Our Freelance Writing Needs Defined
We must make freelance niche types fit our needs, wants, values and lifestyles, and we also must make ourselves fit freelance niche types. Of our waking hours, we work more than we do anything else. I keep this in mind when college students come to me concerned about what to do for a living, and I tell them (because I want them happy) to do what they love. I also tell them (because I believe in the truth) to do what they are good at.
The same goes for freelance writers. If we are talented, we have a chance. If we have a severe work ethic we have a better chance. And if we are devoted enough and relentless enough (and??ahem--masochistic enough) about writing for a living, we will be able to put on our vitaes that we are indeed professional writers. But in order to do and be so, we best find the freelance writing niche types or type we will be spectacular at, staking out a corner in the niche market, one which we??ll bring passion to every morning as that damned alarm (later a wonderful thing) sounds.
Niche Defined
From the Italian-derived French for nicchia, "a shell-like recess in a wall," a niche is an inset, concave enclosure. It is this little enclosure we freelance writers need to find, study, practice, and own. It is the small area of specialty we make ours and offer to those in need. So the smaller (and therefore the less competitive) the better.
We in the freelance writing business and those of us working to get into it have plenty of industries to work with:
Advertising
B2B (Business to Business)
B2C (Business to Customer/Client)
Entertainment
Finance
Medicine
Non-profit
Publishing (online/offline)
Recreation
Research/Marketing
Real Estate
Science
Technology
Niche Types Defined
And for every industry there are tens of freelance writing niche types:
Creative Writing- I??ll say again from my lofty loft of opinions that I believe all writing is creative, as it is generative. My point is affirmed when we look at all of the kinds of writing projects a creative freelancer can do or get into, from magazine articles about bushwackers and George Bush to books about needlepoint and pine cone needles and needling family members to??
Ghost Writing- Ghost writing is a popular preferred choice of many clients, even those who have hung out a writer shingle (or banner) and outsource the assignments, collect them, pay us (hopefully well), and put their own names on the work, be it a booklet or a book, a piece of web copy or a piece of ad copy.
Proposal and Business Plan Writing- For profit or not, businesses need writers to create proposals that show need and get that need satisfied??monetarily. As there is with all freelance writing niche types, with proposal and plan writing a freelancer has the skill sets and experience to prepare documents that will be convincing enough that if the client needs hot soup sold in hell the writer will be able to deliver. I have written two successful proposals and a number of grant proposal reports (that ensured continuation of the grant). They are somewhat interesting, but only to those writers with a particular finesse for a cross between technical and creative/dynamic writing.
PR (Public Relations) Writing- PR writers do concept copy or concept to completion work in a number of media, writing ad copy, doing the layout, and designing such items as brochures, newsletters, press releases, media kits, and more, to achieve the ultimate goal for the client: name branding.
Technical Writing- Involving everything technical, from professional, consumer, and user manuals to white papers, technical writing depends upon a writer??s ability to organize, synchronize, structure, and develop the details of technical content.
Web Content Writing- To meet the client??s goals of web presence and online branding using highly trafficked, sticky websites/pages, the web content developer or producer writes what are known as KRPs, keyword-rich pages. This particular wave of freelance niche types was discovered (years ago) to be most beneficial as SEO, search-engine optimizing/optimized/ optimization, text (or content).
While I also specialize in mental health/disability writing and creative and memoir writing, web content development is one of my favorite freelance niche types. To get the keywordphrase keywordphrase keywordphrase construction clear, engaging, and entertaining while keeping it from doing a hideous grammatical/ rhetorical pileup is a challenge I look forward to every morning.
Hey, it beats the alarm clock jangling, signaling the dread of having to punch a card at a factory or see the boss off to work so I can clean her toilets and scrub her floors. Of course, there's no shame in those jobs?. I did them for years to get through grad school. But that's more to do with the other definition of niche: "the status of an organism within its environment/community, affecting its survival as a species."
