Something Else Saturday - 5 Tips for Freelance Writers

As a freelance writer, I get a lot of my work through Elance, an outsourcing company. Contrary to popular belief, not all outsourcing takes place by underpaid workers holed up like sardines in a tiny office somewhere in a third world country. And I've yet to meet "Peggy" from the credit card company's commercial.

Don't get me wrong, a LOT of outsourcing comes from those places, but quite a bit of it takes place right here in the good old, U S of A. It's not bad work. Because the Fireman's paycheck goes for bills, any money I bring in goes for fun things like hotel stays, video games, or upgrading things in the house - for instance, the 15-year-old gas grill.

Starting out, freelancing was difficult. On more than one occasion I debated if I was doing the right thing and there were a couple of clients who made me consider throwing in the towel altogether. But then good clients began hiring me. They praised my talent with words - a huge boost to my self-confidence - and then even more flattering, they rehired me for a few more jobs.

If you're thinking about freelancing, here are some suggestions that have helped me along the way. Hopefully they save you a little pain and suffering.

• Be patient. I signed up on January 1st and didn't start getting jobs on a regular basis until mid-February. Don't give up. The right job will find you but it takes time. You're worth the wait for the right client to find you - trust me on this one. 
• Communicate. I can't stress this enough. There have been a few times when I had a question or ran into a snag. In most cases as long as I communicated while being honest and polite, my clients were more than happy to oblige requests to answer questions, or even for extra time on a deadline.
• Keep your word. If you say you're going to deliver 500 words of written work in two days, then do it. Don't deliver 250 words in 36 hours, or 1200 words in 6 days. Deliver what the client asked for within the deadline. I try to deliver a day early so that I have time to revise. Does it always work out like that? Absolutely...not. I'm a mom of two teenage boys and married to the Fireman who is dealing with a shoulder injury. Sometimes life has to come first.
• Don't give away custom samples. One thing Elance does that I love is that they will not allow clients to ask for custom samples based on their specific jobs. That means if you're hiring someone to write about sweaters made from a certain type of goat wool and ask the person for a 400 word article about goat wool, you're violating the policy. This is because there's nothing stopping you from taking that article and using it on your own blog.
• Don't under-bid. When you want high-quality products and services, do you settle for second-rate things for discount prices? Probably not! Your clients will feel the same way. At first I bid too cheap and got crappy jobs. I was astounded when people who charged much higher kept getting selected over me. Then I inched up my prices - and was selected! And then I inched them up a little more, and was selected again! Right now, my rates are up between 300% and 500% of what I initially charged, depending on the job, and I'm still getting hired. While some potential clients will claim you're out of your mind, others will be glad to pay you for your professionalism.

If you've ever wanted to try your hand at freelancing, whether it's writing, art, or IT work, why not sign up for Elance? The basic account is free - no strings attached. You have nothing to lose!

Lost Word of the Day - Jecorary

jecorary	adj	1684 -1684
of or relating to the liver
The alcoholic's refusal to seek treatment caused him no end of jecorary trouble.

Back in the early 1990s I had a little bit of a drinking problem. I'd start out my day with vodka and wind it down that night with whatever I could get my hands on that contained alcohol. At the time I thought it made me a more awesome person, but all it was doing was killing me - literally. While it wasn't yet affecting my liver, it was worsening my acid reflux. This is bad because I have something called Barrett's esophagus, which according to the Mayo Clinic is defined as:

Barrett's esophagus is a condition in which the cells of your lower esophagus become damaged, usually from repeated exposure to stomach acid. The damage causes changes to the color and composition of the esophagus cells.

There is neither treatment nor cure for this. Pretty much all they can do is monitor my acid reflux and scope my esophagus every couple of years to check for precancerous cells. For the past couple of years since my last scope, I've been self-treating my acid reflux. In a couple of weeks, my doctor plans to scope me to see how that's going. And because I'm now 40, I get the joy of having the other end scoped, too. Yay, for Demerol!

Originally I was looking for a different quote from "Yes, Dear" (one of my favorite sitcoms) to insert here, but A.D.D. kicked in. If you think about it, in a twisted way it's still kind of relevant. In case I'm the only one snickering at the unintentional pun, Jerry Van Dyke is too hysterical not to giggle at, so either way hopefully it gave you cause for chuckling.

Word Breeders Make Chores for Readers

“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” ~ Dr. Seuss

That's my current freelance writing job. I make a chore for the readers who read. Literally, I take scant amounts of words and turn them into a count that equals exactly 250 words, every single time.

I'm seriously considering changing my car's license plate to a vanity tag that reads VERBOSE1.

"Writing is exploration.You start from nothing and learn as you go." ~ E. L. Doctorow

This is so true. With almost anything I'm writing, I follow a specific, fairly methodical process. The systematic order goes something like this:

1. Jot down thoughts and ideas, using specific keywords but avoiding specific phrases
2. Turn the notes into a working outline that represents paragraphs
3. Refine the outline so that each "paragraph" section has enough bullet points for making at least the minimum amount of sentences for a paragraph
4. Using the outline, create a rough (i.e. working) draft of the piece
5. Read aloud, tweaking as necessary

Tada! Spellcheck and grammar problems that MS Word doesn't find are usually picked up in the last step. All the best for a productive writing day!

Becky

An Alot of Adjectives

As to the adjective, when in doubt, strike it out.  ~Mark Twain

Right now I'm doing some freelance writing jobs that require a specific number of words. The OCD in me says, "NO! Not 401 words, not 397 words, but 400 EXACTLY!" I get a certain thrill when I see the actual word count exactly matches the recommended count without my having to tweak anything. I'm such a nerd that way. So with apologies to Mr. Twain, as to the adjective, most of the time when in doubt about whether or not I'm going to make the word count, I usually leave it in and give it some friends.