Write What You KNOW!

I think the most valuable piece of advice for those just beginning their freelance writing careers is to WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW! I receive emails and questions all the time regarding this very topic, with some focused on specific sites such as Suite 101 and Demand Media Studios.

I've posted about this topic before and answered many emails with this same piece of advice. There are several reasons I believe this is most important, both for your own sanity and for monetary gain.

The first reason is obvious. It is easiest to write about a subject that you already understand and have knowledge of. When writing for revenue sites such as Suite 101, you can take your basic knowledge and spin it into several easy to create articles. This builds your online writing portfolio while increasing your revenue pay.

The same rings true for DMS. If you select titles that you are already familiar with, the time it takes to create the article and locate references will be reduced and therefore, increase your pay scale. For active income sites like DMS, the amount of articles you complete in a specific amount of time determines your pay scale. For example, if you spend 20 minutes writing a 'how to' article on a subject that you are familiar with, then you can produce 3 articles per hour. On an average, this will result in $45/per hour pay scale. However, if you spend 45 minutes researching and writing a 'how to' article on a subject you know nothing about, your pay scale will be $15/hr. In my opinion,  active income sites are pretty much all about the $$$.  Your pay scale is an important factor.

If you are writing for pure enjoyment, choose subjects that you WANT to learn more about. The research, time and writing will be fun, if you cover topics that you are interested in. I began my online writing career focusing on crafts, parenting, cooking and beauty. Those were 4 topics that I could write thousands of articles on with little research and without getting bored.

The less you know about a subject, the less you WANT to know about a subject, the longer it will take you to produce an article. It will become a chore...something you feel you have to do, not something you want to do. Many writers never make it past the 'beginning' stage because they lose their love for writing...lost in topics and subjects that bore them stiff. Writing is about free creativity. Write what you love and love what you write!