Freelance Writing

I recently began Freelance writing in an effort to gain a little bit of extra cash doing what I love. I must say I fell in love quickly. There are a few sites I am looking at to expand my options. I must admit there is something thrilling about getting an E-mail saying “Congratulations your article has been accepted.” As a writer you don’t get to hear that too often.
Starting Out
I began writing small $0.80 articles to test the waters. They were short and easy so I began to move up from  those to bigger assignments. Now, keep in mind I do not make that much money writing these articles. Just starting out means you do not have the qualifications or experience to get paid very high.
Once your work begins to showcase you will find yourself climbing up to higher paid articles. For example a person starting out would get paid almost $1.00 for 100 words. When you move up you might get paid $2.00 for 100 words. Move further still and you could make even more. I saw a top rated article go for $40.00 for 700 words about SEO (search engine optimization). I wrote an article for same topic and got $5.00.
As you can see there is a latter of progression in freelance writing, but it doesn’t happen overnight. As a primary income I wouldn’t suggest Freelance writing until you progress enough that you make the bigger bucks.
Benefits
The benefits of Freelance writing goes further when you realize it can significantly improve your writing. Think of them as good writing exercises. When taking a creative writing class they often give you writing prompts to get you to write all kinds of things. The more you write the more you improve so why not get paid to practice your craft.
Another benefit is that it can be an added experience to put into query letters if you are a novelist just starting out. Most publishers and literary agents want to see some history of your work. Proof that your writing is good enough is a great way to start. New writers don’t have published work, and so being able to put something is better then nothing.
Websites
I can’t give a decent review on two of the sites I started on since I literally just started with them. I have yet to write an article for Odesk and iWriter. They seem like great sites I just haven’t found an article to write yet.
Textbroker is the site I fell in love with. You have 24 hours to write the article you choose. It’s great for a person like me since I have four small children and can’t always sit for 2 hours straight. With them I can choose an article and complete it during naptime then choose another and do that one at bedtime. If I can’t get to the article by naptime it’s okay too since I have 24 hours I can do it later.
Love What You Do
The first $5.00 I made I literally jumped for joy because I was getting paid to write. I couldn’t believe it. In a matter of two weeks I wrote fifty articles anywhere from 100 words to 1200 words. The best part about it is that you can choose which ones you want to write.
The fact of the matter is in life a person is happiest when they are doing what they love. If you are trying to make a living with your writing, but don’t know how then maybe Freelance writing is something to look into. It won’t make millions but some money is better then none.