What do online creative writing courses have to do with your freelance writing career? One of the great things about writing is that there is always more to learn, new techniques that you can apply within your pieces, and more styles that you can emulate.

Some of the biggest steps I have taken as a writer have come from reading particularly well written books; there is something within the pages that my brain recognizes as a key writing style and I will tend to incorporate that into my own writing without even really thinking about it.

Creative Writing: your biggest goal?

Creative writing is probably the number one goal for almost any writer, even those with well established reputations in other fields. I once read an editorial, for example, in which the writer confessed that although she had been in the newspaper business for twenty years, her computer and her desk were full of short stories, unfinished novels, and even poetry. That inner artist is still around, even for those who have made a living doing what I call “practical writing”.

Losing the creative juice

Although writing for websites and newspapers and so on will definitely help you pay the bills and make a little extra as well, it can suck the creative juices right out of you.

When I first started my business, my goal was to use the money I made to get the family through while I started my destined-to-be-best-selling novel about opportunities missed in life and the importance of being able to rebuild.

The problem was that as soon as I started to make money writing what other people wanted me to, I realized that it could turn into a real career (as far as problems go, not a big one to have). I soon started to concentrate my efforts on finding more jobs instead of coming up with ideas and plots.

A year and a half later, I realized that my ability to reach people on a gut level with my writing no longer came as naturally. Where I had once been able to turn a phrase that could start someone roaring with laughter, make them think, or put them on the edge of tears, now all I could think about was the maximum number of words that should be put into a sentence meant for an Internet audience.

In fact it has become so bad that I am starting to write more and more like the typical Internet writer; I even get my “there” and “their” confused from time to time.

Reawaken the right brain

Because I don’t want to lose the ability to write creatively, I decided that I would look around to see what I could do to reawaken that part of my brain. I happened to run into a local author I knew from university at a social event, and she suggested that I try taking a course on creative writing.

The university is in my city, so I went ahead and enrolled. I definitely learned some things that helped me to hone my writing skills, but I think that more importantly I was exposed to authors who were using their writing skills to create again, not just to sell.

Nothing local? Go online

Many writers don’t have the time or proximity to attend a university course on creative writing, but there are plenty of opportunities to do so on the Internet.

You can take an ongoing course, to stay in the flow with it. Thomson Education offers 18 month online creative writing courses. Or you can go for 6 weeks online creative writing courses with Gotham’s Writers Workshop.

Taking an online creative writing course is a great way to keep the interesting parts of your writing career alive without having to take too much time away from your practical writing. You may not ever write that novel you want to, but getting the creative juices flowing again is a great way to rejuvenate your commitment to your freelance writing career.

Part of the reason for the existence of this website is to show you how to write successfully online, help you to know what kind of freelance jobs are available, and where those freelance jobs are available. After all, it can be pretty hard to make any money at a freelance writing career without any writing assignments!

Finding Online Writing Jobs

In this section, we will talk about where you can find an online writing job, or many freelance jobs writing on the Internet. If you have just started out you may find it hard to believe how many freelance writers are wanted, but in fact freelance writing jobs are available all over the web, you just need to know where to look for them.

Writing Fees

Another important aspect in learning how to write for the Internet, and how to make decent money through freelance writing assignments, is understanding how to establish your writing fees.

The main source of my income is through bidding sites, and that means I walk a fine line between bidding low enough to get the job, and high enough to make the job worthwhile. Setting writing fees will depend on how fast you are as a writer, how much you want to get (or think you will enjoy) a specific online writing job, and whether or not you have worked with a certain client before.

What are Clients looking for?

One of the exciting parts of this section that I am really looking forward to is sharing with you some in depth details of what it is that different companies on the Internet are looking for when they have freelance writing jobs available.

I have worked with dozens of different clients in the two years I have been writing for the Internet, most of them very steady, and am planning on interviewing them to see what exactly it is they are looking for when they choose a bidder.

It’s not always expertise within a certain area either; that’s part of what makes an online writing job so much fun. I’ve written on an incredibly diverse range of topics, from weddings to real estate to recreational vehicles, and in the process I have attained a level of knowledge that allows me to place higher bids on similar topics in the future.

