I was looking to accommodate different voices and writing personalities.

- Add to the ingredients of a successful writing the proper connection with the reader. Do you know who are your readers, what are their tastes and interests? In many cases, your domain of activity is limiting your domain of activity and thus, creates the possibility for the development of your niche. For instance, if you are a fashion blogger, you will be interested in covering all issues dealing with fashion, but if you are into do-it-yourself fashion it will be even better for reaching a certain audience.

- As you are writing for a blog, you should take into consideration the limited attention and time of your usual writer. If you are interested in complicated writing, you should avoid blogging. However, there are many examples of successful bloggers addressing highly complicated issues with the help of clear expressions and short sentences. The book does not address the issue of multimedia support - podcast, video, 
pictures, but very often the visual aspects can add more readership.

The conclusion: a simple and useful writing for any kind of writers facing with the challenges of the 2.0 world.