Looking to start writing

Have decided i'm going to give article writing an attempt but i'm a little lost as to where i should start. There seems to be so many different sites to choose from. I was initially going to open up a gig on Fiverr and see if i can get the ball rolling which i may still do depending on the answers i get. Ill be honest, my English is far from perfect even though i was born and raised in the UK. I'm hoping over time my vocabulary, punctuation and grammar will improve so that i'm able to offer a higher quality service. While we are on the subject how much should i beginner like myself be charging? (xxx words for $xx)

Any tips/advice that you feel will benefit me before i get started is more than welcome!

Thanks
CazuaL

If your english is far from perfect then you shouldn't be a writer bro. You'll get a lot of pissed off customers and nobody will recommend a writer who can't write properly it doesn't make sense.

pitbully said:

If your english is far from perfect then you shouldn't be a writer bro. You'll get a lot of pissed off customers and nobody will recommend a writer who can't write properly it doesn't make sense.

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Pretty much this, work on your grammatical skills before you jump into the content writing world OP. If a client isn't happy with the quality of content you're able to produce you aren't going to last long.

- A

Got to start somewhere. I feel as if i could produce well written articles with very few if any mistakes but with programs such as Word, Open office etc.. there is no reason for there to be any.
Obviously my price would be incredibly cheap, something around the $4/500 mark (Very cheap according to what i have read) As i improve/my customer base grows i could begin gradually charging more.

How will i know if i'm ready to write?

Please take this as a constructive piece of advice, but the first thing you should do is take more care with your writing.

It only takes a few moments to review what you have written and make any corrections. You capitalized very few of your 'I's and missed an apostrophe. I am not being picky there, but if you are looking for writing work you need to attend to those basics for sure. I think that's carelessness rather than ability though and is easily rectified.

I would suggest you use Word to compose anything you write initially as it will underline any errors as you write and you will become aware of any bad habits you have and be able to correct them.

A good site to start with would be iWriter. They have 3 levels of writer and you need to hit a set ratings target before you can increase your ranking. It takes a little while to get to the top tier, but in the process of doing it you will learn a lot and your writing skills will improve considerably.

You should work on writing acceptable level English, or else pricing your work below the level where anybody would expect 'quality' writing (say $2 per 400-500 words). Also decide on an income target---$10-15 dollars a day is realistic for a beginner with iffy English, but your goals may differ. Concentrate on submitting to 2-3 sites like Yahoo Voices/Contributor Network, Textbroker, iWriter or similar sites you are able to get an account for, then submit several articles a day to meet the income target (say 3-5/day, to get paid an average of $10-15/day). These sites usually give feedback on what is defective about your articles, so they indirectly serve as training vehicles to hone your skills.

This would amount to $300-450 a month, if you maintain this pace. Do whatever Fiverr or miscellaneous freelance assignments come along for the balance of your writing schedule. After a while you may improve enough at writing, to write for the better paying sites (constant content et al), or may concentrate on writing for your own sites for affiliate, CPA or other product promotions.

Trepanated said:

Please take this as a constructive piece of advice, but the first thing you should do is take more care with your writing.

It only takes a few moments to review what you have written and make any corrections. You capitalized very few of your 'I's and missed an apostrophe. I am not being picky there, but if you are looking for writing work you need to attend to those basics for sure. I think that's carelessness rather than ability though and is easily rectified.

I would suggest you use Word to compose anything you write initially as it will underline any errors as you write and you will become aware of any bad habits you have and be able to correct them.

A good site to start with would be iWriter. They have 3 levels of writer and you need to hit a set ratings target before you can increase your ranking. It takes a little while to get to the top tier, but in the process of doing it you will learn a lot and your writing skills will improve considerably.

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Cheers mate, exactly what I wanted to hear
I'll blame that silly mistake on it being late and i need to sleep

zebrahat said:

You should work on writing acceptable level English, or else pricing your work below the level where anybody would expect 'quality' writing (say $2 per 400-500 words). Also decide on an income target---$10-15 dollars a day is realistic for a beginner with iffy English, but your goals may differ. Concentrate on submitting to 2-3 sites like Yahoo Voices/Contributor Network, Textbroker, iWriter or similar sites you are able to get an account for, then submit several articles a day to meet the income target (say 3-5/day, to get paid an average of $10-15/day). Do whatever Fiverr or miscellaneous freelance assignments come along for the balance of your writing schedule.

This would amount to $300-450 a month, if you maintain this pace. After a while you may improve enough at writing, and write for the better paying sites (constant content et al), or may concentrate on writing for your own sites for affiliate, CPA or other product promotions.

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Don't want to bite off more than I can chew. $10-$15 sounds like a great goal to start with.
Cazual

You're very welcome - and you missed one.

CazuaL said:

and i need to sleep

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Trepanated said:

You're very welcome - and you missed one.

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Something I also forgot to mention. Unless I specify a certain niche that I'd like to write for, topics that I know nothing about are bound to creep up.
I have no problem doing a little research but as I'm only just starting out should I stick to what I know?

CazuaL

CazuaL said:

Something I also forgot to mention. Unless I specify a certain niche that I'd like to write for, topics that I know nothing about are bound to creep up.
I have no problem doing a little research but as I'm only just starting out should I stick to what I know?

CazuaL

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I'm always ready to write for niches that require a bit of research, no shame in learning something new every now and then (plus money is the root of all motivation).

- A

Well i have thrown up a few gigs onto Fiverr. Just have to sit back and wait now.

Don't limit yourself to too few niches.

Things you know about are a given, but also choose niches you find interesting as you will enjoy researching and writing the articles and therefore do a decent job.

Another good choice is topics which are subjective rather than objective as they give you more scope to be creative.

CazuaL said:

Something I also forgot to mention. Unless I specify a certain niche that I'd like to write for, topics that I know nothing about are bound to creep up.
I have no problem doing a little research but as I'm only just starting out should I stick to what I know?

CazuaL

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Based on my writing experiences it seems that the health, weight loss, finance, fore ex, IM/MMO and self development are the most popular niches. start out reading about these niches, go to ezine articles where you can read more about them there.