Writing Tip #6 – Write Often
By Stephanie Hancock – Editor and CEO of JustContent
One of the best things you can do for yourself as a writer is to keep writing, even when you don’t have any pending jobs. There are many things you can write about and many ways to write and keep writing – it’s more about honing your skill than anything else, regardless of which way you choose to write. Here are a few ways you can hone your skills:
Keep a blog – Any blog will do, wordpress (where this blog is hosted) is free, there’s also blogger and many others. Regardless of what you’re writing about, even if it’s just a daily rant about your life, write something every day and post it. Perhaps you can use your blog to post test articles on new subjects that you want to learn more about and want to be able to, someday, write proficiently on.
Write a magazine article – these are just like writing regular articles. If you have an idea, write the article. Then perhaps query a few magazines and turn your daily “I have to write something” into some extra cash.
Start a book – any book will do. Perhaps you want to write the All-American novel, or maybe you don’t. Write a book for your kids about their lives. This is always a great gift for somewhere down the road. You can print a real book cheap at lulu if you want to give it as a gift somewhere down the road too. This is in my plan as well – the story of “my son’s name”…someday 
Or, perhaps you’re going to write the novel that will spur your career as a novel author.
Write an e-book – I’ve been talking about doing this for some time my ownself, but havent yet begun. I will though, someday. However don’t let my own procrastination and lack of time deter you from getting a jump start on your own ebook. You can write and publish an ebook about anything. Sell it on ClickBank or Lulu – make some cash.
Regardless of what you choose to do, hone your writing skills. Take some free online courses to hone your skills, take some typing tests, read up on grammar and syntax. Always be willing to learn, learn, learn and you’ll always be write, er, I mean, right. 
Make Good Money Freelancing at Home
By Stephanie Hancock – Editor and CEO of JustContent
You don’t have to be a fast writer to make good money freelancing, you have to be good at writing though and you need to find your niche.
Finding your niche writing skill will help a lot, but even without a niche (other than insurance, credit, mortgages and meso,) I can write about pretty much anything…and have written some really, really bizarre stuff.
Being flexible with what you write about is important, too. However, if a topic is really brain taxing, like forex trading for me is and mesothelioma used to be, then do some research and take an article here or there until you learn more about it to be proficient at it. Especially if it’s a hot market (like mesothelioma is right now).
See what I’m saying? Just because articles are hard to write, don’t ignore them. Instead, take one and work at it. No, you won’t be able to write this in 10 minutes, maybe not even an hour. My first mesothelioma article took me four hours to write, and it was only 500 words. However, I immersed myself in information about the subject becuase I knew it was a hot topic and that if I could write fast and proficiently at it, I could make some good money. Like I said before, now I can write on mesothelioma in my sleep.
When you see a topic emerge that makes your brain sting just thinking about it – take one. Leave yourself a lot of time to learn about it, research it and write the article. Then take another, and another as they are available. Soon, you will see that you are writing more proficiently on that ‘braing taxing’ subject and eventually, with the more you write about it, the faster you will be, the more you will know and the more money you can make freelancing, becuase now, you’ve expanded your niche markets.
Not too long ago, I had a writer complain to me that I never posted any work she could write about. She only wrote what I call ‘fluffy subjects’ about parenting, celebrity gossip and the like. This is the exact information that I gave that author – expand your horizons, and don’t be afraid. Leave yourself lots of time to get the job done and you’ll be surprised at what you can write about.
Freelancing – How to Make Money
By Stephanie Hancock – Editor and CEO of JustContent
How to make a living at freelancing – well, first of all, you have to be willing to commit. I used to be a reporter at the newspaper and freelanced on the side. However it didn’t take me long to realize I could make more freelancing than I could at the newspaper. I quit the newspaper and started writing full time at home, yes, it was dangerous, but I had to make ends meet and I knew I could.
Mind you, the work is not always available so it’s important to expand your horizons and work for a few different companies. It’s one of the things that I hear most often – “there’s never any work available anywhere”. Even though I run JustContent, I still have my own clients on top of that, and I still work for other companies as well and work a lot for them.
I write everyday, even when I don’t have an article due, except for my ‘day off’. I blog (here and elsewhere) and do other job related projects.
However now that I have JC, my own clients and other work, I make sure I take time off for myself too…that’s important. I take at least one full day off from writing and anything writing related each week. This gives me time to recharge and relax, spend time with my kids and my fiance. It’s also good to give yourself regular working hours. Now, mine aren’t ‘normal’, I would rather write at night than in the morning. But do what works for you, and when you’ve been at it for eight hours in a row, it’s really time to stop for the day.
Put your hands in many pots and you’ll see that there’s lots of work.
