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The more natural you are at making friends without asking for something back in return, the better your business will be. I’ve figured this out all on my own…imagine that! HA HA HA HA HA!

Anyway, this advice is for all those aspiring web content writers out there who have been sending me emails and asking me for advice on how to become a web content writer on the internet and free themselves from the need to look for employment so that they can lead a more fulfilling life, etc.

Well, let me clear something up here. Even when you’re a freelance web content writer, there’s no GUARANTEE that you’ll live a more fulfilling life.

But the chances are higher compared to when you’re employed, of course.

Today’s advice about being a freelance web content writer is this…make friends freely, often and be genuine. Everywhere you go, online and offline, be nice. When you’re nice to people, they like you and when they do, they ask what you do (cue: tell them that you’re a freelance web content writer), and they’ll remember.

Out of the one-hundred people you tell about your freelance web content writer business, ten will probably remember you. Two of them might have immediate business for you, three are thinking about it. There you have five people thinking about hiring you as their freelance web content writer.

The other five have your name written at the back of their minds…they probably remember you more for your nice behavior and friendliness than your catchy phrases about being a writer…but it’s there.

Somewhere down the road, two of the remaining five might have something for you, and BING! Your name crops up.

This is one of the best ways to break it into the freelance web content writing business.

Ben, this is for you since you’re the last to ask this question.

Cheers!

Love,

Marsha M

The widardrette of words @ freelance writer by choice

by Mervyn Love

The element of suspense if something readers love. It may be heavy, and it can also be light, but when you add it into your story, your readers will keep reading until they get to the resolution. And isn’t that what you want?

But my biography, or my non-fiction book on train spotting doesn’t need suspense, surely? Oh, yes it does. But more about that later.

Let’s consider the two most usual types of suspense.

First there is the ’signpost’ suspense. This is where something happens, or is said, or is described that hints at some outcome, pleasant or unpleasant, in the future. Here is an example:

‘I was shown into a dimly lit room. On one wall hung a painting. It was grimed with age, but I could make out the shapes of two people, a man and a woman. The man was holding a short sword in one hand, and as I looked, I felt a strange uneasiness creep over me. Why this was so I couldn’t tell just then, but I wanted to leave that room and never come back.’

The reader will get the message that something about this painting forbodes ill for the future in the story. Notice the phrase ‘just then’, this tells the reader that later he or she did find out. It’s a signpost, a hint of dark things to come. Your readers will keep reading to find out what it’s all about.

Next there is the ‘up to their eyes’ suspense. The Indiana Jones stories, as well as many others, show the hero or heroine ‘up to their eyes’ in some desperate physical situation that is life threatening, or at the very least may seriously damage their health. Impossible car chases and underground passages filled with rats come to mind. If you want to keep your readers frantically turning pages you need to keep them in fraught situations throughout in order to build up the suspense.

Sometimes the suspense is a little less fraught with physical danger. For instance in a romance story you can keep your readers in a state of agitation which hangs on whether the heroine is going to marry the rich squire or turn him down for the penniless farmers son.

What about the biography or non-fiction book? Believe it or not, the same applies to them. For example:

‘When I was 17 I longed to join the Army and fight for my country. So I went down to the recruiting office, lied about my age, and got enlisted. If only I had known what this decision would have made to my life and to that of my parents, I would never have been so rash.’

You can see that readers will want to find out how this decision changed all those lives.

‘One of the most serious forms of blight is orange spot. Many gardeners say it can’t be cured but I’m going to let you into my own secret cure later in this chapter.’

It’s a good idea to plan at what point the suspense occurs and at what point it is resolved. In all probability the object of suspense and it’s resolution in a short story may be the reason for the story in the first place. In a book you may want to have a series of suspenseful situations throughout. Make sure these suspenseful episodes vary in intensity, though, as we don’t want readers in a state of near apoplexy from cover to cover!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mervyn Love offers writers advice, resources, competition listing, markets and much more on his website. Go here: http://www.writersreign.co.uk Subscribe to his free Article Writing Course here: http://www.writersreign.co.uk/WRac.html

I received a question like this from one of my websites? Hhhhmmm….how should I say this? OF COURSE YOU DO!!!

