Interview With a Freelance Writer and Part-Time Editor

This interview will take you through the ups and downs you can expect working as an editor/writer, what it takes to land the job, what you can expect to earn and more

I work as a professional freelance writer and part-time editor.

I have been in this industry for one and a half years.

Most of my writing so far has consisted of working with customers via the Internet. I have written articles for websites, rewritten web pages, and proofread documents for customers. The focus of my writing is based on travel writing, of which I write for the USA Today’s website Travel Tips section, but I have written more than 700 articles for general information sites, including eHow.com. In the past six months I have begun writing a memoir for a private client whom I met while eating at a local restaurant. I also have started focusing more on short stories and writing a fictional novel that is of the paranormal genre.

The majority of my income comes from writing via the Internet on what some people categorize content mills. I feel this type of writing is looked down on by the more established writing community. While I agree that the work and pay are both low-key, I would encourage others who are just starting out to begin writing through the Internet.

I graduated with a degree but have no formal training in writing. However, I have always wanted to write stories.

If I had not been given the chance to write via the Internet, I would not be able to afford to work on my writing nor been given the opportunities to advance, i.e., writing for the USA Today site which lead to my private client. For someone just starting out in writing, I have accomplished a great deal in a short amount of time, and know of other writers who have had similar success. If you want to become a writer, then start anyway you can. If you can write, then stick with it and you will find yourself growing into an established writer.

I would ask a friend interested in writing if she is interested because she can write or just for a job. If she is interested in becoming a writer she will be successful. However, if she is treating it just like any other job, she will not last. To be a successful professional writer, a person needs to be a good writer as well

I would rate my job satisfaction a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. As I am currently a stay-at-home single mom of a two-year-old, as he gets older the writing process will be easier as my attention can be better divided. However, I have learned that writing is stimulated by pain, stress, and other “inconveniences” in life, so in all fairness, there is nothing that could make my job any better.

I believe each stage of my life is a backdrop for a different voice, focus, and story.

So while I would ultimately wish of a beach destination with an airy office surrounded with filled bookshelves with books written by me, this would most definitely have a disastrous effect on my writing.

I have never loved a job as much as I do as a writer. This is something I have wanted to do my entire life, since I was 9 at least. Now that I have the opportunity I can release my passions full-force into a job that I feel has the greatest meaning in life. My grandmother always said that anyone can learn by reading a book, and I believe that once we stop learning we die.

To me, books, and therefore writing, is the most important job in the world.

As I have previously mentioned in brief, I am a single stay-at-home mother of a two-year-old. Before I began writing after the birth of my son, I was working two jobs to provide food, clothing, and a place to live. However, even working two jobs, I could not afford food, so I was faced with the decision to ask for Food Stamps for a six month period. I refused to renew the application because of the effect the assistance had on my pride, which is unfortunate but what I felt was best. To me, as a college graduate with a master’s degree, this was the ultimate low point in my life. And besides that, with my job schedule I only spent nights with my son while we were asleep. I did not get to know what he ate for lunch, how he acted, even how he was developing–without someone else telling me. This felt completely wrong to me. So I quit both jobs, moved back home with my dad, and started reevaluating my life.

I started a free resource website for foster teens, which was always a passion of mine, as a side project to bring some positive light to my life. I read a lot and did a lot of praying about what I should be doing with my life. I considered all the feedback from others I had received about my writing, which was a consistent part of my life throughout college. Then in the process found out about writing online. I submitted an application and viola.

I got started with writing when I was 9 years old. I received a typewriter for Christmas and sat around trying to think of stories about a girl.

Then in the eighth grade I hand-wrote a book for a school project, which I bound and illustrated myself. I still have the book, which received an A, by the way. After high school, whenever someone would ask me what I wanted to do in the future, no matter what job or focus I had, which changed like the weather, writing a book was tacked on to that. If I could have done anything differently…I wouldn’t change a thing.

Everything has made me who I am, created the style of writing I have today, and led me to this job.

I am still working on trying to get started with writing short stories. I started with submitting a short story to a competition, and assumed I would win the grand prize, or at least second place. I wasn’t even mentioned in the list of honorary recognitions. So I started reading texts on formatting short stories and realized I had it all wrong. However, I would not have gone about it differently. Getting my feet wet was the only way to get started, in my opinion.

I always assumed you had to be in school to learn things. However, since I have begun writing professionally, I have learned everything by my own research, reading books on my own accord, and committing to what I felt was appropriate at each stage of my career. I have learned, happily, that you can learn without having someone tell you how or what to learn.

By learning on my own, I have also gained in self-confidence, which is a must-have as a writer…along with ample amounts of caffeine.

I have written about some pretty strange things. For example I wrote 500 questions and answers for a trivia game based on a popular TV show; I’m still waiting to see that on the store shelves. I have also written about New Age Self-Help books, of which I read 25 and summarized, that included manuals on hypnotism, mesmerism, and mind-control. That was pretty weird, as I hadn’t realized how scholarly and detailed these kinds of ideas have been throughout history.

I get up and write each day because I feel depressed if I don’t do it.

I love learning new things, which I do every day with writing web-based articles. I also get a rush out of making up my own stories; it’s truly an art form.

I work from home and also have my young son at home all day. I never really get a break from him, and I have to do most of my writing during the night when he is asleep. This can be frustrating when I am exhausted come crunch time.

Since I work at home I don’t have to work a set schedule or even number of hours. Also if I want to take the day off for personal reasons or to spend time traveling, I can do this. Also I can do my work from any location that has Internet access, as well as write my short stories by hand and through a voice recorder. When I meet with my private client once a week, I take this time to socialize and reconnect with the outside world.

My annual salary range varies, but I can say that I make more money than I ever have, even working two jobs, which I have consistently done since I was 15.

I have direct control over how much money I make based on how many articles I write.

However, I am self-employed so I have to consider the taxes that will be taken out at the end of the year. I make enough money to stay at home with my child and to live comfortably, which is my current goal. I do wish to make more money in the future, and I will be able to as I have more time to commit to the job.

I take one day off per week to rest, only because my sleep is lacking due to my schedule. I prefer to write every day. I do take a week vacation for traveling every other month, which I use to expand my knowledge base for my travel articles–or at least that is my excuse to family members to why I want to see the beach, for the third time in a summer. I really like to travel and believe vacations are mandatory to a healthy lifestyle. And fortunately for me, my job allows it.

I do have a master’s degree in sociology, but no degrees pertaining to creative writing or journalism.

I would say that having a degree in a writing-related field would be beneficial, as I am currently teaching myself all I need to know as I go along.

I would ask a friend interested in writing if she is interested because she can write or just for a job. If she is interested in becoming a writer she will be successful. However, if she is treating it just like any other job, she will not last.

To be a successful professional writer, a person needs to be a good writer as well.

Someone who can’t write will find it nearly impossible to learn the craft without giving up in frustration, and because they are going broke. Writing is an art that requires a mental stock of reading material built over decades of reading, a love for words, and an imagination.

I plan to continue writing short stories and novels in the next five years, and I hope to have an agent. This way I can write in these forms for my main source of income. If I have to continue writing web articles, that will be fine, but I hope to be picked up by more prestigious organizations who pay more. I understand as a professional writer I need to have my hand in more than one aspect of the market to succeed. But I enjoy writing fictional stories that come from my imagination more than researching and writing nonfiction articles.

This is a true career story as told to WritingJobs.org and is one of many interviews with writing professionals which among others include a Technical Writer and a Blogger.

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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