Writing is something that is more than just a job for some of us… it is more of a calling. It has also been defined as a “craft”, meaning that there is a set of skills that can be learned and practiced. While this is true to an extent, the “art” of writing is more subtle and difficult to define. It is hard to put a finger on the specific qualities that make someone a great writer. Laying that hard-to-define something aside for a moment, here are some more tangible steps that will allow a writer to work more effectively and establish a successful freelance writing practice:

1. Before you begin, define what a successful freelance writing career will look like for you. Will you consider yourself a success if you are writing commercial copy, magazine articles, technical papers, books… or will success for you be paying the bills and earning a living? The measure of success will be different for each of us.

2. Write a business plan. Don’t be scared off by the term “business plan”. This plan can be loose and brief, but should include what you are doing to establish your writing space, market your services, and get your first clips as a writer. I’d also add a section on what you plan to do to continue your development as a writer.

3. Find a mentor. This can be done before you write the plan or after, but if you can find a mentor who is a freelance writer you can avoid some of the pitfalls every new freelance writer will come up against. I did this and it saved me a lot of time and wasted effort because I did not have to reinvent everything or learn freelance writing lessons the hard way.

4. Learn to write a great query and to apply for assignments. Queries are the bread and butter of freelancing, especially when you are starting out and do not have clips and samples of your published work. When you are first starting out queries seem intimidating, but you know what? The more you do the easier they get. Don’t get overwhelmed with the thought of writing a query. Do them one at a time and put in the research and work to refine your first query to make it as strong as it can be. Make sure it is perfectly tailored for the publication you are querying. Submit it, and then move on to the next one. And save every query – you will be able to use each one as a model. In other words, go for quality in queries not quantity.

5. When you land your first assignment focus all your energy to writing the best piece you have ever written and deliver it early to your customer. Exceed their expectation. Then, keep sending out queries and marketing yourself. As word spreads about your work – and it will – you want the word on you to be that you deliver on time and exceed expectations.

Freelance writing is a “practice” and a writer should always be developing their skills and tools and seeking to expand their repertoire of abilities. Trust yourself as a writer and keep setting goals to develop as a writer and you can have a long and successful career.