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Observations On Freelance Writing

I started my freelancing career this winter sort of by accident. In November of 2011, I came down with a lovely case of Mono for those who not have had the privilege- Mono is a nasty sort of illness that leaves you weak, sleepy, and generally bedridden.

For me Mono turned out to be my “dream” virus. I didn’t have to work- In fact i could not work, Mono is supposed to be lethally contagious: that is if you make out with and/or spit up on someone. Anyhow, because of this ailment i took a “now permanently extended” leave of absence from my prestigious retail job as a semi manager something-or-other at a tweenager clothing store and started my new life as a sickly shut in. To add to my new found level of awesome, i also relocated myself to my childhood bedroom at my parent’s acreage, in order to live casually “rent-free” throughout my recovery.

Mononucleosis, turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. For once in my life i was generally worry free-other than inconvenience of “being ill”. I was finally able to indulge in two of my passions, watching movies ( I love movies ) and creative writing. Being sick also turned out to be my “academic saviour” because with my abundance of free time i was able to get to work on some overdue script writing projects and finally get my ass out of college graduation limbo- more about that later.

It was a combination of being away from work and boredom that led me consider Freelance writing as my new possible career. I had heard of hypothetically “making money” by freelancing online and I concluded to conduct a minor experiment to test this theory. After doing some brief research I jumped right in by joining the wonderful freelancer website Elance. Currently Elance is my main source of “paid” writing jobs so I would have to claim a level of success with it.

My first job on Elance was a complete bust. I was hired almost immediately for a general article writing job that required I write some “keyword” articles for $2.40 a piece. Ignorantly, without inquiring about any escrow payment, I set to work writing about the assigned subject matter: “tropical fish tanks”.

After spending an afternoon bullshitting my way through several SEO optimized fish related articles. I started to re-evaluate my life choices. I decided then that if i was going to give this “Freelance” thing a fair go I would need to find a way to write about the things that I a.) wanted to write about and b.) was good at writing about. That is when my dream of becoming a millionaire, writing Sea Coral Care instructions for a pathetically low wage, died. Reincarnated, was a new idea- possibly making no money but writing about what I wanted to write about, and truly enjoying it!

My new approach to Freelance writing was to take jobs only related to subject matter that enticed me. It took patience but I eventually got a job on Elance, writing Asian Horror Movie reviews. This time it worked out- I was a paid a low, but fair rate writing six asian horror reviews on movies of my choice. I think in total I pulled in around $60 dollars for the work. Regardless, this was a window of opportunity for me. I discovered that i thoroughly enjoyed writing Film reviews and decided to make this my “niche” as a Freelance writer.

Once I had decided to review movies, I started to look for new outlets for my content. I heard of people having a varying level of success on Hubpages, and upon reviewing the site I realized that it would be a stellar starting point for me to develop my writing portfolio.

I still know nothing about the prospects of making money via Hubpages. However, considering my “noobie” status as a Hubber, i still have much to learn. ( young Padawan?)

What I can preach to you about Hubpages, is that it is an excellent starting point for building an online writing portfolio. By publishing Hubs a person can build up a community of followers who are interested in similar subject matter. You can also read other hubs, and share in the writing experience. It is a perfect outlet for mingling with other talented people with similar Freelance goals. The best part about utilizing Hubpages for me has been practicing the discipline of writing consistently every day. This is is assisted by the networking aspect, because with Hubpages you are practically guaranteed to find a “reader” for your writing.

So it has begun. I am now a respectable Freelance Writer, broke as a bone, but writing is my full time job. I will say that I still have plenty to learn, and I anticipate it will be a long while before i am making any sort of money in this occupation. I have taken an approach of optimism and entrepreneurship, for me which is currently a matter of creating opportunities, and writing to my heart's content.