Capturing Chaos

Writing is a perfect example of something you’re encouraged to do because you do it well. As too many prodigies have found, to their profound regret, the pressures to forge careers out of talents can lead to lives of frustration rather than fulfillment. The simple truth is that the possession of an ability doesn’t always bring with it the enjoyment of using it, much less the desire to devote a lifetime to it.

No talent stands in isolation. The talented violinist must perform publicly, must tour, must make him or herself a somewhat public person. Every career comes with requirements which have nothing to do with the original talent, and which may be difficult or even objectionable.

Even for someone with a small talent and small ambitions, there can be unpleasant factors to deal with and costs that may seem too much to pay. Somewhere along the line, you may even realize that you were looking at the talent in the wrong way. The violinist may decide that he wants to write music for the violin rather than play it. Continue Reading »

If independence in your choices is a high priority for you, how far you can take that will depend on how much money you need to earn. If freelancing is to be your full-time career, you probably will always have to balance your own preferences with the demands of others. “Others” includes sites that pay for content, so even if you don’t have a roster of clients who pay you for assignments written to their specifications, there are always some constraints on a writer’s freedom.

Working for others may be easier if you can view it as temporary—just a step toward eventual independence. Whether that independence is even possible will depend on your skills, both those you have now and those you will need to acquire. Without expertise on one or more topics, or the ability to gain that expertise fairly quickly, earning a living as an independent freelancer will be difficult at best, and maybe impossible.

There are a multitude of options for developing a writing career that allows you flexibility and independence, but all require a commitment of time and effort. An important step is researching the various methods and their pros and cons. The path you take may not be a typical one, and may even be one that few professionals would recommend. But one of the advantages of freelancing is that it’s not set in concrete. Trying different paths is not only possible, it’s the best way to learn what works for you.

Part one: Freelance Writing: Find Your Own Path

In the process of trying to bring some order (and money) into my writing life, I suddenly found that blogging is slipping away quickly as a major part of that life. I’ve been doing the equivalent of house cleaning, taking a close look at what I’m writing, where I’m writing it, and what format I’m writing in. Most of what’s been bagged up and thrown out with the trash has been blogs. And the process is still going on.

I’ve always had too many blogs; for a long time they were my primary presence on the web. Each one focused on a different subject, one of them had a very substantial niche readership, and others had the potential to draw readers and, eventually, income. What happened? Continue Reading »

I’ve been reading a lot of articles about freelance writing, and all the ins and outs of developing a freelancing career. I’m not trying to build a career, just add to my base income for a bit more financial security. That means I have a lot more choices than someone whose very existence may depend on their ability to produce lots of content, day after day, week after week, year after year. But whether you’re looking for part-time freelance work or stepping off into a career, most of the advice is based on common assumptions.

For example—a substantial amount of the information revolves around clients—how to get them, what to charge them, your relationships with them, etc. The impression I got, until I started thinking about it, is that without clients, a freelance career isn’t even possible. Which led me to an overlooked area in career-building—how you, personally, function as a writer. Continue Reading »

Trying to develop income from writing isn’t a straight and easy path, as the last few days have proved. Some of the things you try work out, and some just don’t.

I found a nice site that pays members to post on forums. Good pay, for that type of writing, the staff seem to know what they’re doing, and their standards are high. So I joined their forum, wrote the requisite number of pre-qualifying posts, and lo! Applications are temporarily closed. The forum is friendly and has enough interesting topics to make it worth posting there, strictly as a leisure-time activity, so I’ll maintain my presence and wait for applications to open up again.

Less cheery is my short experience with DailyArticle, a site that functions as an intermediary between writers and sellers. I joined, mostly because of recommendations on the Associated Content forum, posted one article, and waited. And waited. And waited. The article was marked “available,” but after six days still hadn’t appeared on the site. It was Christmas-related, and it’s now too late for anyone to buy it, so I pulled it and deleted my personal info. I don’t have the patience these days, to deal with screwups.

I’ve also learned from experience, one more time, that a topic you’re interested in isn’t necessarily one you want to be tied to for a long time. So I just posted a brief note on my other today.com blog saying goodbye. I know I’m bad about sticking to limited topic projects, which puts me in the ranks of bloggers who start numerous blogs over the years, and abandon most of them eventually. But you never know which ones will stick until you give it a try.

Where’s that good advice I give everybody else and myself? Where’s that notebook that’s supposed to be by my bedside for late night inspiration? Just before hitting the sack last night, I had an excellent idea for today’s post. The thought briefly flashed through my mind that I’d probably forget it if I didn’t write it down. Nonsense! It’s such a great idea that I couldn’t possibly forget it. Isn’t that what they call famous last words? Well, at least I can post about the stupidity of (for the thousandth time) relying on my very defective memory.

