Freelancing Writing and Specialization: Become An Expert

Here’s a question for you: what do you LOVE?

What do you spend time thinking about, reading about, and discussing with your friends?

Your special interests may well lead to a specialty, and for freelance writers, specializing leads to a higher income.

Several months ago, I started coaching a writer who’s writing his first book.

Let’s call him Jason; that’s not his real name. Jason was avoiding working on his book, and I understood why. His writing lacked spark; he didn’t care about his topic. Unfortunately, if you don’t care about your writing, your readers won’t either. Your lack of enthusiasm comes across in your words.

Jason wasn’t an expert on his book’s topic. That’s fine. You can’t be an expert on everything you write about; that’s why you research. Buyers of your writing want experts, but few experts in a subject area are good writers.

As I said in this post, Writing for the Web: 3 Easy Ways to Boost Your Income Today | Angela Booth’s Fab Freelance Writing Blog:

“Every buyer of your writing wants to hire an expert in his particular field, whatever that field may be. For example, if a website owner needs 20 articles on anti-virus software, he prefers to hire an expert in that area.

Buyers know that experts produce better content. They’re also aware that experts will charge more, and they’re prepared to pay that premium. Therefore, aim to make yourself an expert in at least one area. You’ll immediately be worth more than any generic writer in that subject.”

I asked Jason whether he wanted to become an expert in his topic; he said he didn’t. I delicately pointed out that this was a real problem. He either had to become an expert, or he had to choose another topic. You can’t write at book length on a topic if you’re not prepared to become an expert on it.

Finally I asked Jason what he did in his spare time. It turned out that he loves computer gaming. He could sit at his computer playing a new game for fourteen hours at a stretch.

I asked him to come up with five computer gaming book ideas. He was shocked. Somehow, he’d never made the connection between what he loved to do, and writing a book. Once he made the connection, he got excited. And enthusiastic.

Jason’s now writing a book about computer gaming. He’s got a lot to say, and he says it well. He’s bubbling with creativity, and the writing is easy for him.

So, what do you LOVE?

Think about it. Becoming an expert in what you love is easy. Once you’re an expert, you’ll be paid more for your writing.

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There’s great money in Web writing. Some Web writers are making $20,000 a month by blogging for a stable of sites. Others are writing articles or ebooks.

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