I would say that being a freelance writer or a contract web content writer, you don’t, TECHNICALLY, need a website that tells the world that you’re a freelance writer or a web content writer. But listen, this is something you ought to consider very seriously, indeed. It’s a big undertaking and it’s probably not going to be an overnight thing – an overnight freelance writer’s website is not going to be worth a second look, anyway, so don’t waste your time if this is what you’re aiming for.

We’re living in a digital world and freelance writers rely heavily on how digitally visible you are on the Internet. Not only do freelance writers need a website of their own but almost all types of businesses need a website of their own…at the very least, a good blog.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a journalist or a technical writer, this is going to be where you post most of your work, get the traffic in, sell yourself and your services and probably gain a lot of online presence where potential clients will can take a look at some of the samples that you’ve done in the past. Those past freelance writing gigs says a lot, for your information.

Realistically speaking, not a lot of people would invest time and money on a freelance writer who hasn’t, at least, got something to show them. At the end of the day, you’re pitching yourself against some of the cheapest (and I am not saying best or top quality) freelance writers from some of the countries where the cost of living is low and the survival rate is nothing compared to outs.

In your personal freelance writer website, you’re going to be putting up stuff that saves your potential clients time as well because they don’t need to worry about downloading files the size of the planet and don’t eat up the space on their email account. It’s annoying…and the last thing you want to do is to annoy your potential freelance writing clients.

So, yes. You ABSOLUTELY need a freelance writer website of your own.

Fine. If you don’t have the time or expertise to build a complete freelance writer website of your own, fine. Get yourself one of those free blogs….wordpress, blogger, typepad, blogspirit, bravejournal….whatever it is, get it and post your freelance writing examples, samples, portfolio in there. describe yourself as a freelance writer and convince the potential clients why they should choose YOU instead of your archenemy…archrival….

Having a website of your own can really give your freelance career a boost. Do it and do it now if you want to have an edge over your competitors (and there are tens of thousands…millions, even, of them out there waiting to take your pie out from under your nose).

Note: You are free to republish this article in your website/blog/ezine/magazine, but please include the following by line after the article WITHOUT REMOVING THE LINKS. Thank you.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marsha Maung is a Malaysian-based freelance writer with two kids. She spends her time ferrying her kids around, watering her plants, writing web content, SEO stuff, ghostwriting books and also indulges in the occasional Facebook-ing. Visit her blog for more dirty details on the life and times of a mother, writer, designer, housekeeper, coffee-maker, poop-wiper, chef…and just about everything else under the sun.

There are moments when this writer’s mind draws a complete blank. During those moments, I would usually be staring into empty space wondering why I am not thinking, not working, not typing anything and sitting there seemingly to age without a reason. I try to write….I seriously do. I put my fingers on the keyboard and force myself forward….write, write, write! You’re a writer, write, damn it! This is supposed to be a piece of cake for you!

But no. Nothing comes out.

During moments like this, I wish there was something I could place to my temples, press a button and zap my brains alive. But I know that if I continue to sit there staring at my keyboard and computer screen, eventually, I will find myself in Facebook again. And if I do that, I would regret it, chastise myself for being stupid and lazy.

The best thing this writer could do is to stop writing altogether! Yes, stop writing, get my butt off the chair, and go peel some potatoes. Well, cooking inspires me so if you’re a writer with the same career-numbing condition, then go do something that inspires you. Anyway, there really isn’t any point in trying to write anything when the words aren’t coming along, don’t you think.

It’s like….you can’t force a painter to paint when he/she is not inspired. Nothing will come out and if something does, it was be mediocre at best.

I strongly suggest writers give themselves a solid pat on the back when facing such a dilemma and then just walk out of the working place…wherever that is. Removing yourself from the difficult situation wil, most of time, cause of the inspiration to start pouring in again.

