by Lisa Becker Campbell, Content Coordinator at Grand Haven Neighbors, Contributing Writer at Michigan HOME and Lifestyle

A day in the life of a freelance writer is – basic but complicated, challenging but wonderful.

Composing an article is as basic as the elements of writing a story that I learned from Sister Estelle at my Catholic grade school.

 

Ask and answer: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.

Who is the audience;

What is the subject;

When is the deadline;

Where will it publish;

Why is it interesting;

How many words for how much money?

The last basic grammatical question – “how much money?” – is also the protagonist of a complicated and challenging drama. The most unpleasant task is navigating through freelance rates and contracts. A great resource when I started was the National Writers Union Guide to Freelance Rates & Standard Practice, published by the Union in 1995. This version does not address writing for social media, but is a trusted “user’s manual” for a broad range of freelance issues.  

Also challenging is that the workday never really ends. You must be self-disciplined. Deadlines are always looming and must be prioritized.  While on a deadline, I am constantly searching for the perfect word, title, or sentence structure – which I also enjoy, actually, as a bit of a grammar geek! It is only a problem because there’s no timeclock to punch. So, the ratio of the payment is determined by the value of my invested time. Working too long to ferret out each perfect word in effect diminishes the rate of pay. My favorite tool for this is Roget’s Thesaurus of Words for Writers by Simon and Schuster, copyright 2014.

Getting started in the industry is also complicated and challenging. The editor of this publication, the National Writers Union, and perhaps the entire writing community would advise against it, but I suggest attempting pay upon publish. Only once or twice. It worked for me.

When you read an article and think “I could write that,” give it a try. Select a topic that is familiar to you so that the writing is effortless. Or, approach your favorite non-profit and ask to generate publicity about a timely event or campaign. Don’t quit your day job too soon. I can afford to do what I love because of my part-time job and my husband’s salary.    

“If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” This adage is true for me and makes all of the challenges worth it! As a writer of community interest articles, I journey to special, unexpected places telling amazing stories. And the most wonderful part is that my articles always have happy endings. Who doesn’t love a happy ending?