When you are a freelance writer most of the work you create is for an audience of more than one and this should be taken into account. The first step in improving your freelance writing is to understand you are writing for more than an audience of one.
Different kinds of people have different kinds of personalities. Different likes and dislikes, needs and even wants are all combined into an audience. If you can carry on a decent conversation with when talking to different people then you can write good copy. The difference is you are having a one way conversation which makes it easy to drift off subject. Don’t allow yourself to do that. Be conversational and write as if you are having a conversation with someone.
Develop your own individualized voice or way of speaking. Make your writing reflect your personality and what you are. People will begin to recognize your voice (your writing voice) and you will be easily understood. Make your material rich with valuable subject matter material. If you need to research information, by all means do so.
Occasionally linking to another writer’s information, article, journal or magazine is perfectly okay. The more you know and the more information you have to share with your readers the more of an expert you will be looked upon. The more you know the more knowledge you will gain and the closer to an expert you will be. After receiving this status your readers will be looking for every article you write.
Every article should contain a theme. Stick to your theme. The theme of this article is ways you can improve your freelance writing to make more money. Many times a writer may stray from the main theme of their article. This may not be a bad thing to flush out ideas for other articles. Proofread as you go along as well as after writing your article.
If you find you have strayed from the theme into another context and that other context makes for another article, take that extra and write another article. Sometimes you may find three or four paragraphs already written for the next article getting you off to a good start. Freelance writing to make money also means writing a lot of content and great ideas are always a bonus.
The title is the theme and should draw you back to the theme or focus of the article if you become distracted. Refer back to the title if you believe you may have drifted off task. Keywords should be used for your articles which should be included in your title. These keywords or phrases should be used three or four times throughout the content for every 400-500 words. Allow the keywords or keyword phrases to flow naturally throughout the material. If you discover you haven’t used the keyword enough in your content after review, rewrite some sentences to include the keyword or phrases in a natural flow of your words.
Many freelance writers that struggle with copy writing have a difficult time because they may not have the skills or the practice with writing in short crisp paragraphs. Paragraphs should normally be no more than five sentences. An average of 4-5 is great. There may be times when you have a thought that fits 2-3. Don’t sweat it. If the tone calls for it, use it. If you have a paragraph slightly longer the article will survive, but try to stay around 4-5 sentences if possible.
Many writers will tell you if you don’t have a paragraph supplying information valuable to the reader to ditch it. Get rid of it because it doesn’t add value. This is true in some cases. Some paragraphs may not be packed with information, but are necessary to the flow of the article. However, don’t have articles simply full of fluff.
Always make certain you are writing information that is beneficial for the reader and minus a lot of fluff. Fluff is what separates a lot of good writers from great ones. Mediocre writers will add a lot of information that isn’t relevant or needed by the reader simply to make a short article longer, this is fluff.
Make your article short and to the point. You don’t want to sound as if you aren’t speaking naturally or appear rude either. Another aspect of a good writer is making it short and to the point, but with a good flow or tone. Readers appreciate reading articles that are full of information minus the fluff with short paragraphs and easy to understand.
Edit your work continually. Reread paragraphs while you write. Reread sentences within paragraphs. Rearrange paragraphs if needed. Delete paragraphs if needed or save them for another article. Editing your work will make you a better freelance writer which will make you more money.
These are more methods to improve your freelance writing to make more money, don’t take them as the gospel. However, use them as a guideline for better writing to make your earnings increase as a freelance writer.
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I tend to drift away from the theme or title a lot of times but I never thought of using that as another article.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the help!