Is There A Difference Between Your Freelance Writing And Your Other Writing Projects?

JoeMilford Level 1

January 19, 2018, 5:42 am

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Is There A Difference Between Your Freelance Writing And Your Other Writing Projects?

I have been writing since I was a young boy, and I love to write poetry, stories, comic books, and journal entries. I find that my writing experience helps me with my freelance work, but what I write offline is definitely different from my online writing "persona". I was wondering, as a writer, are you a different writer online than you are offline? In other words, do you switch voices based on different projects, and, if so, how is that experience for you?

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overcast

overcast

I think when you are writing for a client for some money. The spec and the delivery has different parameters. And in case of writing for your own it means you are not serious often. And it means you are writing without any deadline and any specific outcome in mind. So that being said, you have to focus on those writing projects the right way. Freelance writing for clients makes you into more of professional zone.

6 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

overcast,
I like your post here. You make a very good point, and it is so true that my personal projects are on more of a floating deadline than are my professional ones. When I am on deadline for a client, I have to really plan out the time, especially if the content or topic requires a good deal of research. Also, we have to take these writing jobs very seriously so that we do a good job and the client will return or even refer us to new customers because of the good job we did. I would say that I divide my time almost equally between writing for myself and writing for clients, but as I start to procure more clients and more official writing jobs (hopefully this will happen), I can see this changing.

6 years ago

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overcast

overcast

I sure hope you get consistent clients. It's kind of tricky to get them on certain sites. So you may want to fish your way out to see where you stand. I have seen some of the people making money off that market. I have also noticed that if some projects to make money you have to pour in more efforts and without the loss of quality.

6 years ago

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vinaya

vinaya

I am basically a freelance writer. I write articles for the English language papers in my home country. I write for state-owned daily as well as the largest selling private newspaper. Rejection is the part of the game therefore, I get more rejections than acceptance. usually, I publish 2-3 articles in a month. There was a time when I was publishing 8 articles in newspapers every month. However, that's not happening these days.

6 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

vinaya,
It sounds like from your post that you have really found your niche here. I am sure that your English skills make you invaluable to those who are employing you. I think that you demonstrate an ideal, in terms of where you work, for freelancers like myself. I hope that the frequency of your article publication gets back to its former numbers--as a poet, myself, I am quite accustomed to rejections, but that is just part of the publishing "game", and, after a while, you develop a thick skin for it, right? We can't ever let rejection stop us from writing and submitting.

6 years ago

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vinaya

vinaya

When I ventured into writing, I read many testimonials. I read how these writers were rejected, and they were finally accepted. Rejection is normal. I basically do two kinds of writing, one for myself and another for clients. My first priority is writing for clients, that's how I make my living. When I do not have many assignments, I write for myself. I write poems, stories, I have even started novels, however, I am yet to complete my novels.

6 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

It must be wonderful to know what you write when you were just a boy. Of course, writing for yourself is entirely different when you do it for the money. But I generally don't switch my voice on the stuff that I write. I always find myself in contents I do for others. I just don't know when I'll be given a topic which I know nothing of, if I'll be able to write it like how I usually write though. It depends maybe on the topic and the affinity that I have to the topic I think.

6 years ago

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vinaya

vinaya

I also began writing early on. I began writing at the age of 15 by keeping a daily journal. In this journal, I normally did not write what I ate for breakfast or why I picked up a fight with Sam. I wrote my feelings, emotions, views, visions. One day my father discovered my diary and read it. That evening I will finance your diary to publish it as a poetry book. Until then I did not know I was writing poems. I published my book when I was 20.

6 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

That is amazing! I admire people who can write poetry, really. You know those school activities wherein you need to make a poem. Well, I am having a hard time doing that. And it amazes me when people like you does it easily. It's like words just flows like water. Are your works when you were young included in the book you published when you were 20?

6 years ago

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augusta

augusta

Certainly, what I write online is different from what I write online.online is more of articles about fashion, teenagers and recipe but offline is basically about the thesis, project topics, and motivational books.These are the different way of writing altogether, so I write to manage to get the best out of them.

6 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

augusta,
Right--good points here, Obviously, the content we are writing about affects the way that we write. I am sure that your tone or voice changes a bit with every different topic. I find that I sound different when I am writing about topics I am very knowledgeable about. I think that it is because I have a confident tone with those topics. Other topics, such as more technical ones, give me more of a plaintive and Stoic voice. Literary topics, or writing about movies, allows me to have more of a fun, passionate, or upbeat sound. My writing online and offline are also very different from each other.

6 years ago

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kaka135

kaka135

I am not a freelance or professional writer, I only comment on forums and write on my own blog, so the writing are almost the same as I am standing from my own point of view. I think when you write for clients, you need to stand from the clients' point of view and the target audience too, it might not be so much about what you think but what benefit the clients.

