Alana Harrington
By now, you are familiar with all the glamorous benefits associated with a writing career. Ranging from a fat paycheck to the comfort of working from home and full control over your schedule, the writing field has many likable attributes.
You might be wondering: is writing worth my time? This is a great question to help make an informed decision. It would be unwise to rush into websites such as ewritingservice.com without gauging the advantages and disadvantages of the writing field.
You require a balanced opinion before selecting between a conventional job and a freelance writing path. This article will highlight the pros and cons of writing as a career. These will help you employ proper techniques and brace for various challenges you might encounter along the way.
Pros of writing as a career
The writing field has constantly risen over the past couple of years. This increase in demand and supply of writing skills may be owing to the benefits people enjoy from this work field. Some of the benefits you may enjoy from your writing career include the following:
1. Job Flexibility
The freelance world is a skill-oriented field. As such, you can develop your skillset in a new niche and tap into the vast range of job opportunities across the globe.
Ranging from technical writing to copywriting, content marketing to academic writing, and creative writing to social media marketing, there are wide-ranging opportunities you could pursue. As such, this niche offers you the freedom to reinvent yourself and tap into the field that you find more meaningful.
2. Huge demand
The vast range of companies looking to increase their online presence has inspired a spike in demand for writers. Also, interest in novels and guides on various subjects is rife in the era of online shopping.
As such, you can easily pitch your services or start a blog and make some quids from your skills. However, ensure to determine a specific niche and learn some tips to improve your demand in a given niche.
3. Low starting cost
You may need licenses and tons of expensive machinery with other businesses to get your investment up and running. For writing, however, you only need a laptop and a stable internet connection.
Writing does not require expensive courses to master, as there are ample free resources to guide your efforts.
4. Improving your language
Practice makes perfect. Your writing career will expose you to various documents over time, improving your language as you make some bucks.
5. Potential for a high pay
Unlike the 9-5 job, writing is not subjected to the limits of a monthly stipend. Your pay as a writer increases with your experience and can be as high as the effort you are willing to put into writing.
Upon reaching an expert level and raking the reputation and reviews of expertise, you can charge premiums befitting your skillset, thus making more profits from each piece you write.
6. Skill development
The writing career will promote you to master skills in time management, writing, and field-related expertise that might come in handy. Exposure to various niches helps diversify your perspective on issues while dealing with clients and helps develop your professional interaction skills.
7. No need for special tools and software
Easy start-up is perhaps the key selling point of a writing career. Unlike other businesses, writing calls for little in the way of software to get started. With a proper mastery of language and dedicated research, you can prepare informative, high-ranking articles.
Also, many writing tools are free, making it easy to improve your work without incurring additional operating costs.
8. Control your workload
Your schedule in a contemporary job may involve huge workloads at various points of the week. A writing career, however, allows you to take on tasks you can comfortably manage depending on various commitments on your schedule.
Disadvantages of writing as a career
Although an amazing field, writing is not without its fair share of challenges. Some of the disadvantages of a writing career are:
1. Competition
The low entry barriers to writing bring about huge competition for jobs at the entry-level. As such, they are bidding for gigs as a starter may prove an upward battle. This often causes newbies to throw in the towel after some unsuccessful attempts to land their first job.
You should familiarize yourself with various tips to overcome challenges and improve your marketing skills. Also, prepare a decent portfolio to reach out to clients needing your specific skillset, crushing the competition from generalized newbies.
2. No benefits
The current job often comes with perks including but not limited to insurance, retirement plans, paid sick leave, and health insurance coverage. If you opt for a writing career, you do not enjoy these benefits.
The onus is thus on you to set aside funds for these purposes and put in ample effort to manage emergencies.
3. Burnout
With a lack of benefits, you may have to go the extra mile with your writing career. However, constant writing might be tedious and result in mental burnout.
Ideally, learn your limits and develop a schedule that protects you from burnout. Also, consider jobs that pay more to reduce the burden of the work you should handle to meet your set financial targets.
4. Work frequency
Freelancing does not offer assurances of consistent jobs. As such, you may experience dry spells and seasons where you have more work than you can comfortably handle.
This inconsistency denies the stability of conventional jobs where you are entitled to a regular monthly stipend. Although huge, irregular payments of a writing career may also be detrimental to those with poor financial planning skills.
5. It might be stressful
Writing is not an easy task. With many elements constituting a quality article, you should be dedicated to doing your research and put in adequate effort for decent results.
Tight deadlines and exposure to unfamiliar fields may also work your nerves before you overcome the learning curve.
How to become a professional writer?
To become a professional writer, one can follow a few key steps. Firstly, develop a consistent writing routine and make it a habit to write every day. Reading extensively across various genres is crucial for expanding one’s vocabulary and understanding storytelling techniques. Seeking feedback from peers or joining a writing group can help improve skills and receive constructive criticism.
Additionally, honing one’s craft can be facilitated through online creative writing classes, which offer guidance and provide opportunities to learn from experienced writers. Lastly, perseverance, resilience, and continuous learning are essential to succeed in the competitive world of professional writing.
Final take
Taking up writing as a career is a challenge you might consider if you fancy the art of writing. With time, persistence, and practice, you can build a writing empire and overcome the limitations of the conventional 9-5 job.
However, be sure to have a plan that outlines your growth through various stages and to define how you will overcome various stumbling blocks along the way.
