I'm interested in doing some writing for pay for websites and so on. Does anyone else do this and if so how did you start off? Does anyone know of ways to get a small job like this otherwise than through the obvious ways of craigslist etc.?
Freelance Writing
- Thread starter sidious618
- Start date
I'd reckon that the best way to get involved would be through blogging; start off with a free blog, get people hooked on your outstanding content, and make some money off of the advertising. The real key is good content, however, which is harder than it sounds to produce.
If people want news, they go to a source that they already know about, like their local TV news website or MSNBC/CNN/FOX. You to writing about already published news tends to be redundant. That leaves certain niches which you may or may not be fit for, like a gaming blog, etc.. Even if it is popular, however, the chances of you making big dollars off of it (or any at all for that matter) are fairly slim.
Newspaper companies aren't jumping up and down looking for people to hire; even if they were, there is so much experienced talent out there that an ameteur is unlikely to be noticed. I am inclined to suggest that a writing career, like so many other things these days, is likely going to rely on your ability to provide college or post-graduate degrees to wager your way into one of the big employers of journalists.
I enjoy writing, and I am pretty good at it. I would love to get paid to write, but in all reality I seriously can't see that happening; there is more to the writing dynamic than grammarical/English/typing skills. Nevertheless, if you are a strong writer and do not lose interest easily, book writing is something that anyone can get involved in; assuming, as said earlier, that you have good content to write about.
If people want news, they go to a source that they already know about, like their local TV news website or MSNBC/CNN/FOX. You to writing about already published news tends to be redundant. That leaves certain niches which you may or may not be fit for, like a gaming blog, etc.. Even if it is popular, however, the chances of you making big dollars off of it (or any at all for that matter) are fairly slim.
Newspaper companies aren't jumping up and down looking for people to hire; even if they were, there is so much experienced talent out there that an ameteur is unlikely to be noticed. I am inclined to suggest that a writing career, like so many other things these days, is likely going to rely on your ability to provide college or post-graduate degrees to wager your way into one of the big employers of journalists.
I enjoy writing, and I am pretty good at it. I would love to get paid to write, but in all reality I seriously can't see that happening; there is more to the writing dynamic than grammarical/English/typing skills. Nevertheless, if you are a strong writer and do not lose interest easily, book writing is something that anyone can get involved in; assuming, as said earlier, that you have good content to write about.
Not necessarily. Most of the journalists I've talked to seem to say that J-school is overrated, and that you're just as likely to get a job writing for a newspaper by demonstrating that you're a good, clean writer with solid journalistic instincts. Experience, of course, is also a major factor, but it's still possible to get freelance work published at major dailies—the op-ed section, for instance, is a good way to break into things.
That said, the industry isn't exactly bursting at the seams with job opportunities right now, and I wouldn't expect to get paid much for freelancing opportunities.
Oh, and as for the web, best of luck. The online publications that are in a position to pay people for submitting content are few and far between.
