How to become a freelance writer

Since the reform and opening up, many new businesses have emerged. Among them, there is a new career in writing for a living. There are many employees, and most of them have high incomes. They are neither journalists of any newspaper nor members of writers' associations. It is not accurate to say that they are "amateur journalists" because they have no other occupation except writing, and writing for remuneration is the main source of life for most of them.

Some people call them "freelance writers", while others call them "writers", "writers" and even "gunmen". Some people say that they are the "blackheads" of the underground "writing black factory"-piecing together articles with scissors and paste, or simply publishing other people's works under their own names; They use photocopiers to send hundreds of "cultural fakes" everywhere, and then wait for money orders to fly like snowflakes. Many people are disgusted and disgusted with freelancers. Over the past few years, the author has come into contact with many freelance writers, and I would like to say something here to let people have a deeper understanding of this special group.

Who is a freelance writer?

What is a "freelance writer"? Because there is no clear explanation in the dictionary, we can call it "a group of people who rely on cultural media and write and publish articles as their career pursuit or economic source"

Who can be called "freelance writers"? They are roughly composed of the following categories:

Most freelancers are "upgraded" by original literature lovers. Because they keep writing all the year round, the quality of their articles is relatively high, and some even have relations with some media. But compared with those actors who became famous overnight, they invested a lot of money but produced little. Whether you are famous or making money, it is difficult to achieve much by writing. They often complain that they have entered an era of television and internet, and they have nothing in their hands.

Literary and artistic youth full of writing impulse are "volunteers" of the media, but they are also "rejecters" who are sad and tragic. Because of their "immature" writing style and lack of necessary social experience, they have no "freedom" in writing, but they still struggle tenaciously and are the reserve force of the freelance writing team.

Journalists and editors of many media are sometimes freelance writers. Because the remuneration for writing articles for this media is very low or not at all, they also exchange and publish works between peers and friends. They want to make a living by this, which is a bit of a "ticket game".

Freelance writing needs rich literary background and good media relations. Different from writers and journalists, they rely on social consciousness and the support of writers' associations, media and other units, while freelance writers are "lonely heroes" who conquer the world by their personal abilities. Their complete liberalization of interview, writing and publishing makes them free and hard, romantic and wandering. Nevertheless, there are still thousands of talented people who choose to write freely in various specific environments and backgrounds, because these people not only have a strong literary complex, but also have a natural understanding of taking the road of literature and business. If they give up one of them, they will not become real freelance writers.

Lin Bo, a freelance writer, told the author about his experience. He is an old political worker. He started as an officer in the Propaganda Department, and later worked as a party secretary and office secretary for 25 years. Many highly educated people in the unit often write "smelly" things, while many "pens" have no academic qualifications, just like Lin Bo. Lin Bo has written countless articles in the past 25 years, but all of them are unpublished work plans and summaries, or mobilization drafts for donating blood, housing, buying treasury bills, donating old clothes and quilts to disaster areas.

Many years ago, Lin Bo wrote an article praising the barber in Enterprise. The article was written, pondered and pondered, and used a very "avant-garde" title-"My hand runs through your hair". After the article was published in the newspaper, someone quietly handed it to the leader, and even drew a horizontal line under the title, adding a comment-"Hong Kong and Taiwan piracy, petty bourgeoisie sentiment" toothache, sour, who wrote it? Take a spoonful of cold water and pour the lid on him! "Lin Bo angry, afraid, not satisfied. With a heart, he simply wrote vigorously and contributed in many ways. Unexpectedly, this forced road will bring him another world in the future. At first, he could only write sketches and essays. When he saw the newspaper, he was ecstatic. Someone said at the bottom, "well, isn't it just a tofu block?" "The level is too low!" Then, Lin Bo began to dabble in all aspects, from sketches, essays and essays to controlling large-scale social documentaries, portraits and news scanning. Lin Bo began to become a minor celebrity, and his manuscript fee greatly exceeded his salary. Later, Lin Bo resolutely resigned and became a dedicated freelance writer.