The Bottom Line: Nurturing Relationships

Above all, making money through freelance writing assignments online is about establishing and retaining a great relationship with the people who hire you for freelance job writing. In this section we will be stressing the relationship with the client; how to deal with them, making sure that all the requirements of the job are understood, and keeping the lines of communication clear.

I have made my fair share of mistakes in the area, mistakes that have cost me money both in the short and long term. I think that anyone could benefit from both my positive and negative experiences in this area!

Editing jobs are one of a couple of areas that people don’t often consider when it comes to building a freelance writing career. After all, you are in this to create, not to fix what other people have created, right?

I subscribed to this type of thinking when I first started out, but since them I have definitely had a change of thought. In fact, I would happily make all my money editing rather than writing original articles, if I could find enough work to keep me busy in this area. There are a couple of reasons why.

• They are plentiful
• They mean the cash accumulates quickly
• They are very straightforward

In this article, we are going to expand on those points according to what I have found with my own business.

More than enough editing to go around!

The great thing about editing is that even the very best writers need to have some done for them, at some point. We all make mistakes when we write, whether it is a “brain fart” that means we put in the wrong form of “their” or “there”, or even just a common typo (“from” and “form” are commonly mistyped words that do not get caught).

This means that any time someone puts an article together, they need someone to look over it if they want it to be taken seriously. Now, I know a lot of people don’t think it matters too much how something is written, particularly on the Internet, as long as the idea is good.

I can say with certainty, however, that well written articles are becoming more important than ever even in cyber space; if sites want people to buy what they are selling, or take a certain course of action, they had better present it in a straightforward manner that demonstrates they know what they are talking about.

Low per unit pay adds up!

There was a time when this line of arguing convinced me to write articles for some site developer who didn’t realize slavery had been abolished. Although those days are thankfully far behind me, this is a line of reasoning that I do take when it comes to editing – provided it is the right kind of editing.

What do I mean by the “right kind” of editing jobs? Well, first let’s take a look at the three categories that can be found.

• Proofreading
• Line editing
• Copy editing

We’ve gone over proofreading jobs extensively in another article, so we’ll refer you there for an explanation and my thoughts (trust me, they are worth it!)

Line editing projects require the editor to do some proofreading and make sure that the punctuation and “flow” from paragraph to paragraph works. You can charge fairly low rates for line editing, as you can with proofreading jobs, because they tend to go fairly quickly – you don’t have to think up the whole article on your own.

Copy editing projects are those which require the editor (or writer doing the editing) to look over the piece in its entirety, to see if the whole thing flows together well.

The article/story should remain on topic, the characters should be well produced, and the piece should have a logical flow. It’s important not to project too low a cost for these projects, because they involved some in-depth reading that can take up some time! For fast cash, stick with the proofreading and line editing jobs.

Where can you find editing jobs?

Editors are needed in virtually every area where copy using the written word is produced, both online and off. One of the most lucrative editing jobs I ever received was at the local zoo, when I pointed out that a fund raising poster had numerous spelling errors in it (yes, it does pay to be annoying sometimes). Not only did I land that editing job, but I have been consulted on additional pieces the zoo has put out since.

Newspapers and trade magazines, publishers, and web sites that wish to put forward credible pieces for their readers are all interested in finding good editors.

It’s just a matter of getting your name out there. Don’t be a wall flower in this area either; anytime you see a site in serious need of a good editor, contact the developers and let them know what you do for a living. Make sure to give them solid information on what exactly you were looking at, so they can tell you know what you are talking about!

As always, remember that if you don’t succeed in landing those first few editing jobs, keep trying. I have probably written to hundreds of web sites, not to mention bugged various land based businesses, about their need for editing, but most of the time I get ignored (of course, the mistakes I point out are corrected).

Still, the times when you are able to pick up editing projects will prove to be quite rewarding!

