Part of our "Start a Successful Freelance Writing Career" Video series
( Read the transcript )
YOUR SPECIALTY
What do you know about? Of course you won't want to jump into a writing career revolving around writing about something you aren't too familiar with. Not only will you get bored, but you might also wind up frustrated from writing about a topic you don't know much about. Composing articles and other pieces about things which you have to research – and perhaps don't understand fully – will take a lot more time than writing about something you know a lot about. In the beginning, try to find writing jobs which will not be too difficult for you to write quickly and easily. If you are a stay-at-home mom, finding jobs writing articles about raising kids should be a breeze for you to tackle. If you are an avid videogame player, then writing reviews for various online games should be not only easy, but also enjoyable. Unfortunately, you may not be able to find a good amount of jobs which involve writing about things you truly love, but if you can then it's a great idea to snatch these up if you can. Your writing work will go a lot quicker if you can compose pieces that are about topics which you are familiar with.
What do you know that not everyone else knows? If you are fortunate to have a lot of knowledge about a particular subject, you may want to start out by writing about that subject when you first start writing. If you spent time working in a bank, look for people who want to hire personal finance writers. If your hobby is creating websites, find a webmaster site to write for. Even if your area is not something you are particularly interested in writing about, you may want to consider using that topic as a way to get your foot in the door and build up some bylines. This will give you some work to list in your portfolio and establish you as an experienced writer.
Tip: One of my favorite things about being a writer is getting assignments for topics which I really don't know too much about. Although it is true that I do have my area of expertise, there is just something which is a lot of un about researching something that I didn't know much about beforehand. I once composed a series of articles on HEPA filters versus ionic air filters, which is something I really did not know anything about. By the time I was done with that series of articles, I could have told anyone the differences between the air filters, the health benefits of each, and which one I personally preferred. When else would I have had a chance to learn something like that? The point is to find what you are good at writing about, but don't be afraid to try writing about something which will need a little research. You never know…you may find a new hobby that way.
What do you know about? Of course you won't want to jump into a writing career revolving around writing about something you aren't too familiar with. Not only will you get bored, but you might also wind up frustrated from writing about a topic you don't know much about. Composing articles and other pieces about things which you have to research – and perhaps don't understand fully – will take a lot more time than writing about something you know a lot about. In the beginning, try to find writing jobs which will not be too difficult for you to write quickly and easily. If you are a stay-at-home mom, finding jobs writing articles about raising kids should be a breeze for you to tackle. If you are an avid videogame player, then writing reviews for various online games should be not only easy, but also enjoyable. Unfortunately, you may not be able to find a good amount of jobs which involve writing about things you truly love, but if you can then it's a great idea to snatch these up if you can. Your writing work will go a lot quicker if you can compose pieces that are about topics which you are familiar with.
What do you know that not everyone else knows? If you are fortunate to have a lot of knowledge about a particular subject, you may want to start out by writing about that subject when you first start writing. If you spent time working in a bank, look for people who want to hire personal finance writers. If your hobby is creating websites, find a webmaster site to write for. Even if your area is not something you are particularly interested in writing about, you may want to consider using that topic as a way to get your foot in the door and build up some bylines. This will give you some work to list in your portfolio and establish you as an experienced writer.
Tip: One of my favorite things about being a writer is getting assignments for topics which I really don't know too much about. Although it is true that I do have my area of expertise, there is just something which is a lot of un about researching something that I didn't know much about beforehand. I once composed a series of articles on HEPA filters versus ionic air filters, which is something I really did not know anything about. By the time I was done with that series of articles, I could have told anyone the differences between the air filters, the health benefits of each, and which one I personally preferred. When else would I have had a chance to learn something like that? The point is to find what you are good at writing about, but don't be afraid to try writing about something which will need a little research. You never know…you may find a new hobby that way.