Fang is successful. A few years ago, she came to Beijing empty-handed and made a living with pens. I have tried to write novels, but the writing cycle is long and publishing is difficult, so I can't make a living. Later, I struggled to participate in the media essay. After a year, she often won many essay prizes, but most of them were in kind, and there was little "hard currency". Fang, who is very savvy, found that under the current market economy, many economic and industrial news reports are very popular, and real estate, cars, computers and other content are constantly opening up special editions. Fang put up a small advertisement in the newspaper called "writing articles for sankei", which was devoted to writing articles about sankei culture. "sankei culture" is a great invention of Fang. For example, people see advertisements about real estate in newspapers every day. Most of these advertisements are simple introductions of price, apartment type and location. Most of the copywriting of advertising companies only emphasizes rhetoric and disdains going deep into reality; People in the real estate industry know technology and design, but they lack good writing style. It is boring to write something in terms. Fang is good at finding the combination of literature and economy and writing economic articles with cultural charm. For example, from the theory of Qin brick and Han tile and the application of new environmental protection building materials, from quadrangles, large miscellaneous houses, simple buildings and row ovaries in Beijing to brand-new ecological residential quarters. Fang specializes in "industrial culture" and then deducts it to attract consumers of a certain social class. In the past few years, Fang has written many articles called "selling points", such as clothing fashion trend prediction, computer network development trend and automobile fashion trend, which laid the foundation for her career success.

In the past, large state-owned enterprises were popular, then foreign hotels were attractive, and then the powerful technology-intensive technology industry was "shaken". Let's just say that apart from female stars, Beijingers have a natural disdain and contempt for freelancers, which can be seen from the appellation: those who practice stalls, those who practice clothes, and those who pour clothes. In the traditional consciousness of Beijingers, these people are ordinary citizens, and they are also suspected of cheating on food and drinking. For example, if Fang writes more articles for a newspaper, the editor-in-chief of a newspaper will be rude to "yi" the editor of the last manuscript, saying that you always post Fang's manuscript. Don't you know that she is a freelance writer? Fang once wrote several articles introducing products for a company, but people always rejected them and said they would write again if they couldn't. Fang can't make money by changing things, and she is still secretly complaining that she has run out, but she is surprised to find that in a professional magazine, what she wrote is being serialized, and she has changed her feelings again. Everyone is in the last issue, and there is no delay at all. Many enterprises spend a lot of money on advertising in the media. Spend millions every year, but be stingy with writers. Spending a little money is like giving you charity. More is to be friendly to you, ask for your help after dinner, and send it away with a thank you. In their minds, writing is empty and worthless, and people who write are intellectuals and have no face. If they give two good words, they will not find the north, have no great promise, and don't boss around. This several times, Fang was anxious, with a long face and a round face. Whoever he loved, he took the gold first, which was like getting rid of Kong Yiji's broken gown. Fang finally walked out of an exclusive footprint on the long road of word economy. In the eyes of many people, literati pay attention to rhetoric and manners, but they can't do business. Fang can be said to be an alternative scholar. She is an "economic scholar", or a "literary businessman".

What does a freelance writer write?

According to the theme of writing, the works of freelance writers can be roughly divided into three types: professional, entertaining and comprehensive.

In recent years, the propaganda offensive in computer, automobile, real estate, decoration, beauty, fashion and other industries has been very fierce, and various newspapers and magazines have seized these "selling points" to expand their pages and supplements. Most of these professional editions are integrated editing and editing, and it is difficult for many journalists who are not proficient to write articles with special expertise. As a result, some professional freelancers appeared in Doyle, who not only knew their own majors, but also had beautiful writing styles, and the best of them even reached the situation of constantly writing contracts. Different from other types of freelance writers, they have the characteristics of working writing, so it is much more convenient to draw materials and write articles.

"Entertaining" is a "likable" family. Nowadays, an "idolized culture" cannot be taken lightly. As long as it is about stars, it is particularly eye-catching. As long as it touches the edge of the star, people are interested in anecdotes, marriage news and even any boring and trivial things in life.

I once saw a report describing that Gong Li, a movie actor, loves to eat small yellow croaker. The unremarkable article deduced from the passionate pen and ink suddenly became the "highlight" of some tabloids, which was really kitsch.