I keep trying, but all I can come up with so far is that it was going to be the development of an analogy between writing and some else. If I ever come up with the “something else,” I’ll have it made. Instead, I’ll just bore everybody (all three of you) with a recital of my latest semi-accomplishments. Continue Reading »

Every time I look at my Associated Content content page, I’m reminded of why I left the site in the first place. The article that they finally published today was seven days in the review queue before they made an offer, and then two days processing. But I’m learning patience, and also the importance of timing.

I submitted an article on the ideal Christmas gift for a gardener, an idea I picked up from a quick glance through Helium. (By the way, Helium is an excellent source for ideas if you’re running dry.) At the speed that seems to be AC’s current mode, by the time it’s published, most of the timeliness will have passed because I submitted it so late in the month. Let’s hope I remember that lesson when the next holiday season rolls around. At least it’s an evergreen article that will be relevant every Christmas, so even if it hibernates for the next nine or ten months, it should collect some pages views for the 2009 season and thereafter. Continue Reading »

A recent post on Freelance Writing From Home reminded me how narrow people tend to be in their thinking. The author was addressing the idea that too many people seem to have—that freelancing means you spend every day, all day, writing. Aside from the deadliness of such a routine, freelancing doesn’t even necessarily refer to writing. “Freelance simply means being self-employed. It doesn’t mean writing. You could be a freelance photographer or a freelance consultant.”

As a freelancer, you’re running your own business, which is supposed to be a path to freedom, not a different kind of slavery. Certainly, you’re going to have to work hard if you intend to make a living at it. But along the way, you should be learning how to work smarter so that you don’t have to work as hard. Continue Reading »

The economic downturn is beginning to hit writing sites, and people are running scared. Forums are filled with moans and groans about changes that clearly indicate there is less money to go around. Back in September, Shared Reviews stopped paying for reviews, and announced that members could now compete for prizes. Now Ciao has done the same thing, after first reducing payments from $1.00 a review to .25. Understandably, not too many people are happy about having to settle for what is being promoted as fun and games as a substitute for being paid for their content. Continue Reading »

In the old tale, the tortoise wins the race because the hare takes too many naps, counting on his speed to keep him ahead, while the tortoise just keeps plodding on towards the goal. Does that make me feel better about being a writing tortoise? Not at all, because I know it’s a lie intended to let us tortoises think we’re superior to the hares. In the real world, the hares win every time.

A race isn’t really the best analogy, because writing isn’t an area where there’s just one winner and a lot of losers. It’s more like a huge, self-renewing pie that allows each person to take what they can from it. That doesn’t prevent some tortoises from believing that hares don’t really exist, that they’re just tortoises with some unfair advantage, or who cheat their way into harehood and get more than their fair share of the pie. Continue Reading »

I just had an article published at Associated Content for the first time in a year. I started writing for the site, but was unhappy with the various delays and glitches, especially the amount of time that it took for an article to be reviewed, and then published once I’d accepted their payment offer. That aspect of the site has probably deteriorated, if anything, but I’ve also become more serious about being paid for my writing, which means learning patience. The lure of instant publishing at penny ante sites has worn off.

I’m still going to have trouble writing the kind of SEO-oriented articles that lead to the better offers, but I’ll do it every now and then, with teeth clenched, and hope that page views will make up for low payments on the articles that come out of my own interests and ideas.

This is one of the decisions you have to make when the thrill of being published wears off and you begin to understand the potential for real income. Will you do the work that is highest in demand and that pays the highest wages, no matter how much you hate that type of writing? Or are you willing to settle for less money and retain ownership of your skills and your soul?

Take a look at How to Buy Great Clothes at Thrift Stores . It comes out my own experience, but isn’t the kind of thing that I’m really happy writing. And it shows.

I planned to post the edited version of the free writing excerpt today, but another topic started nagging at me, so get ready for a bit of a rant.

I’ve been coming across a lot of blogs set up to offer information to writers and would-be writers. Some concentrate on creativity and the mechanics of writing; other tend to stick with recommendations about where to write if you want to make money. What’s beginning to get my goat is recommendations that are rushed and uninformative, and even suspicious. Too often, the posts don’t indicate whether the writer actually has any experience with the site, or just ran across it in browsing the web. Continue Reading »

When you start writing on the internet with no clear goals in mind, it’s easy to slip into a comfort zone that eventually becomes a trap. We tend to stay with what’s familiar and easy, avoiding even the thought of change. Even if we do sense that we could be doing better, we’re not sure what the alternatives might be or what challenges we might have to face.

