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25 Jun 10 Freelance Writing and Work hours

This is one of the most common questions asked by freelance writing aspirants. They want to know if a freelance writer has to work from morning till evening, or just couple of hours a day will be sufficient. Another thing that bothers them in this regard is when one should write? These are valid questions, and need proper consideration before you embark on the freelance writing ship.

When to work?

There is no definite answer to this question as one can work whenever one wants as long as one meets the given deadline. I know many freelance writers that write in the morning, right after they wake up. Upon asking, they told me that writing in the morning is more fun as the mind is fresh and ideas keep coming.

I also know freelance writers who work in the deep darkness of the night. They feel they can produce good quality work in the night as there is seldom any distraction at that hour; no phone calls, no people coming over to meet, and kids and wives remain asleep then.

There are freelance writers who want to work during the day because for them working regular hours – from 9 or 10 in the morning till 5 or 6 in the evening – and maintaining a fix work schedule is important. They feel by working a regular hour they can take time out for family.

There are people who say they do not have any fix timing. They can work randomly at any hour without compromising the deadline or quality of the work to be delivered. They believe that the “hour of the day has no effect on their output”.

All of the people I talked to are excellent writers, and they produce excellent output for their clients. In the light of discussions I had, I believe working hour is not important. What is important is the quality of the output and timeliness of delivery. I must mention here that I do not endorse “working random hours” , as it affects the quality of output.

How long one has to work?

This depends where you are in your career and what your financial goal is. If you are starting out then you have to work long hours to meet your financial obligations, but if you are a veteran then you can work just for 3-4 hours and meet your financial goal, provided it is not very lofty.

I know people who worked for 15 to 16 hours (even more) when they started out, but as they gained experience and got good paying clients they reduced the number of working hours.

If you are starting out as a freelance writer then expect to work for more than 12 hours in a day, but as the time will pass you can reduce this to 4 to 6 hours a day.

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07 May 10 What Kind of Blog should a Freelance Writer Start?

The question posed in the title is one the most common questions asked by a freelance writer jostling his way to stardom. Most of the freelance writers asking this question often get frustrated as they do not find any satisfactory answer to this question. They feel either people are hiding something, or there is nothing like one golden topic for a freelance writer to write about in order to attain success.

First part of their supposition is wrong, but the second part holds some merit. Indeed, there is not any golden topic for a freelance writer to write about. And indeed, writing for “freelance writing” or related niche will not bring you more clients then what you get while writing for another niche.

Why?

Because seldom you will get an offer to write for this niche.

What niche to write in?

The answer is any, as long as you enjoy writing in it. When a client asks for your samples or blog links, he has two goals in mind:

  1. He wants to see how well you write on the topic of your choosing.
  2. He wants to see your thought process.

He is least interested in knowing if you have guru’s knowledge about freelance writing or not, and he is more interested in knowing how well you can write and how you think. Because it is upon your thought process that your writing depends.

As long as you are writing well, therefore, you should not be worried about what niche to start a blog in. As a winning strategy, I would suggest you to write your heart out on the blog that you would show to your future client. Such blog will have both depth of thought, and colorful flair of writing. This is what your clients are looking for.

Tags: , , Flair, , , , , , , , Satisfactory Answer, Stardom, , Supposition, Thought Process

04 Apr 10 Why So Many Freelance Writers Fail?

Many people start their freelance writing career with all gusto, but soon more than 97 percent of them are out of business. Why? What some of them succeed and rest does not? In this blog post, I will attempt to answer that.

Freelance writing is not easy

It indeed is not tough, but it is not easy. To succeed in this, you will have to put in hours and hours of labor every single day, without failing. Then only you will see any result. This is not a field in which you will enter, rake in moola, and leave. This is not a get-rich-quick industry. You have to struggle here, burn midnight oil, and learn continuously. People who fail in this industry, come here with a make-money-quick scheme, and get frustrated when faced with the reality. Writing is not easy, but it will become easier, eventually.

Lack of perseverance

You have to invest so many hours before you get hang of things around here. When you are new, the well may look dark, and the road may look narrower, but there is a wide clearing on the other side that awaits only those who persist. Persistence is the key. Keep fighting. Say this to yourself:

If any one person can do this then be that ME!

Lack of determination is the thing that pushes people away from this writing.

No devotion to learning

If you thought learning stopped the day you got the job, or the day you got the gig then you are in the wrong field. Rather, there is no such field out there in which you will not require to read. Learning is not an event, it is a process which never stops. People who fail are those who do not want to invest time for learning.

I do not believe it is the lack of talent which creates hindrance in the road to the high hills of success. It is the attitude that stops us from that.

If you want to have faith in one thing, have faith on your selection. This will solve half of the problems.

Tags: , Devotion, , , , , , , , , Midnight Oil, , Moola, Perseverance, Persistence, Rake,