I heard that a freelance writer is famous for throwing out a lot of "heavy" materials such as the height, weight, blood type, zodiac, favorite color and favorite food of a star. Only in this way can we see a little entertainment culture. Although entertainment has its selling points, it is really not easy to associate with stars. Big-name stars have a good choice of media and journalists, and nine times out of ten they can write stories like "entertainment stories" in a specific circle. There are also freelance writers who force their way into the circle, but they rarely succeed. Fortunately, the society is full of stars waiting to become famous or lose their aura, so many freelance writers have targeted them.

"Comprehensive" is a generalist among freelance writers and is called "sage", "writer" and "gunman". They have neither original professional knowledge nor the conditions of idolization, so their pen and ink are unconstrained, and their writing content keeps up with the "pulse" of the media, and over time they have developed the ability of "writing at the point of reference". Qiao Xiong is a well-known freelance writer in Beijing. He is used to writing essays and essays. At the beginning, his writing content was always orderly, singing green in spring, sighing in summer, writing red leaves in autumn and storing Chinese cabbage in winter. Writing is nothing more than a buyer's market. Whoever writes for it has to go his own way. Standards vary from media to media and are extremely difficult to grasp. Brother Qiao worked hard to light the lamp for a few days and cook the oil for a few days, but people said that the content was outdated, conventional and had traces of fabrication. Well, even if it is "white blind". This is not bad. More often, the manuscripts sent are ignored at all, and I am looking forward to it. Half a year has passed, and I really can't stand it. I crustily skin of head to call to ask, but the other party prevaricated and forgot! As a result, Qiao Xiong stopped his stupid writing and spent more than half his time trying to figure out and analyze the laws and style characteristics of newspapers. He studied the above-mentioned "model essay" hard, then he wrote respectfully, often asked for advice modestly, and finally became friends with the editor. Diligence, modesty and sophistication are the basis of Qiao Xiong's success.

In the past two years, the market of pure literature has declined a little, so Qiao Xiong took the main attack direction as a close-up. There must be material for the close-up. Qiao Xiong walked down the street with bright eyes and stared at the market. The "car cleaner" at home, the bird market in longtan lake, the warrior drifting back from the Yangtze River, and the police protecting Tibetan antelopes in Hoh Xil have all become bright themes in Qiao Xiong's works.

Qiao Xiong can't get the news, that's a reporter's business. Qiao Xiong specializes in "post-news" and conducts in-depth interviews later. The interview was not easy, because he was not a reporter, a writer or a freelance writer at first. In that case, people will immediately regard you as a beggar without a job. Brother Qiao is always looking for friends to introduce him. Sometimes it takes a lot of people to interview alone, which makes him very tired. But it's all right, the reporter is imposing, the media is behind, and the heavenly king Lao Tzu is also afraid of him; Writers can make flowers, destroy people and not offend them, so the interviewees either look around or simply close the door and disappear. Freelance writers, on the other hand, eat "soft rice" to please the interviewees. What people write can't be sent without nodding and signing. Therefore, the interviewees are relaxed in front of Qiao Xiong, without scruples and cover-ups. Many dissidents who are slightly famous can even relax their feet on the coffee table. In this way, Joe can have a better insight into their inner world, and what he writes is flesh and blood. Some celebrities especially want someone to give them "smelly feet" and take Qiao Xiong as a "gift" when they are comfortable. "Well, I will introduce someone to write about you in the past, and you are a freelance writer ..." After a phone call, Qiao Xiong had a "next home" and Qiao Xiong went happily.

After several years, Qiao Xiong felt that he had slowly found the "market".

Fees for freelance writers

Speaking of today's manuscript fees, many freelance writers are riddled with lawsuits. At present, almost everything is a "market economy", but most of the manuscript fees are more than ten years. At present, the manuscript fees of most newspapers and periodicals in Beijing are no more than 100 yuan from thousands of words of 20 yuan. Moreover, the manuscript fee is the lifeline of freelance writers, so some people "make eight homes for a woman." There is a strong public opinion response to multiple contributions, but freelance writers also have their own opinions and practices.

