|
Launching Your Freelance Writing
Career
If you have been planning
to write for a living and have been putting it off, here are some
suggestions for you.
Self-Talk &
Journaling
Okay, from this day forward, you are a writer.
You know a lot about something so start writing it down.
If you are inclined, start a journal.
When you have run out of writing ideas, go back and review your
journal to see what has been on your mind lately or get a notebook and
devote a page to each article idea you have.
What are your thoughts about this topic?
Why do you want to write about it?
What do you know? Where
can you get more information? If
you think/write/process at the computer better than on paper, set up a
“writing ideas” folder in your “my documents” folder.
Start a new file when you get an idea and get into the file to jot
down whatever comes to mind about that topic.
Set Goals
It seems trite to remind you of the obvious when it comes to goal
setting: Start with your
dream, then break the dream into short-term goals.
For example, do you want to get an article published in the next
six months? Think about the
steps that will take you there. The
approach might be different for each of us, but your short-term goals
could look like this:
- Select appropriate journals or magazines, based on an evaluation of
those who would most likely publish the article or story you have in
mind.
- Write letters to the editors of those publications to inquire about
there interest in such an article or story (the “query letter”).
- Do the research for the article or organize the material you have.
- Write!
- Send in the article or story when you have the editor’s okay.
Set a time line on each goal and mark it on your calendar. Some goals will take longer than others.
Goals one and two may take only a week each, goal three will take
three or four weeks, and goal four is unpredictable.
The important thing is to make a goal-based plan!
Start Learning
Developing a writing career is more than putting pen to paper or
fingers to computer. There
are two fantastic ways to learn what to do:
The current year’s Writer’s Guide and Writer’s
Digest Magazine. Both
should be available at your local library, but both should be part of your
personal library. You need to
know the business and legal sides of a freelance writing career as well as
where and how to get published.
There are also an overwhelming number of websites just for writers.
As you find them, bookmark them, download their free e-books, sign
up for their newsletters. The
downside to this pursuit is that you could quickly be bogged down by
following links and exploring sites.
The perpetual search for information about writing may keep
you from writing, so set a time limit for this kind of activity.
Measure Your Goals
Keep track of what you have accomplished and reward yourself for
your accomplishments. If you
have had problems meeting your goals, try to figure out why. They may have been unrealistic, or perhaps you have
experienced a crisis that got in your way.
In either case, re-evaluate your goals, do not feel guilty, and
move on!
Find a Support System
Share your goals and writing with supportive friends or family. Join your local writing club.
Look for support on the web, through chat sessions or from writing
listserves, online groups you can access through Yahoo.com or Topica.com.
More than that, do not let others discourage you and stay away from
or ignore naysayers if possible.
Identify and Learn Your Markets
What are you interested in writing about?
Nurses have a great background for a variety of markets, such as
health issues, parenting, women’s issues, and many others.
Write about your specialty, and then study your market.
Look in the Reader’s Guide for magazines that publish in that
area and send for their writer’s guidde.For example, if you would like
to write about parenting, go to the library and do a search in the Reader’s
Guide on your specific topic, such as “breast feeding.”
Look for recent articles on breast-feeding and where who has
published it.
You would not want to submit your article to a magazine that has
just published such a similar article.
Keep a file on possible markets and remember that you can put
different slants on your material and submit several articles from one
idea, each geared to a different magazine.
One more suggestion: Constantly
watch news sources to get a hint of issues that are about to come to the
forefront, so you can be ahead of the pack of writers jumping on that
bandwagon when has been around a little while.
Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling
Even if you feel comfortable with your ability to write well
and follow the rules, be sure have a good writing resource available. Many of the websites you find will have lessons and articles
on grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Edit yourself and/or find someone who will edit you.
Accept constructive criticism—if someone tells you what you have
written is not clear, realize that it probably is not, even if you think
it is.
Get Started
The more you write, the more likely you are to publish.
Write at least a little each day (remembering that you are a
freelance writer, so writing is what you should do with your time).
As simplistic as it seems, you (a freelance writer) cannot publish
until you write.
ã 2001
About the Author: Becky Sisk, Ph.D., R.N., is the
owner and webmaster of http://www.enursescribe.com.
She is also a freelance subject matter expert in nursing, a reviewer for http://www.ForeWordReviews.com,
and editor of "Promoting
Good Health for Seniors."
|
