If writing has always been your favorite assignment in English class, and you feel most at home when you put pen to paper or your fingers type away on your computer then you’ll be happy to know that you can make writing your career (without having to publish a book). There is so much to learn when it comes to being a freelance writer, or a writer at an online publication, like for example The Daily Crisp. That’s why today we have TDC’s very own Hanaa Fouad, Senior Writer, and Content Editor, and Life Style blogger at “Lavender Vibes“. She is both writing this article (hi) and answering some of the most common questions freelance writers need to be answered to follow their passion for writing.

 

What tools or resources can help me with my writing?

When it comes to writing you want to look for tools that will help you save time and energy. You don’t want to spend too much of your time checking your spelling and seeing if that title is capitalized right. You want to really focus on your writing and give it all your energy and time.
That’s why some of my favorite tools are things like
Transition (this is a great link for transition words when that writer’s block hits)
Headline analyzer (helps analyze how strong your article or blog post headline is, you’re welcome)
Something that always helps me with my writing is actually reading. I read several articles every day (yes, I’m a big bookworm) that have nothing to do with my writing but help give me a different perspective on things. I find my writing flows better when I’ve read right before I write. It really helps get your creative juices flowing when you read someone else’s creative work. The same goes for books, you could read a chapter or two and you’re good to go, bye bye writer’s block.

Do I have to have majored in Literature and Writing to pursue a career writing?

Of course not. I am actually a clinical pharmacy graduate who has never taken a course or class that teaches writing. If you have talent, drive and the will to succeed you can do anything you put your mind to. I read a lot to get a handle on a lot of different techniques, and I research anything I don’t know.

However, I do believe, if you ever want to write a book one day, you might need to take a class or two teaching you about Character development, Storytelling and other things that you’ll need to use in your book. Because out of all the endeavors you can go on as a writer, being the author of a book is the hardest and most demanding. Since it’s not just writing, it’s storytelling and there is so much more to a story than just the words saying it. You need to learn how to say the story, how to develop it, and how to make it deliver your message, attract the reader and hopefully become a best seller one day.

 

What are the ways I can use my writing talent to make a living?

It depends, how long do you plan on reading this article, hehe. No, seriously, your options are quite endless. You are the master of the written word, so basically, any profession that requires words to be written is your domain.

Copywriter/ Ghost Writing

You can of course work as a freelance writer at ANY company you can think of, copywriter, or even write social media content. You can write blog posts for companies that want a blog to further their website traffic but don’t want to write it themselves.

Copywriting Coach

Yes, you can teach others how to write their own content or write content for others. You can hold workshops or classes for fellow writers and make money teaching other like minded people do what you all love to do, write better.

Start A Blog

If you’re a writer I’m guessing you have a lot to say, so why not start saying it on your own platform, your very own blog. The best part is that you don’t have to pay anything to start a blog. There are a lot of free platforms that let you do that without paying a single pound, The most popular ones are Bloglovin, WordPress, Wix and many more if you don’t like these. You can write to your heart’s content on your blog, build a readership and then soon you can have paid collaborations with brands and companies to be featured on your awesome blog.

Write A Book

This is sometimes the obvious and for some reason the only way people think writers can make a buck. It’s not actually, because out of all the other ways writers can thrive, book writing is one of the hardest thing you can do. It takes tons of research, studying, writing courses, editing upon editing upon editing. Not to mention, you have to have a publisher that you trust to help you get your first book on bookstore shelves. It has endless layers to go through but once you see your name on that published cover, you’ll understand why it was all worth it. There is no feeling quite like it, I don’t have a published book (yet, maybe one day) but I can only imagine.

How can I improve my writing/ copywriting skills?

Nothing comes for free, even if you’ve always been talented at writing and your English teacher used to call you ” The Jane Austin of our time” you’ll still need to work hard if you plan to make a living and a career with your writing. Talent can only carry you so far. Depending on what you plan to do with your writing, you need to find appropriate courses, creative writing classes or even Youtube videos that help you improve your writing. You can even hire a copywriting coach to help with your writing, show you different writing techniques and help you write with purpose.

How can I price my work if I’m a freelancer?

Whenever it comes to pricing your work you can’t just think of the task at hand. You need to think of all the courses, classes, time, effort, blood and sweat that have led you to be the capable magnificent writer you are today.
Picasso once drew something spectacular on a random napkin while sitting at a restaurant in 30 second flat. A woman asked to pay whatever he thought it was worth and he replied “10,000$” Astonished, the woman exclaimed ” But you did that in 30 seconds” to which Picasso replied, “No, it took me 40 years to do that”.
You get what I’m saying here. Don’t undermind your work but also don’t get tricked into thinking that setting a higher price on your work will automatically make your clients believe that your work must be amazing. Let your work do the talking.
Freelance writers can price their work anywhere from 80EGP – 200+ EGP per 1000 words. You could also calculate your rate depending on your hour and figure out roughly how many words you write per hour. Your rate could also depend on your experience level, your past work and the quality of your work.
Last but not least I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes:
“You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have to say something” F.Scott Fitzgerald