How Much Money Can I Earn As a Freelance Writer?

 People always ask how much money they can expect to earn as a freelance writer.

The unsatisfactory answer is that it all depends on so many factors, not least on how well you can write.

But to give you some idea, I'll give you some recent figures.

As you know I live in Australia, and according to the ASA (Australia Society of Authors), as of January 2021, freelance writers should be earning the following:

95 cents per word - base rate

71 cents per word - mean rate

$896 per day

$597 per day - 2/3 day rate

$219 per hour

These amounts do not include tax (GST).

How much you earn also depends on other factors, including:

- the degree to which you need the work

- the level of exposure the work will provide

- how easily you can produce the work

Also, writers need to value their own talents highly enough in order to ask to be paid fairly.

Another great way to earn money as a freelance writer is copywriting. This is a different skill from ordinary freelance writing and can take a few years to master. But it is interesting work and it's something I've always enjoyed doing.

Here's an idea of copywriting fees:

Junior (0-2 years)

$70 - $100 per hour

$300 - $400 per day

Mid Level (2-4 years)

$100 - $130 per hour

$400 - $700 per day

Top Level (4+ years)

$130 - $140 per hour

$700 - $1,200 per day

- or $1 per word for the first 1,000 words a day.

Copywriters earn good money so if it's something you enjoy it's worth looking into.

Alternatively, 95 cents per word or $896 per day for freelance writing isn't bad either.

Quick Cash Freelance Writing

The first book in a four-part series on how to write and earn money.

https://ruthiswriting.com/books/MCWS1.html

3 Ways to Actually Get Your Writing Done

 “Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the Internet.” 

~ Anon

Being a writer isn't as easy as people think. They think we stay at home doing not much of anything except sitting down to write for a few minutes and we earn a ton of money from it. 

But at least 2020 showed everyone that working from home is far from easy, and writers have to do it all the time while others can go back to their workplaces.

But despite all the distractions of working from home (or NOT working), there are 3 things that can help.

Time.

Having great writing ideas is one thing but it's not possible to sit and start writing as soon as they appear. I don't think anyone has a life that's so laid-back with nothing to do that they can stop everything and start writing out ideas every time they strike. That's why it's essential to set up a specific time to write every day. Just jot down ideas as they come till you have time to deal with them. I find that I get a lot more writing done when I have set writing times.

Place.

It's equally helpful to have a place to write that is far away from distractions, has plenty of light, and is somewhere that you're comfortable. I knew one writer who thought it was a great idea to set up his office in his basement, but he found it too much like being sent to the dungeon, so wrote in his back bedroom instead. Another reason to have a writing place is that the family will soon get to know where your writing place is and to not disturb you when you're there. It's hard training people, but it's a must.

Tools.

Don't get too hung up on what you use for writing, but having the right tools really helps. I have certain notebooks for different things and I know exactly which one to grab when I need to write or need to look at something. I have my current writing book, my blog posts book, my ideas book, and my website ideas book. And these are just some of my many notebooks. I also have two computers. One for internet work, emails, and blogging and one that is simply my writing computer that I use for typing up my handwriting. I always write by hand because it makes me much more creative and much faster because the ideas keep flowing.

And all this leads to having the Write Mind because once you're sitting in your comfortable writing place, at your set writing time and using your usual writing tools, you'll feel more like writing.

I know that when I do these things it's just a psychological trick to get my mind motivated and ready to write, but it works. It works every time, even on those days when I really don't feel like writing and I think that a pile of ironing looks more interesting.

Books to help you make money from your writing

https://ruthiswriting.com/make-money.html

How and Where to Get More Writing Ideas Than You Know What to Do With

 “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”

 ~ Steven King

I've quoted the famous horror writer, Steven King, because he is absolutely right about being a successful writer.

They say that to be successful, you don't have to be a better writer than anyone else, you just have to outwork them. Talent won't make you rich, but talent plus hard work will.

I've heard more than enough people ask about how to find things to write about. It's as though they have no writing ideas at all.

The 'secret' to having writing ideas is to write. It's that simple.

Got nothing to write?

Find a paragraph of writing and copy it out. Then copy out another one, and another one. Keep going and the ideas will start to flow.

I also find that the faster I write, the faster the ideas flow. They say that productive writers always have plenty of ideas, and I know I do. 

The more I write the more ideas I get. And the ideas don't stop coming when I'm not writing. I can be standing at the sink washing dishes and the ideas just keep coming, so I stop and take a few notes and before I know it I've written pages of ideas. To anyone else, my notes look like illegible scrawl with words circled and arrows pointing every which way. But to me it's gold.

And as to the infamous writer's block, I don't have time for it. I'm far too busy writing.

If you have trouble with writing ideas, start writing. Write anything. Write about what you did yesterday, or what you had for breakfast, or something you watched on TV. It doesn't matter what you write, it just matters that you do.

Some people believe that writer's block is the hardest thing to overcome. But I think starting is the hardest.

Once you conquer that, the only problem you'll have is what to do with so many ideas.

Books to help you make money from your writing

https://ruthiswriting.com/make-money.html

Don’t Think. Just Write

 Years ago, I knew I wanted to write, so I did. I wrote, submitted my work to magazines and earned money.

Next, I wanted to have my own website, so I did a web design course and set up my first site.

I also wanted to write a book and get it published so I wrote it and published it while stumbling through the whole process and learning as I went along.

It was during this time that I came across an online “Guru” called Mike Littman and his mantra was “You don’t have to get it right. You just have to get it going.”

I loved that, so it’s what I always did. It’s also how I always write. I just keep going and write in the ‘flow’. No editing. Just writing.

Sometimes as I write I think I’m going wrong, but I don’t stop. I just keep writing.

And in the end it’s usually OK and I can fix things in the edit.

What’s always worked for me is not to overthink things. I simply get things started and make changes as I go along.

I never overthink my writing either.

I create an outline and write from there.

If you want to achieve more, don’t get it right, just get it going.

You won’t regret it.

Books to help you make money from your writing

https://ruthiswriting.com/make-money.html