How do I Become a Freelance Writer?
Written by Barry Walls   
Monday, 21 September 2009 13:29
Once the earning potential of freelance writers becomes apparent, many people will ask themselves "How do I become a freelance writer?" The process can be as hard or as easy as you want to make it. Like any process, you have to have a reasonable idea of what the final product is and the ingredients or steps along the way to achieving it. If you give some thought to how many different types of writers there are, you will see that you have discovered the first step along the way to becoming one.
by BarryWalls


Once the earning potential of freelance writers becomes apparent, many people will ask themselves "How do I become a freelance writer?" The process can be as hard or as easy as you want to make it. Like any process, you have to have a reasonable idea of what the final product is and the ingredients or steps along the way to achieving it. If you give some thought to how many different types of writers there are, you will see that you have discovered the first step along the way to becoming one.

Step one if you would like to become a freelance writer is for you to decide what kind of writing you would like to do. Don't overlook the importance of this simple step. If you don't pick the right kind of writing that suits you best you may never be able to reach your ultimate goal.

So, how many sorts of writers are there? Even a cursory glance will expose quite a list - reporters, poets, story tellers, reviewers, advertising copy writers, article writers, to mention a few. The secret is to look at your own writing style and the work that you have already produced and compare it with what has been published by other writers.

A great way for you to showcase your writing abilities if you are serious about becoming a freelance writer is to maintain a blog of your own work. Many people who wish to become a freelance writer often belong to a writing group where everyone submits work and receives feedback about their work, do you generally receive favorable feedback if you belong to such a group?

Whatever sort of writer you want to be, you must already have produced an amount of work that would justify your choice. There is no point at all, for example, in setting out to be a poet if you have never written a poem before and let someone else judge it. You may think that you are the best poet in the world but if nobody else who sees your work agrees with you . . . . . you see the point?

Once you are confident that you are the type of writer that you want to be you should get together some samples of your work and assemble a small portfolio. With the advent of the internet it is now fairly easy to submit your portfolio to a wide selection of potential hirers of freelance writers - the problem is getting them to read it!

The very first step in trying to ensure that your portfolio will be looked at is to make sure you know who to send it to. It is not too difficult to discover the person's name and email address, after all, it is part their job to discover new writers to keep the publication fresh and interesting. Once you know who to send it to, you need to compose a simple message that will introduce yourself in as few words as possible and ask them to look at your work on the understanding that you would like to be considered as a future freelance contributor.

If your work is to a reasonable standard and relevant to the content that is usually included in the publication, you will be considered and probably invited for an interview and, possibly, a trial period. Most of the time freelance writers are only paid when their content is published, so you have to make sure you do the best work of your life if you are given a test assignment.

About the Author:

Barry Walls online writing course has developed into what many internet marketers are calling the fastest day job killing program online ever. His training course and forum show experienced and new people alike how to make full time incomes in weeks, not months, using his freelance writing training