Thousands of would-be writers are waiting as well. But a few successes under your belt will make the possibility of seeing your picture on the dust jacket in the bookstore window seem less remote. Just as all doctors are not neurosurgeons, all writers are not novelists. A look into the field yields categories you might never have imagined. Magazine articles, greeting cards, business writing, newspaper reporting-these are areas in which freelance can add do make money.
Writing provides an opportunity to earn with very little expenditure.
A typewriter with accompanying supplies, a flair for writing and the discipline to stick with a schedule and meet deadlines can start you on your way. Assignments may vary as widely as covering a church circle meeting for the weekly religion page to reporting on a town council meeting in a neighboring village. The editorial staff will tell you what they want, when they want it and what you can expect to be paid. Stringers are paid by the word, by the line or by the column inch, and while rate varies from one newspaper to another, it is a set fee which cannot be negotiated. Building a good relationship with your editor through good writing, dependability and strict adherence to deadlines may enable you to successfully put forth your own ideas for feature stories and articles.