So what is freelance writing, anyway?

Freelance writing is writing that is written for particular project or contract, usually with a set time-frame and under certain guidelines.

The word 'freelance' comes from the time when knights would offer their services to the highest-paying Lord, so being 'free lancers.'

In the same way, freelance writers offer the services of their pens!

Freelance writing comes in many forms, varying widely in content, structure and style, for many different audiences:

Fiction: Poetry, short stories, screenwriting and songs. Novels are usually seen as something entirely separate, but they seem to fall under the same definition? Are novelists freelance writers? Perhaps not, as I get the impression a novelist will generally work for one publisher and with one agent?

Non-fiction: A huge variety of genres and subjects, including articles, reviews and books.

Journalism: Print, audio (radio), visual (TV) and online.

Copywriting: Sales and marketing.

Ghostwriting: Writing something that will be offically credited to another person (for which the original writer may or may not be acknowledged by the publisher.)

Greetings Cards: Usually poetic, perhaps humourous, short pieces for inside greetings cards. All the large card publishers use freelance writers and Blue Mountain hire writers for their online cards.

Fillers: Very short pieces for columns or small spaces on a magazine page, usually useful tips, jokes, quotations, or interesting facts.

Articles: Factual pieces, in many different forms, for a mind-boggling array of publications both on and offline (newspapers, magazines, e-zines, journals, brochures, pamphlets, newsletters ...) They may be professional or personal in tone, they vary from a few hundred to a few thousand words, they may include pictures or graphs, they may contain facts or opinions, or both.

Essays: Hmmm, not sure what to make of these. I can't think why anyone would want an essay unless they are studying something in an educational establishment (whether real or virtual) ... are these essays really being bought by students? Surely not! How would they get away with that?

There are a variety of other, often specialist, types of non-fiction writing, under subjects such as medical and technological writing.

Freelance writers write reports, resumes, business plans and speeches.

Then there is writing specifically intended to be read online, on websites, adverts, newletters, reports, ebooks and blogs.

Blogging is a form of freelance writing too! I don't have enough experience to work as a freelance blogger, but I thinks it's worth receiving Problogger's RSS Feed to keep up to date with the Job Board, it's interesting to see what's out there. Recent jobs on Problogger have included:

Stock/Financial Markets Blogger
Health and Fitness and Nutrition Blogger
Summer Olympics Blogger
Political Gossip Blogger
Movie/Celebrity Blogger
Make Money Online Blogger
Cellphone Blogger

So, with all these types of freelance writing, is there any wonder it's so easy to find the whole concept of freelance writing a little overwhelming? Plus each category covers numerous subjects and styles, and can be found in a wide variety of places.

I have definitely found it all overwhelming but on the other hand, it's amazing! And exciting, that there are so many places to sell writing. I think the trick is probably to stick to one type (or at least to focus on one) although a beginner might do well to try a few until they find their niche.

I found it easy to eliminate some from the list immediately. Fiction really isn't my thing (I struggle with the imagination needed) but I'm an information junkie and I love research. Although I enjoy politics and current affairs, I don't know enough to write about it and I wouldn't be able to keep a detached view of things. I have never tried copywriting but I get the impression that it needs to be very sharp and succinct, something I'm really not very good at (ahem!)

My background is in academic writing - researching history and theory, looking at something from lots of angles, analysing previous opinions or facts and putting it all together in a useful, novel format (well that's the theory, I did pretty well at undergraduate and masters degrees, so I must have been doing something right!)

The skills I developed while studying at uni seem to translate really well into article-writing. So, that was easy, I never really considered other freelance writing, though I always keep an eye open as some of the other types are very interesting and I might try them some day. The next things was to decide where to write, for which type of publication, what sort of articles about which subjects ...

Well, this is long enough, I'll get to all that another day!

For anyone else wishing to focus on article-writing, I have found the following very useful:

The Freelance Writers' Database (UK)

Trente Steele's excellent resources for freelance writers - it's well-worth signing up for his free Smart Writers newletter, full of tips and links for writers, including Nick Daws' blog

If you love writing of any kind, have a look at the Aelf's Bloggery

Lots of Articles on Articles here

And last (for now), but definitely not least ... The Dabbling Mum

I first stumbled across The Dabbling Mum a couple of years ago and found loads of really useful information about writing (alongside other information including parenting, business, contests, shopping, reviews and recipes.)

The Dabbling Mum is in fact one of the most useful resources I have discovered so far, as a Mum who is attempting to be a freelance writer, particularly. I have recently exchanged emails with the real Dabbling Mum, who is truly lovely and has been incredibly supportive of my new freelance venture. I am hoping to submit an ebook (craft-based) to the Dabbling Mum website very soon.

Sign up for the Dabbling Mum's three free newletters. There's one for business, one for parenting and one for writing, all of which are filled with lots of helpful advice, tip and links. You can sign up for them at the bottom of the homepage (link above.)

:o)