Pros of freelance writing

• Creativity
• No supervision
• Independence from people
• No reporting to work
• Freedom of what you love

Cons of freelance writing

• No benefits of employment
• Unpredictable nature
• No hours of working
• Unsteady cash inflow

Waving goodbye to 9-5 job models is prevalent and on the rise these days. Almost no one can give you the guarantee of having enough money or work to support a freelance writer’s lifestyle. Your determination puts you ahead of the rest, and the more you get willing to up your writing game, the better the pay will get.

Becoming a Freelance writer

If you want to become one, start writing, and do it daily. You know the famous saying goes practice makes perfect. But then let us review the necessary steps to get you on the ladder.

Sharpen your writing

Writing is one skill that can get learned and improved in a period. Get committed to jot a short story or article every day. Begin writing something that you find passionate or something that you love. Afterward, start writing about the things you do not understand. Doing that will widen your scope and guide you where you don’t have strengths, and with dedication, you will mold a versatile professional in you. There are so many writing categories and jobs out there, and the versatility in your writing can help you sort out the field of your interests.

Select your niche

Check on what you love, passionate about, or right at since having them in mind can go a long way into making sure that you get to define your niche. You will get reliable clients if you do so, and remember not to waste your energy and time jotting about things you do not fully understand even if you get paid well. If you fail to deliver the results as per the clients’ expectations, you will put a strain on your name. Do the things you are good at to help you build a better reputation.

Start blogging

It is one of the most basic yet crucial steps for every freelancer. It acts as a living portfolio and will be the best evidence to show your clients what you do. If you are just getting started in the craft, it is better, to begin with, a blog. Blogging will immensely help you polish your skills and help you advertise your work with the samples posted on your page.

Learn the relevant tools and skills

Writing as a freelancer is not all about writing. You have to acquire knowledge in other areas that support you, including marketing, management, and finance. How to edit your work, track the assignments, time, clients, and invoices demands that you know and understand how to make your way around each step. You can use Excel to manage your work, Slack or Trillo to organize everything, communicate with your clients, and utilize text tools to assist you in proofreading your work.

So, what is Technical Writing?

Most companies and organizations require writing services for their services and products. As a result, they look for individuals who can properly write how-to-guides, and simplify complex procedures into something that an ordinary consumer can digest. Technological advancements and the internet have increased accessibility when it comes to doing technology writing jobs online. Such companies engage the platforms, and platform-registered writers do such work on their behalf for a fee.

Applications of Technical Writing

The sphere of technical writing proves straightforward, and contains simple-to-comprehend instructions or/and explanations regarding a specific subject. It proves an efficient method of explaining stuff and its working mechanism.

Technical writing can come in two forms, and these include abstract or tangible forms. Tangible technical writing encompasses something that you can see or touch and includes devices like software programs, computers, or assembly information for specific furniture or devices.

On the other hand, abstract technical writing entails a stepwise process with the steps proving related to tangible objects. For instance, it can include steps needed to finish a process in the office.

Examples of Technical Writing

Many people comprehend things better by understanding what an example of the same entails. Therefore, to understand technical writing, consider the following examples,

• Instruction manuals
• Process manuals
• Policy manuals
• Analysis reports
• User manuals
• Product assembly instructions
• A summary of an extensive report that shortens and highlights the most crucial elements

Guidelines to Writing Excellent Technical Writing

Technical writing needs the author to adhere to a specific set of properties regarding understanding their audience, how to write in a non-personal style, and writing clearly regarding a subject that requires extensive research. When you consider and incorporate these properties, then you can develop clear explanations and instructions for your audience. So what should you consider before you begin writing?

• Comprehend your audience. As an expert, you have to understand specific acronyms, lingo, and abbreviations, which apply to any particular field. However, any beginner in the technical writing field will not similarly comprehend everything. Therefore, ensure that every detail has to get spelled and explained out loud and in a proper way.
• Try and employ the use of a style that proves impersonal. It always proves a wise idea to write in the third person. Such a perspective comes similarly as a teacher who instructs a learner
• Omit all the opinions that might have crossed and dominated your mind. Always ensure that the writing comes straightforwardly and concisely. It should also prove simple and one that your audience can easily understand, especially regarding the instruction and process.  Instructions mostly appear as simple steps that an individual has to achieve to get to their desired objective. Alternatively, it can come as a lengthy or short explanation of an abstract concept or an idea.
• Understand the most effective way to research. Here, you have to collect information from diverse sources, comprehend the information gathered before making a thorough analysis of the information before putting it into an easy-to-comprehend format that can become instructive to anyone who lays their eyes on it. Also, take note of the target audience experience level for your targeted audience. The more inexperienced the audience proves, the more you have to provide regarding information and explanations. Further, become thorough while describing issues or things and give out sufficient detail in making your points. However, also deliberate on issues of becoming economical with words to prevent instances where you end up boring your audience with details.

In most cases, if not all, excellent writers make complicated tasks seem simple. Further, such writers also ensure that they can quickly elaborate on a difficult information piece.

Conclusion

Technical writing has a simple definition that proves crucial to understand before you can embark on writing technical pieces. However, in a scenario that you do not know, reviewing the article can become useful. So have a good luck.