I’ve spent years writing online, making a little money here, a little money there, and sometimes no money at all. My writing improved; I learned the difference between traditional writing and content writing intended for internet readers, learned how to create a snappy title and an enticing opening paragraph. People let me know that they admired my writing, and maybe that’s why it took so long to venture out of my comfort zone into a world where the standards of judgment are very different. Continue Reading »

The second trigger for my departure from Triond was an article posted by a member. It had a cheery “this site is wonderful, we’re all wonderful, and together we’re going to make this the most popular writing site on the web” tone that reminded me of the crowd-pumping speeches that are a traditional part of sales conventions, and that are so often and so easily parodied. What really clicked, though, wasn’t the article itself, though it rubbed me the wrong way and set off BS alarms, but the comments. There were dozens, and every single one was in agreement, cheering the writer, thanking her for her encouragement, etc. I added my comment, which disagreed about the potential popularity of the site, and discovered, a day or so later, that it had been removed.

To digress a bit — smart, hard-working people can make money on these sites, but if they have a real talent for writing, they could make better money elsewhere, and probably with less work. So why do they stick with these low-paying sites? There are undoubtedly many reasons, but here are a few that I think probably rank high.

1. They’re emotionally needy and get off on the applause and admiration of their followers.
2. They’re excellent marketers (and manipulators) who know how to appeal to the masses. On sites where income is tied to ratings and page views, this is a valuable talent.
3. Their writing is good, but not good enough for survival in the competitive world of professional content production. Continue Reading »

I removed my last few remaining articles from Triond yesterday. It was the end of my second try at using Triond for a little extra writing income. I thought that I hadn’t given the site a fair trial the first time, so I would try harder. And I did try harder. I posted roughly twice as many articles as I had the first time. I stumbled a couple of the best ones. I read and commented on other members’ work, and I made “friends.”

To its credit, Triond has made a lot of upgrades to the site since my first residence there. Friending people means that their latest work will appear on your community page, making it easier to keep up with them. Most recently, Triond instituted a long-overdue feature — making your user name a live link to your profile and content when you leave a comment. Continue Reading »

If you’re going to earn money by writing online, sooner or later you have to make decisions about where that money is going to come from. That may seem like a “Duh!” statement, but it isn’t. Consider how many blogs and websites depend on Google Adsense for income. How many decisions about where to blog are made primarily on whether you can or can’t have Adsense? If you’re hosting your own site, the question doesn’t come up, but if you’re using a free site, it’s very important. Debate over wordpress.com and Blogspot usually boils down to a choice between features and income.

For a variety of reasons, I decided that I don’t want to have an Adsense account or depend directly on Google for my income. I have no objections to Adsense or to earning money from it, as long as I don’t have to maintain an account of my own. The income from my Today blogs is based partly on Adsense, but the account belongs to today.com. The decision to write for either Hub Pages or Squidoo came down to choosing the one that doesn’t require me to have an Adsense account, and that’s Squidoo. Continue Reading »

I’ve been writing online for quite a few years, but without any sense of direction. I went where the atmosphere seemed friendly and where I could make a bit of money, but that’s as far as my thinking went. Over the last year, though, I’ve begun to think seriously about setting priorities, focusing my efforts, and trying to make more than just a few cents here and there. I always wanted to make more money, and I was pretty sure that I could if I put my mind to it, but I didn’t make the effort to work out what that would involve.

The bottom line is that I’m not cut out for a world in which SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the ruling force. Finally coming to that understanding means that I can stop thrashing around, trying this approach, and then that one. I have a sense of direction that I never had before, and real, long-term goals.

Sometimes I think that the hardest part of writing online for money is deciding where to publish. With so many sites offering different opportunities, different pay rates, and different requirements, it’s easy for the beginning writer to bog down in a state of total confusion. There’s plenty of advice to be had. In fact, it seems that just about everyone who’s ever published online has an opinion. But are those opinions worth anything?

We’ve all seen “This site ripped me off and I’m warning every body to stay away because they’re a bunch of crooks.” And “You can make a fortune writing for this site. Just sign up under me and get started.” Who to believe, who to ignore? No matter what anybody else’s experience may be with a site, yours might turn out to be completely different. It doesn’t matter what site you name, every one has its haters and its lovers.

What I learned is that there’s no easy way to decide which sites are best for you. It really comes down to the equivalent of pounding the pavement and going door to door. First you read every scrap of information a site has to offer: how much it pays, when it pays, how it pays. About ownership of your material, about their format and their standards. What’s expected of you, and what you can expect from them.

If it all looks good, you sign up and start writing. This is the honeymoon, when you really get to know who you’re living with. Was the nice appearance a mask or the real thing? Give it a couple of months, but if the romance wears off too quickly, you may have to decide to move on and try again.