Archives for May 2009

How Much Does Talent Matter?

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I had a great conversation recently with someone I was interviewing, and we got on the subject of talent when it comes to freelance writers. We were discussing how much “talent” matters in the equation of what makes someone a successful freelancer. I’ve been giving the matter some thought, and here’s my take on it:

Talent is Only a Small Part of Freelance Success

Yes, having a certain amount of raw talent is required. You need to be able to write well. Good grammar is a skill that you can improve with time. Spelling is something that a lot of people need help with, at least some of the time (me included). I use Spellcheck on my WP program, and I check my dictionary and thesaurus regularly.

There are a lot of talented people around, but talent alone is no guarantee of freelance success. You need to take whatever level of talent you have and combine it with other skills if you are going to do well in this business.

  • Develop your Listening Skills

Get in the habit of really listening to your clients. Let them tell you what they need, and fulfill that need. You will quickly get a reputation as being someone who is easy to deal with and who cares about their clients. This strategy will lead to repeat business.

  • Follow Instructions Carefully

You might have seen dozens, or hundreds of similar assignments in the past. That doesn’t mean that you can just dive into the one right in front of you without reading the instructions carefully first. If your client wants a particular font used or has asked that you double space between paragraphs, then it’s for a reason. Give them what they want.

  • Treat your Clients Well

My clients are not interruptions from whatever else I’m doing during my day. They are the reason I have a business, and I treat them accordingly. I make a point of making them feel welcome when they get in touch with me, whether it’s about their writing needs or just to say hello.

Talent is a good thing when it comes to freelance writing, to be sure, but it’s not enough. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you are difficult to work with, your clients will move on to someone who they find easier to deal with. That’s just the way it is.

How important do you think raw talent is to freelance writing success?

When is the Right Time to Become a Freelance Writer?

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I admit that I lurk around on various message boards and the discussion that I see get me thinking. I’ve been following one discussion about when it’s a good time to launch a career as a freelance writer. These options have been suggested, and both of them have valid points:

  • Save up enough money until you have several months’ worth of expenses and go full time.
  • Start part time while working in a “day” job and build up a good client base and ease into freelancing.

The idea here is to have some kind of a “fall back” position in case the whole freelancing thing doesn’t work out. I fully appreciate this idea, but there is something to be said for going full tilt and not worrying about the bridges you leave behind. If you are good at your craft and you look after your clients well, you won’t need them.

I must take exception to the idea that “security” comes from working for someone else. It doesn’t. Really. If you are an employee, your employer has the power to decide that your services are no longer required at any time. If the company needs to make cuts, your job may be affected, no matter how well you did your job. Where is the security in that?

If you want to be a writer, then be one. There is no better time than right now to get started. The freelancing has room for people who want to work at all different levels, from those who rely on the income to put food on the table to those who use their earnings to save for something special that they want. If you are waiting for the exact, risk-free time to launch your career, you will be waiting for a long time. It’s not going to happen.

And if you are holding back because you don’t have faith in your abilities, I found a great quote that covers that point too:

“The greater the artist, the greater the doubt; perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize.” (Robert Hughes, Time)

Now is the time. We can’t live in the past, because it’s gone. We don’t know what the future will bring (unless you have a crystal ball that works…I don’t). All we have is the present, so make the most of it and go after what you really want.

Making Great Transitions in Articles

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picture-12Writers traditionally get stuck in a couple places in their writing: in the beginning when they are trying to discover or develop their lead (lede), in the end when they are searching for just the right conclusion and at transition points throughout the article when they are tasked with introducing a new idea.

A good transition is like a listening to a great band or DJ. The music just flows from one song to another and all you notice is how good the music sounds. Bad transitions can feel like walking into a pole in the middle of a sidewalk. Jarred, the reader looks up and asks, “Where in the world did that come from?” as they stagger through the next set of ideas.

Transitions can be tricky and at times you need to look over the entire article to see where information fits and if you can rearrange information in a way that creates a better flow and easier transition. Ask yourself, “Where does the story/article naturally progress? What would a reader ask next?” Taking a moment to look at it from a reader’s perspective could be enough to illuminate the article’s pathway and make writing transitions easier.