Li, a freelance writer, said to the author: We seldom inform people whether the manuscript we send out is used or not. According to the ordinary standard, it is limited to three months. After that, you can transfer to other families, but it usually takes half a year to remember. At that time, this manuscript may have been transferred to other families for publication. Then there is slow payment or no payment at all. Under normal circumstances, the manuscript fee is sent three months later, which is often delayed and forgotten by careless editors.

In addition, in addition to a small amount of remuneration, freelance writers are always in danger of being copied from their own works. Although some freelance writers always copy other people's things, they are also worried that others will copy them. There are two kinds of plagiarism, one is personal behavior, some are plagiarized by some literary youths and students in school for fame, some are plagiarized by "literary copywriters" from other places for making money, and the other is group plagiarism. Not long ago, there was a book in the market, and the article in it was copied from a magazine in Beijing, and a lawsuit was filed for this matter. There are also some abstract newspapers and magazines, which are sometimes useless. After you find them, you have to take the initiative to ask for and fight for the manuscript fee. And more foreign newspapers and magazines are "copying" you, and you have no way of knowing. In view of this, some media have begun to accommodate more contributions from freelance writers. Generally speaking, according to the "heavyweight" of the media, important media generally emphasize "starting", and some small media that lack manuscripts and have good manuscripts are not too particular because they are eager to seek manuscripts, so it is good to adapt them a little.

In fact, some freelance writers themselves are reluctant to contribute more than one manuscript. They don't want to discredit themselves in the circle for a little petty profit, but they are really afraid of losing. So I set myself some "pressure" to write more than one manuscript. Ning San, a freelance writer, said: My manuscripts are all registered. As long as there is no reply for three months, I will immediately change to another house. Zhang doesn't need Li to use them. The waste manuscript here is the best one there. Of course, if it is an important media with great influence in Beijing, it will never exceed one draft. It will be too eye-catching, people will remember, and it will block your manuscript. In the end, the loss will outweigh the gain.

During the interview, many freelance writers unanimously called for improving the remuneration of manuscripts and standardizing the management of news and cultural publishing units, which is the key to put an end to the phenomenon of multiple contributions for one manuscript.

Writing mentality of freelance writers

Legend has it that a few years ago, there was a talented freelance writer who wrote almost crazily and set himself the goal of "producing" 5,000 to 8,000 words a day, but when he finally got his own car and house, he was put down because of overwork.

The above shows that as an excellent freelance writer, you must have a good professional quality-"three points of talent, three points of philosophy and four points of diligence". Yi Qing, a well-known freelance writer in Beijing, once said to the author: A successful freelance writer must have excellent writing skills and strong social skills for survival. In view of the low remuneration for writing at present, they must be able to write fast and good "emergency articles" in order to keep their literary thoughts flowing. If he was a "Jia Dao" poet, he would have been drinking the northwest wind. Besides, they should be omniscient or generalist. In order to cater to readers' tastes, it is necessary to have the "aiming" of "gunner" and the ability to shoot moving flying targets. From the past popular prose and essays to the present special articles and fashion articles, we must keep up with the "big stream".

Clear writing begins with interest. At first, he was a "writing fan", but because of the company's poor efficiency, he took 30 thousand yuan home and became a freelance writer who earned money by writing. He turned writing into a kind of productive labor. He secretly added more money to himself and set a goal of 10,000 yuan (manuscript fee) a year, which is the living gap left by the economy of his laid-off family. He bought a "386" that was eliminated by others and knocked around the clock. His work costs are electricity, paper and cigarettes. He tries to cut costs-he always pulls out the outline before going to the computer and never stays on the machine for too long; A box of "Longquan" always draws two dollars; Never put the manuscript in the form of manuscript paper, a blank piece of paper, which is the top of the world, and the spacing between left and right is at most one leek leaf wide, so that two can top three. ...

