What is the best field for freelance writers to write in?

names

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I am not a freelance writer. What is the best field to write and jump into if I decide to pursue it as a carreer? I want to research my way to evntually be a business consultant. So are the prospects good? What can I expect as a salary and schedule? In fact since I live in another country I was thinking international buisness.

I think I can sell myself on ideas but I won't know until I consider it and after I start looking at trends in the fields that pay best. I can be pretty creative in non-fiction in my opinion.
 

BenPanced

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Like fiction, the best field for you is the one you're expert in. Srsly. If you don't know, understand, and enjoy the subject you're writing about, why bother? If you've worked in international business, that's going to be a plus because you're going to need to know the subject so you can talk to relevant people, assemble and present the data in a coherent and interesting manner, and most importantly, find various aspects to discuss. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a good idea.
 

names

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Ok, I like freelance. Fiction I will consider a hobby second to freelance though I like it too but to consider for a living though it could be chancey. Some people can somehow be sucessful in fiction. I do not know what makes them successful besides getting into a good program of freelance and fiction? I hope a person such as myself can make a field like buisness into a new passion. I'd think so since it is such a promosing career. I have a cousin who studied business administration in four years. Maybe if I did a freelance degree with buisness with technical writing I think I could do something interesting and create good relationships. I know you did give me an answer I will think about because of the difficult job prospect of getting internships. But I would study hard if I got into a program I was interested in getting into because it was a good choice and compared well with the rest of the ones in the university systems. Plus it woud be talking about new fields I'd want to read about. Hopefully boosting some earnings I could get in a job position. Thanks for your insight, I will consider an alternative to freelance as writing new buisness ideas. I am was just curious but I am still considering this field. I want to break it into fiction but it will take time and some things that I do not know that a freelance writer can tell me about the career. It sounds like a tough job but I do writing out of passion. I don't want to assume things, so I can now be a little more realistic. The fiction market is hard to get into with out the drive or the skill for grammar, hence why I want freelance but with a good paycheck.
 
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Unimportant

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Some people can somehow be sucessful in fiction. I do not know what makes them successful besides getting into a good program of freelance and fiction?
Most authors are successful because they have a passion for writing and they spend five to ten years learning the craft, conduct themselves like professionals, and gradually build up a name for themselves in the business. Same as for people who become successful sculptors or concert pianists or opera singers or any other art.

The fiction market is hard to get into with out the drive or the skill for grammar, hence why I want freelance but with a good paycheck.
Writing saleable nonfiction requires many of the same skills as writing saleable fiction, including an ability to write clean, clear, grammatically correct prose. Freelancing never comes with a paycheck; each project is paid by the editor/publisher individually and independently.

In both fiction and nonfiction, the majority of writers are still learning their craft and trying to break into the industry with some sales; a small proportion earn a small amount from their writing but not enough to support themselves; a much smaller proportion support themselves full-time from writing; and a vanishingly tiny proportion become rich from their writing.
 

Jamesaritchie

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First things first, and first you have to be able to write well, which also means you have to know grammar and punctuation inside out. Quality of writing, and grammar/punctuation, are at least as important in nonfiction as in fiction. These are, in fact, the most basic tools you'll need, and you;'ll go nowhere without them.

Assuming English is your native language, you have a lot to learn about writing, grammar, and punctuation before you can even think about writing anything that will sell.

Courses and programs of the type you seem to want also require this knowledge.

You're getting way, way, way ahead of yourself thinking about salary and schedule for any field.
 

freelancemomma

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Medical writing (for the pharma industry, directly or indirectly) is well compensated. About 70% of my freelance writing business consists of medical writing, and for the past 10 years or so I've hit six figures per year.

F.
 

Hublocker

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Whatever you do if you want to get rich, don't get into commercial fishing or marine shipping writing. As a former fisherman and deckhand, I write what I know about.

I get 40 cents a word from one mag and 34 cents from another.

Want to know what I earn? After reading what freelance momma wrote above, I'm kind of embarrassed. I've been at this for 24 years, have two steady markets and I think it's been less than $12,000 a year for the past 8 to 10 years. Good thing the house is paid for.
 

veinglory

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The advantage of writing in your specialty is efficiency. You can write even a modestly paid assignment quickly without having to do huge amounts of research.
 

Ketzel

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Zombie thread, guys. names hasn't been around since 2012.
 

dantefrizzoli

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I think it depends mainly on what you want, and what you are comfortable with and that differs from writer to writer