Just for Liberal Arts Majors
Focus On: Careers in Freelance Writing
“Many people who love to write become freelance writers. They are self-employed individuals who may accept projects from one or a number of clients. Some freelancers specialize and write in only one area; others perform a variety of writing tasks.
Freelancers enjoy many privileges; they may focus on assignments that interest them, set their own hours, work from home or anywhere else; wear whatever is comfortable, choose their clients, and take vacations whenever they wish. On the flip side are negative factors, such as an erratic cash flow, a scarcity of work, isolation, and an overwhelming number of roles you must fulfill, such as marketer, publicist, author, and bill collector.
One should not consider doing this kind of work full-time until a clientele base has been established. Writers put in a tremendous amount of hours, energy, and effort over a period of years in order to make freelance writing a full-time career option.
[Freelancers are] offered assignments by newspapers, magazines, public relations concerns, all types of businesses, non-profit organizations, educational concerns, and publishers. The exact nature of the work will vary from feature articles to columns, newsletters, brochures, sales letters, or book reviews.
A career in freelance writing requires a large measure of self-discipline. You must have a strong goal orientation, along with the ability to pay attention to detail and an understanding that you must never miss a deadline.
Though freelance writers work alone most of the time, they need to have strong people skills, both to ingratiate themselves to editors, project leaders, and publishers, and to work together with others on writing assignments. The ability to be persuasive over the phone and a good personal presence are especially important.
Organizational skills are also important, as freelancers must juggle a number of projects at the same time. A typical week may involve developing an outline for an article, composing a sales letter, conducting 10 interviews, and going to the library to conduct research.
It’s important to keep careful records of where all of your query letters and manuscripts are; the status of new markets you are trying to break into; and all financial transactions.
Since freelance writers are self-employed, bear in mind that they receive no fringe benefits and must arrange their own medical insurance.”
Source: “Real People Working in Communications,” VGM Career Horizons, Jan Goldberg, 1997.
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