Hi there,

Just a quick post to introduce myself to the community. I'm a young man in his twenties living in London and I'm about to make the jump into writing full time (if I can). This site looks like it has a really active and helpful community, so really looking forward to making some new contacts.

My question is: what is the best way for me to make the transition into full-time freelancing? Is it worth going on a writing course, or should I just start trawling freelance sites and sending out my CV? Any tips from your own personal experience would be greatly appreciated!

Looking forward to your replies,

T

Hi, and welcome to WW.

It depends what kind of writing you're doing, and for whom, how you tackle it.

Emma

Welcome to WriteWords.

I'm afraid I'm not a freelance writer so I can't help with advice other than maybe consider doing a Writers Bureau course as they seem to be geared towards magazine writing - if that's the sort of freelance work you are considering.
All the best.



- NaomiM

Hi,
I don't know what stage you're at with your writing or what sort of writing you want to do full-time (novels? screenwriting? writing for business? copywriting? journalism?). However, do bear in mind that it's extremely hard to make a living from writing full time. I had a student recently who thought she could make a living after doing an MA in Writing by writing book reviews for the broadsheets - this is incredibly hard to get into, and pays peanuts. Just don't go chucking in a job without being absolutely sure, certain, positive that you can make a living in your particular field of writing.
If you can tell us a bit more about the kind of writing you want to do, we'll be able to give more specific advice.
Leila

Thanks for all your replies. Basically I'm looking to get into journalism - particularly interested in politics and cultural comment, with a long term goal of allowing myself to write poetry and drama. At the moment I'm happy to turn my hand to whatever work is there though. Thanks for the warning Steerpike, it's not a decision I take lightly!

Anyway, one of the easiest firsts steps to start generating some income seems to be online writers sites - a couple of my friends have been using them and have met with moderate success. My only area of concern is finding one that suits what I want to write about. Anyone here have any experience? So far, I've been looking at places like suite101, bukisa, squidoo, associated content etc.

Are these the best way forward or should I be looking offline too (if so, how do I go about that?). Many thanks guys.

T

Just found this useful advice on a freelancer's blog interview:

http://bookworm-megs.blogspot.com/2010/05/freelance-journalist-interview-benjamin.html

5. Any tips for budding freelancers? Don't pitch one story at a time, then wait around for editors to get back to you. Why not pitch seven ideas? And instead, of waiting around for them to respond to that, why not pitch seven more to another editor? Also: just read. If you want to write non-fiction, get your hands on David Sedaris, Joan Didion, Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper, David Leser, Hunter S. Thompson, Susan Orlean, Chris Heath, Ariel Levy and everyone else. Subscribe to magazines you love, and keep your favourite articles within easy reach. Cut 'em out and clag them to a scrapbook, if you like. But whatever you do, just surround yourself with good stuff.

<Added>

I've been looking at places like suite101, bukisa, squidoo, associated content etc.

You could do. I checked out suite101 and payment is a share of the Googel ads revenue, whcih depends on people clicking on Google ads placed that accompany the articles uploaded on the site. It's pennies, so you need hundreds of articles on the site before it starts generating a useful income, and that's going to take a few years. They insist on a minimum of 10 articles a month, which, when you add in the research required to produce just one article, is practically a full time job, especially when you are aiming to have hundreds uploaded to generate an income.

<Added>

tbh, Suite101 is one of those sites where, if you are writing and touting articles round the newspapers and magazines anyway, then it gives freelancers somewhere to park them, and earn a little money when they've been rejected, rather than return them to the proverbial bottom drawer.

Thanks for this NMott, very useful. Just as I thought, not really a viable option - would rather go with somewhere a bit more focused to the writing I want to do.

Cheers.

I don't recommend the Writers' Bureau courses TBH.

I don't think there is an easy route into freelance writing, Tom. I think the way that most people do it is to pitch to various magazines which they feel are most up their street, and try to get some freelance articles accepted, and just build up their contacts and their reputation until they can get enough work to go full-time. Personally I wouldn't recommend you going full-time until you're selling quite a few by doing it part-time.

It also depends what kind of thing you wish to write, and whether that's likely to find a market. I wouldn't imagine that politics and cultural comment are the easiest sections of the market to break into as a freelance with no track record. Commentators usually have a long record as reporters, then become commentators when their comment is deemed worth hearing. We all have lots of comments, but most of us won't get paid for our thoughts.

What kind of magazines/newspapers were you thinking of targeting?

Deb

I have no idea what you do atm, but perhaps you should try to get a job as a junior reporter on a local newspaper, and work up from there? It would give you an excellent grounding for going freelance later on. You say you're in your 20s so are not too old to take that route.

Deb