Writing Blog

If you can’t write, don’t. You’ll be doing yourself and everyone else a favour. Seriously, if you don’t know the difference between ‘its’ and ‘it’s’ or ‘there’ and ‘their’, go write a blog and express yourself. It would be unfair to write for a client and expect him to pay.  (That is not to say your blog won’t make you rich and famous – if you have something to say that people want to hear about, never mind what your grasp of the language is, they’ll come and read. Look at many of those technical blogs out there – they could maybe get someone to proofread and edit them but the fact remains that they have a hold on those virtual eyeballs.) 

However, if you are going to get paid for your writing, make sure you can write. At least passably. No one’s looking for an Ernest Hemingway on the Internet - but you have to realise that bad writing can distract a reader from the actual content that needs to be communicated. 

You’ll need to keep applying for those jobs. Don’t let anything get you down – not those reject messages, even worse, no messages. That silence can be killing but you have to move on if you want to make it. Keep your nose to your keyboard and keep posting those bids. One day, sooner or later – pray sooner than later – some kind soul who’s also a client (no, they’re not a mutually exclusive species) will give you a break. Hold onto that slender thread of hope and climb your way to a freelance writing paradise – it’s there all right, much as you might think otherwise sometimes.

So you want to become an online freelance writer. You are reasonably good at writing and you wonder just how hard it can be to get a break into that world. Take it from me – very hard initially. I know a few lucky ones who’ve strolled into the virtual world and landed plum assignments without trying too hard. By and large, though, most people who want to make a break into this world find it extremely frustrating and very often just give up. Here are a few tips to make the going easier. Becoming an online writer is easier if you know how – and it can be infinitely satisfying. 

First, you need to gear up and here are a few things you need as part of that gear: 

-  Persistence

-  The ability to write if not very well, at least correctly

-  A thick hide

-  A sense of humour

-  A great work ethic

-  More persistence, with large dollops of patience

The first step is always tough. You might, at this point of time, be tempted to take the easy way out and fall a prey to scamsters selling you e-books that promise to make you a writer and find you jobs overnight. It doesn’t work. Just keep trying and you’ll get there. There is such a place as a freelance writing paradise – it just takes a pretty long walk to get to it. Once you get there however, you’ll have a blast.