Write for the Particular Job

Being a freelance writer for your sole source of income is a great job in that it allows you to do what you love for a living, but is also difficult because let's be honest, for most of us it doesn't pay in the way of any brain surgeon! Actually, just starting out can land you in the position of making less than those lucky few flipping burgers at the local McD's. The thing is, not only is there stiff competition for freelance writing jobs, but many of the offers don't pay very much and still require a good amount of time and research invested into each project.

This lands us freelance writers in a tough position, because often times we are also a tad perfectionistic and want only our best work represented when we submit and put our names in the byline. But, this can get us in trouble, if we are investing hours into an article that only pays $5 or $10. The thing is, you want to supply quality, but at the same time you are a working individual and can't devote copious amounts of time on jobs that aren't paying that much. That's why it is imperative to hone your skills to be both efficient, but realistic enough to know when to say, "This article is DONE."

A big part of the freelance writing business in effective time management. That being said, you need to assign your projects according to how much they are worth in what you are going to be paid, how soon they need to be submitted, and how much work or research each one is going to take. For an article that you are being paid more, the amount of time and subsequent care and quality going into the article can be higher. Moving forward, for something that is paying you only in the single digits, you can afford both time wise and money wise to spend the same amount, if not more, time on this work than the higher paying jobs. You need to be able to, yes submit a decent article, but you can't be meticulous and go into as much research and detail as you may be tempted to. In doing the smaller paying articles, it goes without saying that they aren't going to be masterpieces or the next front page article, they are fillers and you should be able to get through them fast enough to get multiple ones done and then move to the next task. Especially if you have a few different deadline to focus on.

It is always tough letting go of some of that perfectionistic attitude, but it is part of being successful in freelance writing. Because, after all, while we are doing what we love, we are still trying to earn a decent living!