Writing: A Pre-Career Opportunity for Broke College Students
Writing: A Pre-Career Opportunity for Broke College Students by Marjorie McMillian
If you’re struggling to find ways to fit a part-time job in between classes, you might think that writing is a good way to fill the void. Truth be told, it is… but only if you know how to go about it the right way. Today, Belladonna’s Books offers today’s free resource for college students looking to make a living with their words.
Understand that there are many writing styles
There are many different writing styles, and these range from short stories and literature to product descriptions and long-form marketing copy. You might be great at one and terrible at the other. Be open to evaluating your writing style so that you know what types of gigs to pursue. A quick tip here: consider writing for your school’s newspaper or website, which will give you an opportunity to learn while you earn.
Represent yourself as a professional business entity
If you plan to go the marketing copy route, you’ll want to represent yourself to businesses as professionally as possible. One way to do this is to start an LLC, which offers you certain legal protections and tax benefits. An online formation service can help you get started in minutes, but not all formation services are created equal, so take a moment to check out the prices and reviews of the 7 best LLC services available to find one that suits your needs.
Write often
Grammarly asserts that writing each day can help you hone your written word skills. It can also help to set writing goals, such as writing one paragraph each morning or completing two sample articles by a certain date. When you have goals, you have something to work toward, and when you practice your writing often, you can more easily overcome early mistakes.
Take an online course
As with all skills, there are plenty of online courses out there that can help you even better refine. Look for a writing essentials class that helps you master everything from the all-important introduction to understanding the differences between writing for print and writing for the web.
Remember, freelance writing is more than grammar
Freelance writing these days often means writing for the web. In that vein of thought, you have to understand that the word you write must focus on more than just grammar and syntax. You have to consider the technical and “behind-the-scenes” goings-on of the web. Web crawlers are a great example. Search Engine Watch explains that the content businesses post has a lot to do with how they are found online. Your content has to be high-quality, readable, authoritative, and hold people’s attention for it to be truly valuable to an online publisher. It also has to appeal to the AI that “reads” the content quality queues.
Decide between being a ghost or writing under your name
In the world of freelancing, you have two options: write with a byline or look for ghostwriting opportunities. As a ghostwriter, nobody knows who you are, but your responsibilities also begin and end with writing. You’ll likely have a team of editors that can tweak and refine your work as needed, and your name isn’t attached to it if you don’t like the final outcome. Keep in mind that ghostwriting opportunities are a bit harder to come by, and it’s more difficult to grow your professional network when you’re not selling your skills under your name.
When you’re trying to pay for college but don’t want to spend your days working in the local fast-food restaurant, writing might be the way to go. But before you get started, make sure that you form an independent business structure or, at the very least, obtain your EIN. You also need to keep in mind that writing for the web is different from writing for print, and you’ll have to decide if you’re going to sell your name or if you’ll hide in the shadows. Ultimately, writing is a great way to pay the bills if you have a way with words and don’t mind pounding away at a keyboard in your off hours.
Dawn Thomas is the owner of Belladonna’s Books and Belladonna’s Garden. She regularly posts reviews on Belladonna’s Books website, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Questions? Don’t hesitate to ask!
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