New to this, anybody spare some advice?

Hey there guys, i'm new to this forum and also the article writing side of it too. I was wondering if anybody here could help me out a bit as I think I'd be interested in writing for money in my spare time.

About me:
I've just finished a degree at a fairly prestigious university in the U.K studying Astrophysics with Biology (native English speaker).
With regards to writing itself, I have had plenty of practise writing a variety of forms of literature (scientific prose/product reviews/blogging - temporarily).
Am extremely motivated and excellent at managing my time, always looking to learn something new!

Firstly i'm assuming you don't simply have to be a good writer to be successful in this area, there must be some underlying traits which are viewed as benefits to employers. If somebody could let me know where I'm best off looking to learn then I would really appreciate that. (Examples of things I may be expected to write would be excellent!)

Would I be best off diving in at the deep end or submitting reviews to people to see what they think?

Many thanks!

Also which websites are the best ones to register to when looking for work? Thanks

Hey Cheeky,
first of all, welcome to the BHW community

My best advice, is that you start browsing threads about writing strategies, so you can start learning the process to do this job as a freelancer. You will find a lot of information here regarding your topic of preference.

When you are ready to settle down, I would advice that you join oDesk or related sites, fill in a portfolio (a personal website would be best, to sell yourself and show off your skills to potential customers), and start bidding on projects of interest.
You can try as well fiverr, where you can sell your service for 5 bucks. Lots of writers work there as well.

Best of luck with your journey Cheeky, and welcome!
Kindest,
Marce

Also, this thread might be of interest to you:
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...-sites-pay-writers-worldwide-per-article.html

Best of luck and welcome to BHW!

I can see it was not mentioned so here is another site that you can try selling your writing services: iwriter.com
Good luck in your IM journey!

Sorry OP but you have toiled and sweated to get a degree in Astrophysics with Biology...

Now you want to do writing in your spare time...

Young man the world is your oyster with that degree, in your position the only spare time writing I would be doing is to get my PhD in Astrophysics with Biology...

Get your focus back before you derail your academic qualifications...

steelballs said:

Sorry OP but you have toiled and sweated to get a degree in Astrophysics with Biology...

Now you want to do writing in your spare time...

Young man the world is your oyster with that degree, in your position the only spare time writing I would be doing is to get my PhD in Astrophysics with Biology...

Get your focus back before you derail your academic qualifications...

Click to expand...

Hehe it is a very very good point steelballs, couldn't agree more with that.

I knew quite some people when I was studying engineering, that studied just because their parents made them do it, like an "obligation". Most of them now are working of something else, non related to their careers. I'm not telling that OP is like this case in particular, but I can tell that there are folks that have strong academic degrees and they do not use it at all.

With his academic skills, he could become a good writer for his career related topics, and earn a very nice side money.

here is a Bit of advice for you upgrade your account and then head the the BST section with your service

Check out some of the other service oriented sites also like Guru, oDesk, Freelancer. You might find people in need of technical/academic writing, and you can certainly charge a nice fee given your qualifications. Dig around on there a bit, you'll get a good idea of how to present yourself and your services, as well as what to reasonably charge. Some people make some very good money there.

Thanks a lot for all the help guys, didn't expect so many replies in such a short time, really insightful! Regarding my degree, I'm actually taking a gap year (to travel) before doing a masters so I could do with raising a bit of money in the meantime I'm actually extremely interested in my field so figured there is a definite opportunity for me to earn a bit of money writing about them. However after a brief look around on some of the aforementioned websites, there doesn't seem to be an abundance of scientific based writing available, guess i'll need to look a bit further (probably for the best!)

here is a Bit of advice for you upgrade your account and then head the the BST section with your service

Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice, one question though, what actually is the ''BST section''?

I will go and have a better look around now to get more of an understanding of what's expected of me. Many thanks again for all the help guys, I really appreciate it

Can't seem to find the BST section I think that they changed it to the market place now http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/f194-content-copywriting/ This would be where to post your services, but be warned that if you do you better be prepared to offer good quality content and keep up with the demand. BHW can be a harsh place sometime so be ready.

If you want to learn the ropes, I would suggest TextBroker. If you're new to content writing they will probably be able to tell. They'll probably assign you to the L3 pool. that's OK, if you listen to the editors you can work your way up.

The most important bit of advice I can give you is learn to structure your article before you write a single word. This is especially important in the realm of online content. I use Scrivener for this, and it's awesome. (you can find it on TPB, but please do support the authors if you like the soft) You don't have to buy anything though to start. Organize the facts that you need to get into your article and then write to those facts. That will keep you from drifting off course.

Once you attain L4 or L5 at Textbroker you'll want to graduate to Constant Content. If you can get articles through their editors consistently you're pretty much at professional level, and should charge accordingly.

As far as getting private clients, it's always hit or miss. Basically don't work for anyone who's unwilling to pay something up front.