Freelance Writing Jobs: How To Start Your Career Without Trouble

Starting as a freelance writer can be daunting if you’ve never done anything like this before. Most people who want to start writing for some extra cash have day jobs as well, so that leaves little time to find the right information. Keep reading the rest of this page and you should be ready to start right away!

Why do you want to be a freelance writer?

There are particulars about this kind of a career that you might not like. If you’re the type of person who can handle the motivation of a job without a boss, then go through the rest of this list—if you answer yes to most or all of them, you could be ready to start as a freelance writer.

1. Can you make your own deadlines and stick to them?
2. Can you work at home without getting distracted by laundry, kids, movies, etc.?
3. Are you flexible enough to miss other activities so you can write?
4. Does your family respect your need for space and quiet during your extra work hours?
5. Are you prepared to be sometimes lonely and bored with your freelance assignments? You usually can’t only choose to do the jobs you enjoy writing.

If those sound good to you, then go make an account on a site such as elance.com or freelancer.com to get started.

How to get your first job and feedback

As a freelance writer, you need to have some feedback built up for people to hire you. It’s kind of the chicken and egg problem: you need good feedback to get hired, but you have to get hired to receive any feedback. To solve this, look for some low paying jobs and do really really well on them. This way, the client gets a cheaper price and you get the experience you need.

After that, it’s a lot easier to get the jobs that you really want, and the ones that pay better. If you do this right, always hand in stuff on time and be respectful, you can make a great career out of writing from home. If you need help with writing a catchy portfolio or filling in your resume, ask a friend. It’s often good to get another’s opinion on how your online persona looks, because that’s what will help you get jobs.