3 Freelance Writing Myths That Are Holding Us Back
By: Steven Toews, Jd
Tags: Writing, Business, Freelance, Freelance Writing, Entrepreneurship

3 Freelance Writing Myths That Are Holding Us Back

Photo by aisvri on Unsplash

The world of freelancing is full of myths that are, at best, dubious and, at worst, downright harmful. In this short article, I’ll bust a few of the ones that I’ve seen pop up over and over again.

Myth #1: You should never work for pennies

There are plenty of writers out there who will tell you you should never agree to work for extremely low rates, even at the beginning of your practice. Some argue that these sorts of engagements reduce prices across the board for all writers. Others argue that you’re simply worth more than this and that you’re leaving money on the table by agreeing to 1 cent per word.

I understand that these arguments are motivated by a desire to see writers paid “fairly” (whatever that actually means) for their work. Unfortunately, though, they don’t hold water. The harsh truth is that if you’re starting out online with no references, no credentials, no credibility, and no experience, you’ll be starting at the bottom. And, at the bottom, the pay sucks. This is just economic reality.

(Of course, if you’re lucky enough to have access to more valuable work right off the hop, more power to you. Skip those lame 2 cents-per-word jobs. Personally, I didn’t have that luxury.)

In content mills, Upwork assignments, Fiverr jobs, and similar places, most of the jobs pay pennies. Luckily, while you won’t be able to earn a living on these pittances, the right testimonials from the right clients can be the stepping stones you need to make it to the next level and find your niche.

So, it’s fine to work for pennies at the beginning. Just make sure each job you take has a good chance of landing you a great testimonial and reference and that you have a way of leveraging that testimonial to improve the terms of your next engagement. After all, you don’t want to be working for insanely low wages for any longer than you absolutely have to.

And definitely pay no mind to those people who tell you you’re doing other writers a disservice by agreeing to a low wage. This isn’t a union. It’s freelancing. We all take the most desirable jobs we can find and, for some of us, that means we temporarily have to accept low-paying work. Do what’s right for you in the moment and work hard to improve your situation.

Myth #2: Only the best writers make decent money

At this point in the article, it should be clear that there’s nothing truly special or unique about my writing. I’m alright and all, but I’m not a master wordsmith. Despite that, in the space of a year and a half, I’ve built a lucrative copy and content writing practice.

The truth is that, as long as you can string a sentence together in a way that doesn’t make your readers’ eyes bleed, you’ve probably got the writing chops to make a healthy living at this.

What will set you apart from the legions of struggling writers are the other skills you bring to the table. Client service, time management, small business finance, strategy, marketing, and soft skills matter just as much, if not more, than your writing ability. After all, this is the business of writing. And a middling writer with a broad and deep set of commercial skills will make more money than an amazing writer who mistreats his clients and neglects his business any day of the week.

Myth #3: There’s one right way to make money as a writer

There are tons of writers who think that, because they’ve found a business model that works for them, that this must be the only way to do business as a writer. Don’t listen to them. There are plenty of ways to structure your practice and the only important criterion is that it works for you.

The structure you choose should meet your operational and financial needs. No more, no less. Obviously, you’ll need to accommodate your clients (since keeping them happy is your one and only job) but as long as they’re satisfied choose the transaction form that works for you.

And that’s one of the great things about freelance writing. You can charge by the hour, by the word, or by the piece. You can write on retainer or send a separate invoice for each article. The only hard-and-fast rule, really, is that your client needs to be cool with it. But if they say yes, you can customize your practice as you see fit.

So, how do you decide which structure and rate are best for you? I’ll address that in a future article.

Final Thoughts

If you’re new to the freelance writing game, take the info you get from other writers (including me) with a grain of salt. Very few of us are real experts at this strange profession. And even those of us who can fairly be called experts come from a particular set of circumstances that may not apply to you.

What works for a former lawyer living in Bermuda (like me) may not work for a single mother of two in Wisconsin.

So be wary of anyone who speaks in absolutes and thinks they’ve memorized the rulebook for freelance writing. They’re probably dealing in nonsense.