Freelance Writing Jobs

If you have a way with words and are looking for a work from home opportunity, freelance writing jobs may be just right for you. The Internet has revolutionized home job opportunities for writers. Let us take a look at various online freelance writing jobs and how you can create a niche for yourself as a technical writer.

Work from Home Opportunity

Writing jobs are not restricted to fiction and long tomes. You can get yourself a foothold in an online publishing house as a copywriter, proofreader or content creator. The gamut of activities could include editing books and other publications and proof reading publishing material.

You can weave magic with words for corporate newsletters, magazines and e-zines. Creating scripts for videos and documentaries is yet another writing opportunity that you can consider. Creating content for web sites is another rewarding profession. If you are a traveling enthusiast, then consider writing articles for travel magazines. Home-based writing consultants have combined the freedom of freelancing with creativity and profit.

Online Freelance Writing Jobs

With many writers taking to Internet freelance writing, the market has become highly competitive and you need to prove your mettle to maintain the edge. Freelance online writers do not work for any fixed employer but undertake contract work for projects independently. It is essential to negotiate the terms and conditions of the work assignments - rate, delivery schedules, payment pattern and regularity of work.

Before you negotiate your pay rate with a client, find out what other writers receive for similar work.You may be brimming with ideas for articles. But learn to identify the market need. It pays to develop your skills into potentially rewarding areas.

Before embarking on freelance writing for online publications, check out their guidelines carefully. You can post your work for free in some sites whilst some others may pay a small fee. Another strategy followed by many a successful online freelance writer is to build your own web site to market and generate interest in your kind of writing.

Freelancing writing jobs can involve regular writing assignments with online publications or bidding for freelance writing contracts. There are many job sites that provide online freelance writers with different kinds of writing opportunities.

You can take this up as a home business opportunity - set yourself up with a computer and Internet access and conduct a successful venture that takes care of web site content creation, updating it as well as creating newsletters and conducting and moderating debates on discussion boards. Identify your area of interests and specialization. You may be required to prepare corporate image brochures, training manuals, marketing manuals, press releases and promotional booklets.

Find out web sites, online directories and e-commerce sites that would require your services. Online freelance writing jobs are auctioned on many job sites. The Internet has broken the barriers of distance and you are no longer restricted to taking up local writing assignments. You can look for freelance writing jobs - either one time or recurring or even full-time ones that can be beneficial for both sides. Some job sites allow freelance writers to register their profiles and credentials for prospective employers.

Freelance Job Technical Writing

Technical writing involves compiling scientific and technical information for an audience that is non-technical. Technical writers need to use concise and easy-to-read language. It is essential to analyze the requirements of the target audience, be it consumers, production managers or workers.

Technical documents can include operating and maintenance manuals, catalogs as well as sales promotion material. It can also extend to preparing operating and maintenance manuals, catalogs and project proposals. Some technical writers concentrate on specific industries such as computers, health care or manufacturing. Technical writing opportunities for the computer industry require the candidate to be specialized in software documentation, tutorials and user manuals.

It is hard to define what constitutes an ideal style for all occasions. Microsoft, the software giant has brought out Microsoft Manual of Style a compendium of guidelines for their technical writers and technical editors. Sometime back version 3 was available for free download in the form of compiled Help format (CHM) from the Microsoft download center.

Technical writing job can also encompass online documentation, multimedia presentations and product installation manuals. Information gathering and organizing is an integral part of a technical writer's job. The job involves thorough understanding of the product through interviews and analysis of data. This type of writing is either done in-house by a technical writing team or the job is outsourced.

Freelance writers who are adept at putting complex technical ideas in a simpler form for laymen can take up this work from home opportunity. This may not be restricted to merely technical manuals but can also extend to marketing brochures and online media too. Web site content and Help and FAQ sections have to be suitably created to aid online users in understanding technical specifications and jargon. Familiarity and ease with word processing and desktop publishing software are essential skills when considering freelance jobs for technical writing.

Aspects of Technical Writing: It all starts with the brief - a clear document which states what is required. It shows the scope of the documentation in clear precise terms - at least in theory. Often in practice, this step can be the most nebulous. Unless you start with a clear well defined objective, you will get nowhere. In military language, this can result in Mission Creep. Over a period of time, before the documentation project nears its completion, the scope would have increased several magnitude resulting in unacceptable delay.

Next in step would be trying to assimilate the technical information from the Project team. Aim to get as much information as possible. It is an art to extract the information from the technical team as most often the complete overall scheme of things will invariably rest with the technical Architect. Get documents, schematics, diagrams, maps and the actual software for eventual verifications as part of the information extraction process.

As we have covered in another part of writing for the web article, the process of collating the information is the most mission critical part. Once this step is covered, it is left to the technical writer to come up with a lucid document fulfilling all the primary objective. Decide well in advance who the target audience will be.

The documentation will need to address the audience - make it easy for them to feel - a part of the module. If your target audience are house wives and you are writing an User Manual for the most advanced cooking gadget since the invention of fire, don't get carried away by the technical innovation. She, the end user will not be happy to read your hyperventilation about the 2.4 GHZ CPU controlling the stepper motors that in turn move the face of the grill...

She will be interested to know why the godforsaken gadget she spent a fortune on didn't grill her turkey the way her neighbor's 15 year old charcoal fired grill does. Tell her that her gadget needs 240 V Mains supply and not the 110 V AC mains she has in her yard.

At the end of it all, pause and read your work. If you have added a lot of information that will do no good to the end user, then excise the superfluous information. Rewrite again. Technical writing is all about writing technically. The more iterations you do, the better will be the end product - well for the beginners...
As for the seasoned technical writers, you won't be reading this article anyway.