One can choose to make transitions by using headers and bullet points. Some ideas will not flow naturally from one to the other and headers and bullet points are clear indicators that the article is going to move in another direction – a road map so to speak. Here is an article on using bullet points properly: “Bullets Make the Point.”

Quotes are another option for transitions. A good quote can be just what an article needs to introduce a new opinion, subject or direction. Remember, you don’t want to throw just any old quote in an article. The quote has to contribute to the article, give it a boost, a human voice, etc. “Say What?” A Quick Guide to Using Quotes” is a good place to explore how to pick and use quotes.

Got any transition tips? Have any questions? Write it below, I’d like to hear from you!

The “Bread and Butter” Client

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There are some clients you can usually count on to keep you supplied with a steady stream of work. I call them “bread and butter” clients.

The work can vary, depending on what the client has available, and if you develop good relationships with a few of them, you can avoid a lot of the “feast or famine” times that seem to be a part of so many freelance writer’s lives.

The Trade Off

I have a few bread and butter clients that I’ve been working with for awhile now, and the arrangment works out pretty well. I know that I can probably get a certain amount of work from them each month, and hopefully I can fill in gaps in my schedule with other project work. I find that being hired for a specific project only tends to pay a bit better, but the work flow varies.

The trade off comes in the form of choosing steady work at a slightly lower rate of pay versus the uncertainty of project work that pays better. I like to have a combination of the two,and I don’t have a problem with taking on something that will keep me working on a regular basis.

If you could choose the kinds of clients that you would prefer to work with, would you stick to the bread and butter variety, or do you want to go after more lucrative projects that may be harder to land? Or does having a mix of both kinds make more sense to you?

Inspirational Writers for Inspired Writing

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picture-2Tuesday I talked about some common reasons why writers find themselves in a writing funk. One of the reasons I cited was when writers have too much work they don’t have enough time to read other great work. Then the thought came to me – if you don’t have time to read other work, you certainly don’t have time to look for great work you should be reading. So here are a few of my favs in a variety of catergories and please add your own below!

Parenting

DadCentric.Com – Be warned, there is a fair amount of profanity at this blog site, but the guys at DadCentric are great with their message – parenting includes dads too. The blog is funny, insightful and well written and one of those rare parenting blogs that points out the discrimination in product advertising toward dads.

The Motherlode – This parenting blog is a part of the New York Times’s website and it’s author Lisa Belkin is one of the best out there. Timely and timeless discussion with wit, compassion and lots of humor, this blog is a great one for your blogroll.

Writing

Freelance Writing Jobs Network (This site) – Several distinctive blogs with distinctive, expert voices and you may miss them! Some of you may visit some of our blogs, but let me tell you if you haven’t stopped in all of them you really are missing something.

The Renegade Writer – The spin-off blog to the successful book is chock full of ideas and tips about the writing life, specifically freelance writing.

Environmental

TreeHugger.Com – More environmental information than you can shake a stick at, a free-range, renewable resource stick I mean. Divided into helpful subsections and full of great photos, if you are going green, thinking about it or just want a source of great resources this is a great site. The best thing is topics get an overall treatment, then you have the option to ‘go deeper.’

Specialized

The SASCOM Magazine Blog – While taking a specialized look at the software tech industry the SASCOM blog is anything but boring and technical. The blog covers a wide range of topics from the Swine Flu outbreak to the environment, to leadership skills and how these seemingly unrelated topics coincide with the company, it’s mission and field.

I left out a gang of people I follow personally and those that have huge followings for a reason, I wanted to highlight some well known and lesser known places out there where writing rules. I know you all have some recommendations so list them below along with their subject matter and link!

Top 10 Reasons Why Your Writing is Suffering

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picture-6Why aren’t I getting gigs? Why am I caught in this niche I have grown to hate? Where’s my career going? There are a lot of reasons why a writer’s work suffers and some are so common most writers have or will experience them at some point. Do any of them ring a bell?

