How to Start and Sustain a Career as a Freelance Writer
by Abdallah Khamis Abdallah
Have you wondered how you can make a career writing books or articles for various
publications? Or are you seeking a viable second income opportunity but do not
know where to start? Well, freelance writing may be the right career for you and
it can open a world of lucrative opportunities for you.
You do not need to have special qualifications to be a freelance writer and make
money. What you need is the ambition, diligence in your craft and willingness to
learn the necessary skills. Of course you need to be literate in a popular
language especially English in order to communicate with a large readership and
sell your work widely.
Getting Started
Getting started as a freelance writer is easy compared to what it takes to enter
other careers. You need to assess your skills to enable you to choose what to
write about. What knowledge or training do you have? Are there issues or facts
you are more familiar with? What are your hobbies/interests? These and other
questions if well answered will have set you on the path to being a writer.
However, it may be necessary to learn the art of writing from experts and this is
why you should take a writing course. There are many writing courses available
and an appropriate search on the Internet will reveal some, which may be suitable
for you. While some courses are full-time and may require minimum entry
qualifications you may find a host of others which are part-time and do not
require any special qualifications.
A good option is to take a distance learning course and you will find several in
this category. These give you an opportunity to study at home at your own pace.
Notable among them are those offered by two UK based colleges and which are
available to prospective writers worldwide. One is offered by the Writers Bureau
of Manchester United Kingdom. The college offers a freelance writing distance
learning course which leads to the issue of a certificate on completion and gives
you an opportunity to earn from writing while you learn.
The other college is the London School of Journalism which offers diplomas and
post graduate diplomas in writing. Many areas of writing are covered by both
colleges and it is advisable that you enroll in one of these courses to sharpen
your talents and take advantage of the opportunities that go with studying them.
In case you do not feel like enrolling in writing courses for any reason then
all is not lost. There are vast resources on the internet and elsewhere which
you can resort to for learning about writing. You may read various essays on
writing on the internet written by experienced writers. There are many of these
and it’s only a matter of knowing how and where to find them. There are also
books about freelance writing which you may order from book stores or direct
from publishers. A visit to your local library may also prove useful in
unearthing useful information on writing.
Once you have embarked on writing you need to keep a notebook or journal to
record wild ideas as they come to your mind or while reading various publications.
To discover ideas for your writing you need to read widely magazines, newspapers,
books, watch television and so on. Give the news and features a second thought,
study them critically and ask yourself questions about what is contained in
them. Imagine what would have been the situation if the events cited had not
happened. Since they have happened how can the situation be made better? What
are the effects of those events? Think more about them. Dream and take notes.
Writting Your Piece
Now comes the hard part putting your ideas in black and white. This part may be
difficult depending on your circumstances. You could be having so many ideas that
you are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information you have collected. You are
stuck with stacks of sheets of information you have jotted down that you do not
know where to begin. Alternatively you could be having only a few ideas to fit
only one page and do not know where to find information to write the rest of your
book or article.
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