After several years of establishing a working environment at home, I’m finally convinced that the best place to be a writer is right here, in my cozy little home office located somewhere between the kitchen and the living room. It’s quiet enough for me to be productive within my established work schedule, and close enough to get to see my family/the fridge when I’m feeling lonely/famished.
I’m kidding (well, mostly). Some writers feel the need to travel to be inspired, while others love spending all day in a coffee shop with their caffeinated prose. As for me, I like carving out my own personal bubble within a bigger space where I feel at home, safe, and surrounded by inspiring things that can help me write for my clients.
So yeah, basically, I write for a living, but it’s not a cut and dried thing because I don’t consider myself a published author, or even a professional copywriter. I am for the most part a freelancer, usually dealing with content creation for clients’ businesses, and just recently, something more creative along the lines of greeting card copy. I also do some blogging on the side. I think I’m more of a jack-of-all-trades of home-based writing, actually.
I discovered that there are five types of writers that many of us work-from-home people fall under, so I’m listing them down here and providing resources for those who may be able to use them.
1) The Researcher/Academic Writer
Anyone with a home based writer job typically has to do research work for a client prior to submitting articles for them. This usually necessitates pulling up a bunch of sources online, making an outline for the article, and then fleshing it out with words to meet a word count or deadline.
That, however, is not what I mean by “The Researcher”. In stark contrast, this one knows all about writing essays, dissertations, thesis statements, and of course, full research papers - including their outline, proposal, and summary. So if you think you have what it takes to research and write about any subject, complete with citations, references, and footnotes, consider getting in touch with Ultius. They are currently looking for freelance academic style writers with “at least a 4-year degree from an accredited, US-based college or university or be in active pursuit of such a degree”, along with a set of general requirements.
2) The Poet
Of course, I could argue that most published poets can choose to write flowery verses in the comfort of their own homes while sipping wine or smoking a cigar too, the way I imagine Robert Frost or EE Cummings did. However, I’m thinking more of a contemporary setting, like the one I have at home, complete with cat hair and the delicious smells of microwave dinners next door.
As I previously mentioned, I have recently embarked on a journey towards greeting card content writing, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the process of coming up with possible contributions that are witty, creative, artistic, and just a teensy bit risqué (which I daresay most great poems are). If you, like me, think you’re poetic enough to be in the business of greeting card-writing, join me as we dive into the depths of NobleWorks Cards writers’ guidelines.
3) The Business Writer
A home based writer friend of mine specializes in business writing, which I envy. He has the kind of professional background and enough business jargon to intimidate me, with my sarcastic (bordering on the weird) sense of humor.
I am in no way proficient in business technology writing so this isn’t my cup of tea, but if you are, go set up an account with Upwork. Clients can pick you out based on your job success percentage, hourly rate, and your areas of specialization.
4) The Content Creator
This kind of writing, IMHO, is the easiest to do and the most in-demand, at least among my peers who also do home-based freelance writing for a living. It requires some research, good writing competence, a portfolio of past works, and enough discipline and communication skills to come up with good copy for clients, and help them come up with the kind of original content to help propel their brand forward. You can simply Google “freelance content writing” and you will likely come up with dozens of job postings from different companies.
5) The Blogger
Another popular kind of home-based writer, the blogger is this era’s jack-of-all-trades mixed with some business acumen and social media skills. You can either set up your own specialized blog using an easy platform like WordPress, or start searching for jobs via the ProBlogger job board, which has options for a contract, freelance, full-time, or part-time writers.
The verdict
Home based freelance writing has certainly opened a lot of doors for those who want to write for a living while maintaining a flexible schedule for other pursuits. I mostly identify with the blogger, content creator, and “poet” in the list I made above, though I would eventually want to be proficient and experienced enough to evolve into other kinds of writers. Thankfully, there are lots of tools and resources available to us to help make that a reality in the near future.
Your turn
Are you currently a home-based writer? How would you describe your writing style or area of specialization? Share your experiences with us because we’d love to hear all about them.
This is all based on my opinion and experience, so why not create a post you think is more in-depth?
