Freelance writing is the practice of writing for money while being self-employed and not employed by a company or organization. Freelance writers can produce any text that their clients require, but they can also work independently to get their written texts published in magazines, newspapers, blogs, etc.
Freelance writers can have many different clients, or one very large client with a lot of steady and continuous work. You can be a generalist and cover topics as diverse as fashion or automotive design. Or you can specialize in one area, such as visual arts. Specialists can find more assignments than generalists because they accumulate a body of knowledge that allows them to work faster and get a track record that editors get to know. Freelance writers, like all freelancers, are not only writers, but also market themselves and their skills to potential clients. Due to the independent nature of freelancing, each individual must take care of their financial management, content creation for self-promotion, and sales.
For a freelance writer, writing well is just the beginning. You have to sell yourself effectively and manage finances as well as balance writing with finding more projects. Freelance writers write whatever copy their clients need, whether it's magazine articles, website copy, press releases, blog posts, newsletters, internal corporate communications or brochures. That's the creative part, the time when one person can talk about so many things and make it sound like he or she is a specialist in the subject.
But freelance writers usually approach their work like any other business, spending part of their time looking for new business and part of their time keeping track of records. If you've worked full-time in a writing field, you may find freelance writing jobs from connections you made during your previous jobs. Starting from scratch requires more effort. You may want to start your own blog or writing project to have writing samples to show potential clients until you get your first paying jobs. You can search for jobs on writing websites like Media Bistro or Journalism Jobs, and do your best to find opportunities. Likewise, most freelance writers recommend getting the contact email of a publication you are interested in, and write to them with a short pitch of an article to write. This works so that they already have you on their radar and, more importantly, you start by pitching them what you can offer them. It's a win-win.
