Easy tips to jump start a career in freelance writing

MCG — In this age of corporate penny-pinching, everyone could use some extra cash. Whether you have five minutes or five hours, the passion to write can bring in extra income — not to mention bragging rights. That’s welcome news for the unemployed and for working people watching helplessly as their 401(k) shrinks to a 2011/2(b).

If you think you can’t be a freelance writer in this economic climate, think again. A tough economy can actually benefit freelancers. As publishers are reeling from higher postal rates, newsstand circulation drop-off and an adverse advertising market, editorial staffs are dwindling as organizations seek to save money by outsourcing work.

“You don’t have to be born into a literary family, to have attended college or have had a traumatic childhood,” says David Taylor, former executive editor at Rodale Press and author of “The Freelance Success Book: Insider Secrets for Selling Every Word You Write” (Peak Writing Press). “You just have to want it — then go out and get the techniques that let you do it.”

Melissa Walker, 26, of Brooklyn, New York, a successful full-time freelance writer for several magazines, says the work has always appealed to her because it can be done on her own time. “Time became such a precious commodity in my life — I was always running to and from work and social obligations,” she says. “I thought that if I just sat at a desk at home, I could be on my own clock.”

Even setting aside just one hour per day to pursue a freelance writing career part time can be highly profitable. Think about it: Writing one article per month with an average sale of $500 can equal $6,000 of extra income at the end of the year.

According to Taylor, a Ph.D., you don’t have to choose between writing and doing your laundry, grocery shopping, gardening and any of your other goals and obligations. Your goal should be to make room for writing every day, no matter how much or how little you have to do.

The first step for all freelancers is targeting: Select a specific publication, study it to determine the editorial formula at work, then write to fit. “That’s the secret,” Taylor says. “Breaking the editor’s code means your piece will fit — and will sell.”

Here are Taylor’s five tips for being productive:

1. Set a timer. Try 15 to 20 minutes at first, and increase it as you practice. Your stamina — and writing skills — will grow as you practice.

2. Never stop. Don’t stop moving your pen or fingers until the period is over.

3. Make a mess. It’s okay to write fast and sloppy. Your goal is simply to get words on paper.

4. Reduce or eliminate visual reinforcement. Darken your computer screen, or try writing with a blank pen over carbon paper. The idea is to break the habit of editing as you write, allowing you to focus first on content and worry about correctness later.

5. Set a specific writing goal. Whether your goal is one paragraph or three pages, don’t stop until you’ve accomplished it. Now you have something to work with. It’s rough, but the monster of the blank page has been vanquished.

Most of all, write every day. “There’s only one reason people can’t write as well as they speak: practice,” says Taylor. “If we wrote as much as we talked, we could do both with equal facility.”

For more writing tips or to order “The Freelance Success Book,” visit www.freelancesuccessbook.com or call toll-free (866) 921-1121.