I would like to practice more in forum posting, so perhaps I will be able to write for clients one day when I have gained enough skills especially my English writing skill.

6 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

There is always a difference in my writing as a freelancer and writing for myself. The former is business oriented and driven, making it a must for me to up my game with the work I'm tasked to finish because nobody desire paying for shabby work. While the latter is solely for fun. I can relax with what I'm writing for fun without any pressure, as long as it's giving me the fun I get from writing such.

6 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

Yes I do switch voices as you call it, offline I do poetry and sonnets. Which can't be absorbed or used well maybe a tiny bit in an online straightforward content.

It's easier for me to do online writing anytime,
any subject matter is fine, doing poetry is harder, it takes a lot of time,
writing words that rhyme.

6 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

I think that every kind of content, if you are trying to do it well, comes with its own challenges and paradigm. I am not big on rhyming, in my poetry, and I do a lot of free verse, so I am not a very formal poet. However, I respect poets and writers who can use rhyme to a great effect. I think that this has become increasingly hard over the centuries because it has been done so well by poets from the past, so trying to come up with new and inventive rhymes is pretty difficult, at least from my perspective.

6 years ago

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ballyhara

ballyhara

Just in the same way we sound different when we speak, according to the topic, mood, and main point of view, that way we change our writing according to where, when, and about we write. So far, I've notice that freelancing demands certain requirements to gain more customers, to show your abilities, to satisfy your clients, and to improve day by day according to the audience you handle with. Right now, I still consider myself a newbie about freelance, so for sure I can change my writing to make it good enough to move forward.

6 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

ballyhara,
As usual, you make some really great points here. When I try a new genre or new subject matter, I try to read an expert in that type of content or in that niche in order to try to get a feel for the style and to get some inspiration. Then, I apply my own voice and writing style to this genre, and I just do the best that I can. Of course, sometimes this comes out better than others, but I have come up with some good content here and there through experimentation. I am a newbie as well, but I just try to shape my basic writing talent and abilities to what the client is asking for from my content.

6 years ago

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jaymish

jaymish

I used to switch voices. Offline I write basically in my journal. Online I used to write very formally. However I've realized that for my writing to attract readers I need to write from the heart. I know write the same way both in my journal and in blogs I write for clients. This I have found is the best way to write, because it becomes effort less, that's the trick for sucess in any writing, you undertake.

6 years ago

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Barida

Barida

The thing with every thing that we do in life is the need to be professional when the need arises and that is what I have to say when this question of whether I switch voices when I write as a freelancer to when I'm writing Inna casual way.

I am such a person that try at first to read the way the audience I'm writing for will respond to words that I use when I write and that is the reason I always ensure that I paint it the way they will get it when I write. I have to act professionally when writing as a freelancer for it is different when I write in an informal way.

6 years ago

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Adesuwa08

Adesuwa08

Writing with professionalism is a matter of choice, but I think you are clashing with the content of the question instead of the question itself, it seeks to know wether your freelance writings are different from other writing projects.

6 years ago

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Barida

Barida

The truth is that the way I write in informal settings such as my posts on social media platforms such as twitter, Facebook and others is quite different from my work as a freelancer. I've built that culture to take business as business and that has helped me to do the best work when it comes to writing for my clients on the course of my work as a freelance writer. So, that is to show that my freelance works are quite different from my writing while on other platforms.

6 years ago

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Adesuwa08

Adesuwa08

My freelance writing projects is different from my other writing project, I have written works I sell on other platforms, I lead a double writing life and it takes all that dedication and discipline so to be able to keep up. If someone does just freelancing there are possibilities that the person don't write aside from freelance works, it took me time to adjust to them both, writing are of different types and kinds that's why I distinguish among them.

6 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

Yeah, people looking to work through writing should be prepared to learn how to write not only on their preferred genre but also accept the other types of writing work available, or it would be a really difficult time for them to find work at the start.

6 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

Usually the difference between the two has to do with my enjoyment/interest of the subject matter. In terms of my freelance work, I'll take what I can get. Interested or disinterested, I'm going to write about it simply because it is my job to do so. My personal writing is simply limited to things that interest me and I research for my own personal pleasure. In terms of style of writing, the two don't vary much. I typically don't do creative writing, so whether I'm writing for myself or for someone else, I'm typically doing so in an organized, almost scientific manner, utilizing research and outlines and such.

6 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

DenisP,
I agree--I write better, we all do, I think, about things we care about or that interest us. I do a lot of research, but I also just stumble across really interesting things every day while I am online. Also, friends of mine, especially my professor friends, send me cool links, music, ideas, science posts, academic posts, and other miscellaneous things constantly because they know I love that kind of thing, so we always have a constant exchange of knowledge and ideas going.

