Opportunities for Freelance Writers
What Types of Freelance Writing Jobs are Available?
Aug 21, 2009
Writers are in demand the world over. If freelance writers look beyond the idea of simply writing articles, they will find a wealth of possibilities, many of them lucrative.
Freelance Writing Sites
Sites such as Elance highlight the opportunities around for freelance writers, offering jobs for writers in categories such as:
- Copywriting
- Freelance Technical Writing
- Creative Non-Fiction Writing
- Academic Writing
- Business Writing
- Writing Web Content
- Ghost Writing
- Editing, Copy Editing & Proofreading
- Sales Writing
- Writing Press Releases
- Creative Writing
Many writers are capable of doing several of the above. Anyone hoping to make a living as a freelance writer should find out more about each of the types of writing and experiment, not only to widen the possibilities of finding freelance writing work, but because the talents acquired for one type of writing will often benefit a writer in other types of writing.
Copywriting
“Copy” refers to any piece of writing which fills pages of brochures, magazines, or newspapers. Copywriters specifically write scripts for advertisements, material for promotional brochures for companies; public relations material; press releases; and all sorts of marketing material.
Freelance Technical Writing
One of the most lucrative forms of freelance writing is technical writing. A technical writer normally writes manuals or presentations explaining complex information of a specialist nature. The technical writer may or may not be an expert in a particular field, but must be capable of doing research and understanding scientific or technical material. The writing may be required to be written for technical professionals in the same field, or non-specialist members of the general public (e.g. manuals for computing software)
Creative Non-Fiction Writing
Creative non-fiction is a wide genre of writing which is essentially subjective. It is either written in the first person, or the first person perspective is implicit. Personal observations bring the subject matter to life for the reader. Creative non-fiction writing can take the form of literary journalism, literary non-fiction, personal essay or narrative, travel writing, food writing, nature writing, literary memoir, even blogging. Potential earnings from creative non-fiction writing can come in the form of grants, prizes, writing fellowships not to mention competitions.
Academic Writing
Freelance writers can find jobs writing academic papers such as essays, theses, and the writing of reports. Specialist writing skills and a knowledge of the correct form and layout are required. Academic writing can be extremely well-paid, but as well as the additional skills required, it is essential that there is no hint of plagiarism, so the work can involve intensive research.
Business Writing
Business writing draws together many different forms of writing, such as press releases, marketing brochures, web copy, blogging, reports, power point presentations, as well as secretarial skills of memo and letter writing. Freelance writers who are proficient in these forms of writing can find work from home as a “virtual assistant” for a business.
Writing Web Content
Freelance writers can be commissioned to produce copy for websites, or may even be employed as bloggers for a company who wants to use a blog to promote their products.
Ghost Writing
Ghost writing, basically means writers selling all rights to their work and allowing someone else to publish it under their name. Ghost writing can encompass all types of fiction and non-fiction: from movie screenplays, through memoirs, to ‘how-to’ books.
Editing, Copy Editing & Proofreading
A skilled writer can find work editing other people’s work. It is important to understand the differences between editing, copy-editing and proofreading.
Sales Writing
Sales copy or sales letters are used by companies for direct mail contact with the customer to sell goods or services. They may be brochures, leaflets, actual letters, or E-mails. Writing sales copy can be much more lucrative than writing articles, but requires a similar amount of research.
Writing Press Releases
Many companies hire writers to produce a single press release for them. It is important that freelance writers learn and abide by the strict layout and content rules of the press release.
Creative Writing
Creative writing is the most difficult but potentially most profitable forms of freelance writing. Novels, screenplays, television drama writing, even poetry can bring rewards for the writer, but in most circumstances the writer must take the risk of working speculatively, producing their work for no money in the hopw that they will eventually find a rpoducer or publisher.
For detailed articles and advice on each of the above, see Basics of Freelance Writing.
 |