  1. You’re bored. There are times a writer needs to switch course or look for new ways to stay passionate about an familiar topic.
  2. You’ve gotten lazy. Let’s be honest, sometimes freelancers slack off and don’t feel like doing what they are supposed to do. I’ve been there and it’s tough to get back on task, but take a look at that electric bill – feel like writing now?
  3. You’re not reading enough. The more you write, the more money you make right? The more work you have can take away from the other things that make a writer great, like reading other great writers. It’s amazing the amount of inspiration one well written piece can provide another writer.
  4. You’ve got too much work. It sounds like a good problem to have, but in reality too many projects can take away from the time you have to devote to the perfection each project. The result? Sloppy or rushed work and not too much to show for it.
  5. You’re burned out. When’s the last time you took a break? Switched up the routine a bit? If you’re still thinking, you may need a breather, a chance to go off the grid for a day or so and recharge. Time to refresh is not a privilege it’s a necessity.
  6. You’re lonely. Online social networking is great and you can make some wonderful friends, but you also need to get out there and make friends in and out the writing field. You need your writing friends to commiserate and appreciate the life you lead and you need non-writing friends to give a different perspective. A writer’s life can be a lonely one and it can drive you bonkers, don’t let it happen to you.
  7. You don’t have any support. Are you battling deadlines, kids, bills and the feeling no one really understands what you do? You are in need of support – it makes all the difference in the world. When someone’s in your corner it can help you get over those hump days and it’s important to have someone to share the good times. Nothing like calling up a friend to relay the news of a hot new gig knowing they are just as excited as you are about it.
  8. You’re not enjoying yourself anymore. An important indicator of having a great job is when you love what you do.  You don’t have to love it all the time, there are days I’d like to throw my laptop and favorite pen out the window, but generally I get a whiz bang out of writing. Recapture that magic and it’ll show up in your work.
  9. You’re not charging enough. Raise your hand if you ever worked your butt off for a piece only to get the check and decide it’s just not worth it? Ok, hands down. What’s going on with your fee schedule? Should you really charge more and does your work justify it? This great article from James will help you make what you’re worth.
  10. You’re not doing what you really want to do. You became a freelancer so you could travel the globe, or your local playground, finding tips and trends in a fascinating field. Six months later you’ve got SEO and tech work coming out of your ears. You keep telling yourself it pays the bills, but really a corporate job would do just as well if that’s all you wanted. Time to check your goals and develop a plan to get back to your dreams.

Getting to the bottom of what ails your pen is not only great for your career, it’s great for your health. People who are passionate about what they do live fuller and longer lives. Let’s get you back to living yours.

Thursday’s post: “Inspirational Writers for Inspired Writing”

Got any great tips on a common writing threat/malady? Have you dealt with one of these and overcome? Share below!

4 Reasons You Should Consider "Small" Jobs

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When you are looking for freelance writing work, are there some gigs that you pass on either applying for or accepting because they are too small? This may be a mistake, and here’s my take on why they are worth considering:

1. They can be completed relatively quickly.

You may not have time to commit to (another) large project right now, but taking on a smaller one means that you can get the work done and get paid quickly.

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Are You Passionate About Your Writing Career?

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To be a freelance writer, you need to have good writing skills. That’s a given. You also need to be able to follow instructions carefully so that you clients get what they want. Having good communication skills helps you to develop good working relationships. All of these are skills that you can develop and improve on over time, but there is still a piece to the puzzle that is missing….we talk a lot about being “cool” like it’s something we should be striving for, but I wonder why we don’t value being passionate about what we do.

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How Friendly are You With Other Freelancers?

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Your peers are as important, if not more important, than your paying customers. Peers offer a huge support for your freelance writing career. They can help boost your business, bring in clientele, get you out of a sticky spot, offer advice, suggest improvements, lift your morale and provide that break you need for success.

So how are you treating them? Are you enjoying their company and making friends? Or are you condescending to them, showing off or being the know-it-all? Worse, are you coming off as the snotty diva, the argumentative witch or the arrogant SOB?

You could be, and that’s a problem. If you alienate your peers, you won’t get any of that good stuff they offer.

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