6 years ago

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manmad

manmad

There are different requirements for individual writing projects, so yeah there's definitely some difference between freelance writing and other projects. If you are doing work for certain individuals, you'll most likely have to abide by their rules and that's going to shape your work in a different way than what you would usually do.

6 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

This is very correct, there is this thing or philosophy termed individual differences. There is no way two different individuals would have the same kind of taste when it comes to a particular thing. So therefore, in order to meet up with the required standards, the writer must work within the pretext of his clients to give a good service.

6 years ago

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manmad

manmad

From one point of view this is good, because you have a direction in which you should work, while working on other projects, you might have to cope with a lot of other stuff that are not connected to you. On the other hand, it can be annoying to have to follow certain rules, because you are limiting your creative sides.

6 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

Yeah, of course. Various individuals/websites require different types of input and so my style of writing also changes. It can be short stories, product listings, viral content, or contributory discussions when I mainly work online. When I'm working alone, however, I write poems, novels, and essays to keep me sharp and to help maintain my active imagination.

6 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

treecko142,
You demonstrate how important and valuable it is to be diverse with your writing habits and talents. It is definitely an asset to be able to switch from one genre or niche of writing to another depending on the task at hand. I think it is easy to just get "stuck" in one style or technique, which is fine, I think, if you can make a living from that; however, the more versatile we are as writers the more potential jobs are in our grasp. I tend to write a lot of poetry when I am writing for myself, actually, and although it is difficult, it is very rewarding.

6 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

At the very start, at least, it really helps to have a wider range of genres which you can write so that you won't be too limited in your options and you get to take more jobs. As you improve, however, you get to learn more about your strengths and weaknesses and you can specialize your writing to a few genres where you're stronger at.

6 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

This your assertion is point-blank because it's very much explains what happens in the life of a freelancer writer. There is no way your entire writing would be the same thing all over. Every website or blog or forum doesn't have the same writing requirements, so as one get several jobs to do on these various sites, it's the same what one writes differs.

6 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

As a freelancer, you really need to be flexible and be ready to learn how to write in different types of literature, so that you get to take more jobs and you can build your portfolio and be a better writer.

6 years ago

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TheArticulate

TheArticulate

Absolutely! My freelance writing will typically be in forum posts or in the form of captions and transcriptions for videos and audio files. My personal writing, on the other hand, will usually be movie scripts or short stories that will eventually be turned into screenplays. As someone who is active in filmmaking, this process is very useful to me, as it helps me put a vision of what a scene looks like, what characters sound like and how they act, and how the plot develops before I actually start storyboarding and building shotlists to shoot them.

6 years ago

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Tatiana22

Tatiana22

Yes, there is a difference because freelance writing somehiw kimitates my imagination and my choices, I have to write what the customers need. It's not that I am not enjoying every type of writing, I do, I love freelance writing but there is a big difference between a personal project and freelance writing. For a personal project I can set my imagination and my ideas free, I can create whatever I want, I usually don't have a fixed deadline, and I am more relaxed because it's not a job to deliver.

6 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

Tatiana22,
I love your enthusiasm towards your creative writing! I feel the same way--I actually got inspired last night and stayed up ALL NIGHT writing last night--I wrote a chapter in my book and about twenty poems--of course, I slept away most of day today because of it, lol. In any case, it is so saisfying to write in this way and to express ourselves. My freelance projects are great too, and I get into those as much as I can, but I do acknowledge the difference which you are describing here when it comes to writing for one's own self and one's own creative ventures. You talked about "setting the imagination free", and I think that that is so healthy and important for people to do, and a lot of people, unfortunately, have lost touch with that idea.

6 years ago

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kgord

kgord

I would say there definitely is. Most writing I do is for pay. I am not doing it to entertain myself. When I do freelance writing it is part entertainment and partly with the hope I will get something out of it so it is kind of a mixture of both I would say. I think it is a good time.

6 years ago

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coolavender

coolavender

When writing for clients, I normally have to consider their specifications. Most prefer articles that match the tone of their website and go well with previous posts. Hence, my freelance writing style doesn't necessarily reflect my personal writing style. Some of my paid articles have light, conversational vibes while some uses formal and technical tone. I'm a flexible writer and I don't have too many quirks. I can deliver what is required and my personal preferences normally do not go in the way of my work.

6 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

Yep, there's a lot of difference, I regularly write blog posts in my sites which are quite easy for me because it's a preferred and familiar niche. While most writing gigs have unfamiliar subjects hence, I have to do some research first, and it takes a lot more time to finish it.

6 years ago

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emiaj55

emiaj55

Well for most parts, I do. See writing is a my passion but a lot of times I had to take priority to what client wants in freelance writing. I guess sometimes passion and professionalism does not go together even when they are of the same thing. When I am writing for myself, I write what I want to say. But when I am writing for clients I write what they need to read or hear. Sometimes it gets kinda boring, but that is why I always find time to write for myself.

6 years ago

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