I'm almost 50 years old, my body is not as good as before, my eyes are crying in the wind, and I have cervical spondylosis, but I still see the sky squinting and twisting my body to type and knock on the door, and I can't sleep several times a year. One year, a clear work won eight essay awards, and the same essay actually won two awards. Because one is a real name and the other is a pseudonym, I have to find a friend to accept it. After that year, I really earned 10 thousand, which was hard-won. Yiqing's colleague started a company and earned 200 thousand a year, except for karaoke bars and dinner parties. I advise: Come with me. Now, who is still doing this kind of business? In the past, a leader, the annual salary system, got100000 at the end of the year. Colleagues said that no matter how talented you are, you also know that you are his grandfather's generation. You can do it without moving your arms or shaking your hands, so you need to be tired! At first glance, he was anxious and angry, but he knew that he could not do business without tweezers, or he would write stupid things. The lover can't bear to make him work hard, can't find a job, can't earn money, and always cries. My friend in literature and art said, be clear, don't scribble, take some time to talk to your sister-in-law about a clear promise, but it won't be him then. Writing, making money, raising a family, seeing a doctor for the old, going to school for the young, this is the way of life. As soon as I became famous, magazines and newspapers took the initiative to invite manuscripts. As promised, once someone makes an appointment, you will chase it with your life. There was once an urgent draft, which was only written for one day. I have an appointment, and the interview will last until midnight. I went home to make a cup of strong tea and knocked all night. The next morning, I rode my bike to deliver the manuscript to the newspaper. When I came back, I stepped on cotton and my eyes were black. I met a middle school student. It took 150 to show people how to repair the car, which is twice the cost of the manuscript.

Huaiyuan used to be a contract professional writer. More than ten years ago, he experienced an era when writers were popular. At that time, writers could choose topics calmly and write calmly, and their works were also the daughter of the emperor. Especially some great writers, even if their articles in magazines are meaningless, will be given priority. Editors always put their names in the most conspicuous position on the cover with eye-catching Chinese characters, which is a "selling point" in itself. In recent years, pure literature has become more and more difficult to sell, and there are fewer and fewer publications of pure literature. Huaiyuan earns more than 600 a month, which is not as good as a little girl serving food in a restaurant. Life is very tense, and she has lost all the entertainment, hiking, customs, travel, and even the experience of watching plays and movies.

Huaiyuan's life is only repeated at home, newsstands, shopping malls, post offices, canteens and commissaries, and he is increasingly tired, making it difficult to write works with a sense of the times. The publication rate of the works has dropped sharply, so we have to shift the main direction to other places. Some foreign publications used your manuscript, but they didn't pay you. Even if they do, it's better than nothing. Many of them are 20 yuan and thousands of words. Another magazine wrote, "Congratulations on your masterpiece. Please send me some sponsorship money as soon as possible. " This kind of makes the writer laugh and cry. Writers are human beings, and they can't do without rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea. You must be vulgar before you can be elegant. He wants to be a "gunman"-so-and-so "wrist" has two bad money in his hand and wants to write an autobiography. He found him and said he would give him 15 thousand when he finished writing. This "wrist" cow is so red that it blows itself into the reincarnation of a living Buddha. It takes a thousand years to produce a super genius. This writer is pedantic. According to his usual writing style, he combs the context and plot, and strives to be reasonable and hidden. The "wrist" who grew up reading martial arts novels is not satisfied, saying that it is too "neck-twisting" and too "sour fake vinegar" and needs to be greatly changed. We should "swing" in the way of martial arts novels-write 108 Tibetan poems at the beginning, summarize the great achievements of "wrist", and then write 108 in the form of chapter novels. The screenwriter slapped the table twice in anger and said, don't pretend to be a grandson. I am not a "cultural prostitute" and I will not wait on you! This table is not easy to shoot. It costs 7.5 thousand "Wrist" is not afraid, just a wave of his hand, another batch, an interview, a special report, and was vividly held to the sky. The writer wrote an essay with anger and hatred for this matter, named "The Sorrow of Writing", and earned 80 yuan.

Today, Huaiyuan is still struggling in a dilemma. In fact, there are many people who make a living by code words, some are either rich or expensive, and some are not well raised by Huaiyuan.

It is predicted that the popular occupations in the 2 1 century include lawyers, psychologists, freelance writers, etc. However, the freelancers who are not living an easy life at present seem to be laying the foundation for the new profession of freelance writing with their tenacious spirit.