There is a good reason why the editor outranks the writer.
While it is the writer who does the heavy labor of coming up with a topic, researching and writing the first draft, it is the editor’s job to make sure that it’s readable, relevant to the target audience and flawless for dissemination.
So, you’ve finally landed a freelance writing client.
Hooray for you.
But, they want you to write something you’ve never done before…a press release. You told them, “Sure,” but you really don’t even know what it is. Now you’re stuck.
There is nothing worse for a writer than feeling, “blocked.”
You sit at your computer and it stares you down. You’ve got this expensive machine, the most advanced invention that humankind has ever concocted, sitting at your command.
And it waits. And waits. And waits. And you’ve got nothing. You almost want to apologize to the computer for bothering it.
No matter how long you’ve been a freelance writer, I’m willing to bet all the Oreos in my cupboard that you’d like to become a better writer. It’s a natural (and necessary) instinct to want to increase your writing skill level.
After all, better writing means landing better clients, and better clients mean better money. Now we’re talking!
You agreed to do how many articles? Wow. Too bad you can’t clone yourself.
Imagine being asked by three editors to write three different articles – all due within days or a week of each other. How are you going to be able to handle the workload?
Having been in that position a few times, I’ve created a way to write articles with interviews smarter. With minimal effort, you can use the same method to train yourself to work smarter, which can help you complete those article assignments hours faster than it would normally take.
If there’s one piece of writing advice writers agree on, it’s that writing regularly improves your writing, boosting your writing career in return.
But don’t let this scare you. Writing regularly doesn’t have to mean 1000 or 2000 words every day. Whatever you can manage is fine. If you need to take a couple of days off to rest and feel refreshed, that’s okay too.
The idea is to get as much writing done as possible. Develop a routine that works for you. J.P. Choquette wrote her novel using 15-minute blocks. Copyblogger’s Brian Clark has a great post called 10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer where all 10 steps include writing.
