Prerequisites of Freelance writing
Freelance writing has exploded onto the online money making scene in a big way over the last few years. People of all age groups from students to retired people can earn a handsome amount every month just by spending a few hours every day writing content for buyers.
Freelance writing by itself appears very easy, and indeed it is so but there are some things to be kept in mind. Freelance writing pays according to your skill level. The better your skills, the more you will be paid. Initially freelance writers are paid in the range of 80 cents to 1 dollar per 100 words if you are lucky. If you can write around 2000 words daily, thats a cool 20 dollars a day or approx 500 dollars a month. As you keep on writing for new clients and your skill increases, you will get paid in the range of 2-3 dollars per 100 words. Do the math, it’s raking in the moolah basically.
- To be a good freelance writer, you need to be good at english firstly. That means no grammar mistakes and spellings too. Good english is not limited to just this. Sentence formation and structure matters a lot too. Just good grammar does not make a good article, it needs to be enjoyable to read for the reader as well. Writing in an easy to way and engaging manner is a gift that webmasters pay for handsomely.
- You must know how to manage your time effectively. Never procrastinate as things will go rapidly downhill from there. You need to understand is that the people paying for your services expect the goods on time. Excuses like your connection was down, your PC crashed are old and just don’t hold anymore. Give promises only when you can keep them. Keep some time out for writing daily and always inform your buyers in advance if ever, god forbid, you need to extend a deadline. Nobody likes to deal with someone who can’t keep their word, no matter how well you write.
- Set yourself goals. While taking jobs, make a record of the work you have undertaken and keep them in such a place that you know what is due, when it’s due and how much you will be paid for it. It helps to have a written (recorded) form of communication of the job you have been given in case of a dispute, and also for simply keeping track of all the work you have. You should aim for a particular quantity of work every work, and having achieved that, consider everything over and above that a bonus.
- Keep at it. Don’t give up just because a couple of webmasters didn’t like your content doesn’t mean you’re not going to make it. Maybe your content wasn’t suited for their needs…their problem. They should have been more specific, it’s not always your fault. Also, some webmasters are out to cheat writers by claiming their work was substandard in order not to pay them. They then use your content anyway and there is very little you can do to stop them. So don’t be disheartened if your work gets rejected a few times. Take it as an oppurtunity to improve and use this experience to improve your writing according to whats needed by the buyers.
This may all seem like a lot, but it’s not really. You just need to keep these in mind. They are just general guidelines and once you start freelance writing, you’ll see most of these tips are common sense. But then as they say, common sense isn’t all that common. 
