Freelance Writing

[Monty]

Hi everyone,

Having recently been made redundant and exploring several options for future employment, I am looking into freelance writing. It is an option i have considered in the past, but then a pesky non-writing job comes along and it gets pushed to the back of my mind (I have no professional writing experience, but i keep coming back to the idea). Well, it's an itch I feel like scratching now, and it seems a full-time job searching the web for advice and tips on how to go about it, so wondering if any of you out there have followed this career path and have any practical advice on how to go about getting started (i know - 'just write!').

It's obviously a broad subject, but any and all advice is greatly appreciated. I am aware of some of the different kinds of writing jobs out there, but I am also interested in the freelance business side of things and how to go about setting-up and dealing with financial aspects/tax/accountants etc. How did you go from thinking about doing it to actually getting out there and doing it?

Again, any constructive advice is greatly appreciated...

All the best
Monty

[jaffab]

Monty,

As with any freelancing or contracting work, the 1st step is to reduce the size of your target. I.e, what type of writing do you enjoy/think you can do? This will then dictate which direction you head, where you look for work etc. As an example, if its technical writing (manuals, specifications, etc), then there are agencies, contract web sites, etc worth looking at. If its PR work (press releases, brochures, etc) then there are different sites for work, but it is more down to to you to locate the work.

Regards

Jaffa