And besides, I love writing so much, much more. It's a much better fit, one I wish for all of you who adore the writing process as much as I adore it.*
--------------------------------------------------------
*If this is the case, you definitely need to check out the pages on my site with web content and writing niche samples, articles that exemplify good, tight, even humorous writing and that are about writing at the same time.
Works Consulted
Bly, Robert W.. Secrets of a Freelance Writer: How to Make $85,000 a Year. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1988.
Hyperdictionary. WEBNOX CORP., 2000-2003 7 Dec. 2004.
Konradt, Brian. "Creating a Specialty." Write from Home. < http://www.writefromhome.com/writingtradearticles/145. htm> 7 Dec. 2004.
N.H.-born prize-winning poet, creative nonfiction writer, memoirist, and award-winning Assoc. Prof. of English, Roxanne is also web content and freelance writer/founder of http://www.roxannewrites.com, a support site for academic, memoir, mental disability, and creative writers who need a nudge, a nod, or just ideas?of which Roxanne has 1,000s, so do stop in for a visit, as this sentence can't possibly get any longer?.
whole house cleaning Deerfield ..Or do you?Writers write. You shouldn't wait around for inspiration... Read More
Anyone who has read any of my articles on the... Read More
The decision to publish a book is very exciting! It... Read More
Effective screenwriting relies on the good understanding and use of... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?We all tackle plotting differently. How you... Read More
Chaos and confusion come when established rules and procedures are... Read More
Don't they drive you nuts?You can visit all the rules... Read More
Productivity begins by recognizing and valuing your brilliance, time, and... Read More
Do you love someone very deeply? A spouse, son, daughter,... Read More
Typically when falling asleep in bed at night great thoughts... Read More
Hands up all those who'd like to have a successful... Read More
Back in my school days, if the teacher demanded a... Read More
Rudolph Flesch, a pioneering advocate of readability, put great stock... Read More
To write books for readers at an elementary reading level... Read More
There's a little known secret we writers like to keep... Read More
You might not need any memoir writing help, per se,... Read More
A writer can never be self indulgent whether writing fiction,... Read More
Traditionally, business writing uses the "one thing after another" format,... Read More
All Writers need the press, especially new writers. As a... Read More
You have a great idea for a poem, a story,... Read More
(Skip directly to ten for the fastest shortcut!)Like any field,... Read More
'Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented... Read More
My bookcase take up one whole wall in the family... Read More
I've seen it time and again. One of the most... Read More
1. PLAY A GAME LIKE SOLITAIRE....for half an hour or... Read More
home cleaning services Des Plaines ..Questions and answers on writing life experiences for ourselves and... Read More
Since the headline is the first contact your readers have... Read More
Is there a book inside of you? Yes? Then why... Read More
Choosing the wrong words can have a poor effect on... Read More
Yes, you know your subject. You also need to think... Read More
William Faulkner, the great Mississippi writer, said, "The tools I... Read More
There is no doubt that a staff writer enjoys advantages... Read More
In large publishing houses, many manuscripts penned by first-time authors,... Read More
There are so many ways for writers to make good... Read More
Language Training - A key to Global CommunicationLanguage Training is... Read More
I'm willing to bet that quite a number of you... Read More
You have a great idea for a poem, a story,... Read More
Every writer expends a great deal of creative energy developing... Read More
Freewriting is a release from the prison of rules. It... Read More
Mixing and mingling with industry professionals is an opportunity that... Read More
In my ten years as an advertiser, I've encountered plenty... Read More
Started a book and then got bogged down? Like many... Read More
At first, I noticed that I could have written many... Read More
"This is just brilliant. The whole interview is incredible? I'm?... Read More
Why should you consider creating a memoir of your personal... Read More
Without denigrating the work and contribution of Syd Field to... Read More
1. Remember publication is a business; writing is an art.... Read More
Have you ever considered writing a book? If so, maybe... Read More
BAITED, BATEDBaited usually refers to traps or snares. When the... Read More
When one population in one century survived five wars, two... Read More
Writing |