If you are one of the people who have dreamed about carving out a career in the world of freelance writing, you are certainly not alone.
In February 2005 I found myself at a bit of a cross roads in my life; my wife had a great job as a Registered Nurse and we had two children. I had just wrapped up a temporary job with a government agency, and had no idea what to do next.

I wanted to be my own boss

What I knew I certainly did not want to do was return to a five day a week job. I had had some very bad experiences at mills, restaurants, and so on, and was coming to a conclusion about myself that many people had told me before: it was very unlikely that I would ever be happy working under the direction of someone else (I prefer to think that is because I am brilliant and could do better and tell people so, but my wife says it has more to do with me being difficult).

My interest: writing

I did know that I was interested in writing for a living. Writing is something that I have always been skilled at, right from my days in elementary school. I had won a few cash prizes with some stories, and I definitely entertained thoughts of becoming a writer.

Feeling that it really was now or never, I began searching the Internet for writing opportunities and buying up any book I could find about how to start a freelance writing career.

The first month: figuring out how to start

Within the first month, I found out two things very quickly. The most important, and the reason why I feel that this site is important, is that those books did very little in the way of helping me understand how to start a freelance writer’s career.

Worse, there is an incredible dearth of information out there on how to make a career of freelance writing on the Internet. Imagine, millions and millions of web pages all over the world, and the only books to be found want to talk about breaking into the magazine and newspaper markets!

In addition, these books were pretty vague when it came to where to find jobs, or what one could expect to make. I assume this is because many writers are jealous of their revenue sources (and rightly so) and maybe even a little shy about disclosing what they actually make.

Getting the first writing jobs

The second thing I found out was that once you get on the right trail on the Internet, making money through freelance writing is a lot easier than any of those authors made it sound.

I entered my first bidding site very cautiously (and without telling my wife) because I did have to pay a fee for the rights to bid on jobs. I figured that if I at least broke even, then it would be justified. Well, I did more than break even, I actually made ten times what the initial fee was for the right to bid!

Being realistic

Now, before you go rushing off to reap the benefits of Internet writing, let me combine my two discoveries and my solution to them in order to put everything into perspective.
Writers, and particularly those who write for the Internet, don’t always make huge sums of money. I did make a lot more than I invested, but in the first month of my business on that particular site, that only amounted to $800 US. I made an additional $200 off another site I had found, but $1000 is hardly enough to feed a family and pay the mortgage for a month (fortunately my wife had a great job, did I mention that already?).

If you are looking for a site that promises you a surefire way to make millions, I should point out that today, a year and a half later, I am making a respectable $50,000 a year, with less than two years in business.

The key was in knowing where to look for jobs, how to pitch myself as the right choice for a writer, and retaining my good clients. I was also able to learn how to bid much more effectively in a competitive market place, and how to avoid jobs that ended up costing me money.

Honest sharing

The upshot is that I would like to share this information with other writers who are looking to start their own freelance writing careers. The pages on this site will be diverse, but my main strength and source of knowledge is in making money by writing for Internet sites, as well as proof reading for those sites and so on.

This site is not about hiding my secrets because I am scared of competition; there is more than enough work for every competent writer out there, and I am of the belief that if we all hold the same standards, it can only benefit us as a group.

Of course, you are probably wondering why this guy would share these secrets for free. Well, once you start writing for the Internet successfully, you will see the kind of revenue that can be made without having to charge site visitors a dime for reading.

This part remains a mystery for me, my partner Alexander (he’s the guy whose picture you don’t see, which is too bad because he is an Aussie and is no doubt much better looking than I am) handles that side of it.

You can succeed in your own writing career

What I am here to do is provide you with information on starting your own freelance writing career, right from your mindset and where to look for jobs to an outline of what most Internet clients are looking for.

In these pages you will find stories of what I’ve done wrong and what I’ve done right, and hopefully you will be able to avoid some of the mistakes I made and benefit from the times I’ve hit the target. You’ll find out where to look for work, how to come across in such a way that potential clients can’t say no, and how to protect yourself.

If you have always dreamed of becoming a freelance writer, the Internet Age beckons. There’s money to be made all from the comfort of your own home, and I would like to help you to succeed with your dream.