The Fussy Freelancer Working At Home

As competitive as today's market is in the area of writing, you would think it would not pay to be a fussy or picky freelancer, right? Maybe not, but that is me exactly. I still have clients through oDesk and occasionally bid on projects, but my time there made me understand I have some very strong biases, and can be considered fussy.

What makes me think it is ok to be fussy, and how do I feel I can get away with it while competing with persons from India or the Philippines or Pakistan who would be delighted to write the stuff I snub, and would do it for the miraculous rate of $1.00 per hour?

Not to sound conceited but I charge far less than I am worth per hour. I am a native-English speaker and no editor will ever have to clean up text written by me, that reads "and u can get a happy home safe family with our road driven pedal cycles" (yes, I have had to clean up such debacles in the past for others).

What makes me call myself fussy or picky? I think it is what things I avoid when looking over buyers that is the proper answer.

I avoid any buyer how has a history of hiring a freelancer at $1.00 or $2.00 an hour to write for them. That type of hiring history indicates to me they are persons to be avoided. I tend to be really a stickler about the quality of writing I produce. Besides, those types would never bother with a writer with MY hourly rate.

Sue me if the reasoning seems frivolous, buyers can reject me for far smaller reasons, like not providing a photo with my application. I can assure anyone in doubt, that not a single photo of me has ever produced an article, story, or opinion piece. Man, what are they doing with those photos?

I refuse to ghost-write full length books for any person based on anything at all. I might be a starving writer, but I am a good one. I will save that talent for my own books with my own name, thank you very much. Having an idea is not a unique talent, delivering the idea in a readable and entertaining fashion is.

On the same topic I will not write creative fiction on a "per hour" basis, with what seems to me to be unrealistic expectations on how long it should take. Short stories take longer to pass out to the various voices in my head, than the 1 hour you have allotted for your project. In fact as quickly as I type, that 15,000 word story would take longer to type out, proofread, and edit, even if pre-written, than you have allowed for the entire creative process. Find someone who doesn't care about plot or story continuity and who is willing to work those extra hours for no pay.

I refuse how-to articles on keylogging, pirating, cheating, or hacking, dialers or how to deliver spyware. Yes, I know the topics, but that doesn't mean I will write for anyone about how to do them. I won't touch blackhat SEO either. In the long run it is counterproductive, and worse, it's wrong.

I also try and avoid articles deemed "rewrites". That is not because they are wrong, or that they are in any way bad. It's because it is tough for me to take some other person's words and ideas and just rearrange them with no attempt to make them unique. Early training about plagiarism left me with an inability to do that in a timely fashion. I add that to my fussy list because a starving writer really can't afford those sensibilities.

I avoid topics I personally deem just plain wrong, violent or exploitive. That's not to say I am a prude. I have done adult topics over the last four years and see nothing wrong with adult content writing. I do however object to violence in adult topics, anything underage, and things that go against what is generally regarded as common morality. I suppose that is another fussy item on my list and that maybe should not be, but everyone has their limits.

I avoid any project that requires a writer butcher quality, or content in favor of brevity. I know, it's a skill, and one I have not mastered even after all this time. I enjoy words, I revel in ideas, and the thought of leaving out important items, just makes me cry. I would love to be able to, but I just can't.

Again I ask myself, with such hardcore biases against certain topics and buyer types what makes me think I can get away with being fussy and still survive?

I have no idea why I think that way. However, the proof is in the pudding as they say, and I make a nice living for a starving writer.

I suppose it comes down to a balance that includes being able to express yourself creatively, survive by doing what you love, avoid things you feel you do poorly, and still to maintain personal ethics in the face of economic pressure.