It’s important that you write well. You don’t have to be one of the best writers in the world; you do need to write clearly and with very few punctuation, grammar, and spelling errors. You can learn to do this by applying yourself to the study of the English language and proper writing techniques.
And learning to write well will increase your productivity and boost your freelance writing career. Here’s how.
1. You Will Sell More Work for More Money
The better you write, the more editors will buy what you sell, and the more they’ll pay you for it. You will also save time by marketing less because editors who know the quality of your work will come to you with assignments; you won’t have to chase after them begging for work.
2. You Will Increase Your Writing Speed
You’ll write much quicker when you are comfortable with your craft. Your brain won’t bring you to a screeching halt to ask whether or not you used a comma correctly, or if a verb agrees with its subject.
3. You Will Increase Your Editing Speed
When you write well, your first draft is in much better shape than when you don’t write well, so editing of subsequent drafts goes much quicker.
4. You Will Enjoy Writing More
You’ll get greater satisfaction out of the writing process because you’ll know what you’re doing. You’ll also be more satisfied with your finished work.
Suggestions..
1. Spend at least one hour a week studying the craft of writing; more time is even better.
2. Join a writer’s critique group. Members read each others work and then make corrections and suggestions. There are certainly several in your area. Ask local writers, and at bookstores and libraries. Also check the Internet.
(This post is based on Chapter 19, “Learn to Write Well,” from the e-book Intelligent Productivity For Freelance Writers: Manage Your Time, Make More Money, and Get More Enjoyment From Life.)
Do you agree with what I say? Disagree? Are there other benefits of writing well?
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
If anything is worth doing, it’s worth doing well.
Here’s a link to a post called “Why Your Copy Isn’t Converting.”
I found it to be relevant to your topic. Enjoy!
http://www.copyblogger.com/smart-people-copy-conversion/
Nikolas Allen´s last blog ..Kicking The Habit: Coffee
Nikolas, thanks for the link to copyblogger. I’m a regular reader, but didn’t catch that post.
And your right — if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. The trick is to know when good is good enough. That will be a future post on this blog.
Totally agree John, and you said it well, following your own suggestions. I’ll be back.
A
Anne Wayman´s last blog ..Invoicing For Freelance Writers and Editors
Thanks for dropping by Anne. Your blog’s been on my RSS reader for a long time.
John, just tried to tweet the article and it was using the very long url… is that normal? Too long for a tweet.
Anne Wayman´s last blog ..Invoicing For Freelance Writers and Editors
Shoot. Is the title over 140 characters? I should have shortened the actual blog title before I posted.
You can use URL shorteners, if you are comfortable with them.
Thanks for thinking of me!
Anne, I just followed you on Twitter. I’m @TheJohnSoares if you’d like to follow me.