Freelance Writing -- Real or Meme?

It's a meme if you do it for a few weeks, make a few bucks, or none at all, and give up. Otherwise, it's a viable career. Lots of people make a living as a writer.

It's one of the fields that can't be outsourced too heavily because non-natives always have a tenuous grasp of the language.

That's kind of the brunt of your initial marketing - that you're not a little desi fag slamming gibberish onto the keyboard with your curry crusted fingers.

An English major is usually focused on the study of literature. Sometimes there are courses in linguistic and semiotic theory. Sometimes concentrations in creative writing. Sometimes non-fiction and professional writing.

You don't need a degree in English. You do need to develop a portfolio. Writing samples.

Writing is very vague desu senpai. Narrow down what type of writing you want to do. It's probably easiest to write about what you know in the beginning. Look for listings that want articles/essays on Computers or fly fishing, or whatever the fuck you do for fun.

I'd suggest reading a lot. Really paying attention to the syntax of all sorts of writing styles.

One area that requires less technical knowledge is as a technical writer, which is procedural in format, but you have to learn the format.

Three books I recommend your peruse:

The Adweek Copywriting Handbook
Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This
Marketing Warfare

they are more marketing/advertising based, but being able to waterfall is an important skill for any writer.

Also, read an editing book. Your school might have a writing center. Basically you sit around and proofreads assignments before people turn them in. I worked there during college, albeit for shekels.

I'd take a writing workshop too. Basically everyone in the class writes something and you all read, edit, review, and discuss them each time you meet.

Also, plan to graduate from those sites once your craft gets better. You can have regular client w/o fees.

Goodluck faggot.

Thanks a ton for the detailed response. There is a lot I can do myself like you said, I know my school has a writing center among other things, plus I did very well in my Writing 101 course and made good friends with the professor, I might be able to ask her for help or if I could help grade papers or anything, even small assignments.

I will also look into those books you mentioned and dig into them. In terms of what kind of writing I'd want to focus on, I really don't care. I could definitely see myself putting in some work to learn to copywrite well or even try to learn technical writing like you said. Plus my interests are varied and I feel as though there are a large bunch of niche-specific topics I could comfortably write about or pick up quickly. Other than that I already feel comfortable with the diction and syntax of many different writing styles. I can write well in a business/AP/Hemingway-esque style when I need to and otherwise I enjoy writing in a more archaic style with complicated sentence structure and word choice, thanks to all the /lit/ I've read.

Anyway, thanks again for all the information.