Freelance: Developing Your Writing Skills

As a freelance writer, it’s up to you to do what you can to develop and improve your writing skills. As you write more, you will become better at it, so the first thing you want to realize is that just by getting gigs, you’re going to be improving and developing your writing skills. This will mean that you can take on more gigs too.

Take a Course

There are numerous courses you can take through your local community college or university, or online through a site like Udemy.com, to help you develop your writing skills. Courses are a great way to give you the structure you need to learn more, but it’s not always necessary to have a course to accomplish learning. However, it can be a great shortcut to learning if you know what types of things you need to work on.

Get More Feedback

Once you start working with clients, or you have readers that read your work before you publish, make it a habit to get feedback. Send a message to them automatically asking for feedback so that you can improve your writing.

Learn from Others

There are people who are already freelance writers making a lot of money doing this. Because of that, you know it’s possible. And because of that, you can follow them and learn from them. Don’t feel as if you must reinvent the wheel to become a successful freelance writer.

Hire a Coach

If you really want to develop your writing skills, hire a writing coach that is skilled in the type of writing you already do. They can help you learn what you need to work on to get better at your genre of writing.

Join a Community

It always helps to build a community around the things you love in your life. Join a writing community of other writers who enjoy the same type of writing and career you do. They’ll share their trials and tribulations, and you can learn from each other.

Communicate More with Your Clients

You’ll get better at producing the work your clients want when you open the communication with them. Talk to them about their expectations, about whether you met them, and what you can do better.

Get More Comfortable with the Writing Process

The thing that many people don’t realize when they first want to write as a freelancer is that there is a process of writing. When you learn the process and follow the process, you become better at doing it expertly.

Use the Tools of the Trade

Today, aside from a pen and paper, there are tools of the writing trade that you probably will want to invest in. A good computer or laptop, an ergonomic area to work in, writing software, editing software, and so forth will all make your writing life go much more smoothly.

Work on the Other Skills You Need to Be a Freelancer Too

In addition to working on and developing your writing skills, you need to continuously work on the other skills you need to be a professional freelance writer. Skills like time management, editing, researching, technology, networking, and marketing are all essential skills for the freelancer.

Practice

The best way to improve how you write is to write more often. There is no such thing as writer’s block because a writer writes. What if you went to the pharmacy to ask them for a recommendation for medication, and they said, “Oh sorry, I have a block today.” This would not be acceptable. To become a better writer and develop the writing skills that will carry you to success, you need to write as often as possible.

Developing your writing skills is a process, just like learning anything. Start where you are, work on improving what you’re already good at, and then dive in and work on the things you’re not good at doing – while focusing on what you are good at doing naturally so that you can start making money from your writing now.