Sonya 1Basic Freelance Writing Skills
August 3rd 2010 19:20
Freelance Writing Jobs ran an article today on 10 Skills Freelance Writers Must Have if They Want to Succeed.
These are the first three skills listed:
1. Spell
2. Follow Grammar Rules
3. Proofread
At first I thought, those are a bit obvious. Of course you need to be able to spell, know your grammar and proofread your work as a freelance writer. Then I remembered all the badly written travel articles and blog posts I come across on a daily basis. The shortcomings they have in common: poor spelling, a neglect for basic grammar rules and no proofreading whatsoever, by the looks of them. So while those writing skills struck me as not even worth mentioning at first, I had to agree with Susan on second thought.
Now I'd go even further: If you struggle with spelling and grammar and consider proofreading a waste of time, may I suggest you should rethink your career choice? Freelance writing is difficult even if your brain comes with a built-in spell checker and you have a black belt in irregular verbs. These three basic skills are non-negotiable for a successful freelance writing career.
Read Susan's post to find out what the other seven freelance writing skills are.
These are the first three skills listed:
1. Spell
2. Follow Grammar Rules
3. Proofread
At first I thought, those are a bit obvious. Of course you need to be able to spell, know your grammar and proofread your work as a freelance writer. Then I remembered all the badly written travel articles and blog posts I come across on a daily basis. The shortcomings they have in common: poor spelling, a neglect for basic grammar rules and no proofreading whatsoever, by the looks of them. So while those writing skills struck me as not even worth mentioning at first, I had to agree with Susan on second thought.
Now I'd go even further: If you struggle with spelling and grammar and consider proofreading a waste of time, may I suggest you should rethink your career choice? Freelance writing is difficult even if your brain comes with a built-in spell checker and you have a black belt in irregular verbs. These three basic skills are non-negotiable for a successful freelance writing career.
Read Susan's post to find out what the other seven freelance writing skills are.
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Comment by Stephen Clover
Christianity Forever
I'm afraid to say that a lot of people are paid peanuts to write these articles, and when you pay peanuts you get monkeys writing them.
If editors were able to pay a proper pay rate the grammar and spelling problems would literally correct themselves overnight.
Good money will attract good and better writers.
Stephen
Comment by Sonya 1
Freelance Tips
Writing Words
The Write Factor? I like it. With Stephen Fry as main judge? Yes, I can definitely see that.
[edit: Where's the comment gone? Weird?]