If you’re an aspiring freelance writer looking for tips on how to start, run and manage your own freelance writing work-at-home career, I’ve got a tip for you today. Iron everything out right from the start. Lay down the ground rules, the foundation and never waver, if you possibly can, from the deposit rule. Take a deposit before you start work.

Laying down the rules takes some practice and some experience because each project, each client is different. The most important thing to make clear is the issue about communication and delivery, timeline and expected responsibilities. Most of the freelance writing jobs out there are pretty straight-forward. You deliver as and when you’re done. When the deposit is used up, you ask for more. They don’t top it up, you don’t continue writing. 

I know it’s hard to lay down this rule when your freelance career is just starting up but trust me, this is the right footing to start the biz on. Maintain your ground and keep to it….if they don’t like it, they leave…don’t worry, another one will come along. Too many times this has happened to me and most of the time, I let it fly by because it’s a calculated risk but if I could do it again, rewind time and do it all over again, I wish someone would have told me this before.

Start out on the right footing with your freelance writing clients and you’ll have them for life….well, for as long as they remain in business, that is.

Basically, what I usually do on a weekend is pig out. During the week day, this freelance writer is not to drink a single drop of alcoholic concoction, limited to only one cup of coffee per day and no more than 7 ciggs. During the weekends (beginning Friday), I’ll let everything AND I MEAN EVERYTHING hang loose…which includes my kids’ homework and their Nintendo play time. I know, yikes!

Here’s what I’m driving at, actually. I am thinking along the lines of not touching a single document of my clients’ work on Saturday and Sunday because I would like to spend that time with my kids and my family. If you’re a freelance writer starting out in the writing game, bear this in mind….it’ll save you a whole lot of problem later on…most of them related to your health and mental stability!

You see, when you give yourself a rest and stop doing your freelance work even when you’re home and you have time available, you will be in a better position to recharge yourself. Recharging is crucial to your productivity, mind you, because if you’re not in the perfect frame of mind, what you’re going to produce is a bunch of crap which the client might hate. And you don’t want that…seriously don’t want that.

But a freelance writer like me who is also a workaholic might find refraining or keeping away from work a big ALMIGHTY challenge! It’s like the computer’s there and it’s calling you, beckoning you to finish up just ‘one more article’ before playing with your kids or reading that book. But a freelance writer’s got to do what a freelance writer’s got to do….refrain and abstain from working.

So, my advice for you beginners today would be to know your own limit and toe the boundaries. If you don’t, the line between home and work will be blurred and frankly speaking, that’s when the trouble starts!

A friend of mine recently wrote to me telling me that she’s having one of the worst cases of writer’s block….EVER! She can’t seem to get a word out on paper…nor on her computer. I told her to take a break. She did. And she still couldn’t write. This friend of mine is new to the writing business, she’s been at it for about a year and I would have to say that in terms of creative writing, she’s good! Pretty darn good.

But what happens is that I asked her to review her outline and see if she can try to twist things around a little, to give her writing a little bit more….erm, well, to suit her mood at the moment.

She asks, “What outline?” (more…)

Regardless of how long a freelance writer has been in the business or churning out articles, copy or web content for clients, it is important for that writer to continue to grow. It’s true that once you’ve been writing for a long time or been in business for a considerable number of years, chances are, you would’ve had loads of experience under your belt. But this does not translate into gloating or staying idle on the growth front.

Reading is one of the best ways to help you, as a freelance writer grow! So, don’t stop reading.

Grow your grammar as a freelance writer

If you’ve not taken note of this before, now is a good time to explore this now. Take a look at the latest articles that you’ve been writing so far. Do you see that there’s a pattern? Are there particular words that you see being used too many times within that same article? Do you tend to repeat the same style – to an extent that you appear to be locked in a gridlock as far as being flexible in your writing is concerned?

Reading can help you grow your grammar and make you more flexible when you write. (more…)