Why You Should Write for Free
If you want to write for a living, you should write for free. Heck, if you already write to make a living, you should write for free. And this free letter should be one of your best works.
If you are not already known for something else, you will write for free before writing for money. And if you’re trying to make a living, you can spend the rest of your life trying to make your paid texts look more like your free ones. Here are what you should probably do for free and what you should probably not:
Do it for free
Write about what interests you. One of the typical methods is to start a blog; My first job (as a writer for the former Gawker Media Valleywag site) I got writing about Gawker in college, on a site called Blogebrity that some guys created as a joke. (I was neither the first nor the last to be hired by Gawker to write about Gawker.) A more recent example is Keith Wagner, who turned her blog McMansion Hell into a promising career as an architecture critic by writing (for a fee) on sites such as Curb and Invisible 99 percent .
You can write whatever you want for yourself – often that’s why it’s so good. No one helps you narrow things down, but neither does they darken your vision. Speak with curses, go into the stream of consciousness, joke that no one will understand. The job is likely to be a mess, but you can accomplish something great. Very few publications would accept Kate Wagner’s proposal to criticize the ugly McMancions in a conspiracy-theory style. But as soon as she built herself a platform with McMansion Hell, everyone wanted to participate in it.
You can get creative or focus on a market idea. It would be wise to pick something that you really care about rather than chasing money, but I won’t pretend that the latter never gave anyone a book or place at Urban Outfitters. But consider all the formats available – group blog, podcast, YouTube sketches, basement theater troupe. This is the right time to do the weird shit that couldn’t make money, because as soon as you get paid, he has to make money. Lifehacker writer Beth Skorecki has written nine novels, never published a single one, and is very happy about it .
If you want your audience to grow immediately, contribute to smaller companies. Some cannot afford to pay at all; some may only pay small amounts. Earning is not really the main thing for you early on; The point is to find editors who can improve your work. Many of these editors are also just starting out and will turn to you later to ask for more money; others are too qualified for their role and will give you invaluable advice. I spent more time browsing humorous material for the indie blog The Toast (RIP) than articles that paid ten times more for, and I was so grateful for that. And that was nine years of my career.
Book writing is often accompanied by another form of free writing: the vast majority of novels are written to spec and then handed off to publishers. Most novelists have to write and promote their books this way. (Some get suggestions for more than one book.) And most writers have a book (or more) that has never been published.
It’s the same on television and in movies. The writers make many unsold films. Sometimes they write scripts just as samples. Again, there are benefits to free writing. This script for Seinfeld’s 9/11 episode could never have been created, but it is actually funny and well written, which goes beyond shock. So it went viral, and two months later, its author became a staff writer for Family Guy .
Don’t do it for free
None of the above means you shouldn’t ask for what you deserve. Don’t write free work if you don’t like it, and don’t write free for those who ask.
If you are writing for a well-known and well-funded publication, you should definitely ask for payment. (Most well-known publications don’t even ask for free work. But it can take months for them to pay you.)
Anyone who asks you to write for free should express their gratitude. They should also make it clear what they want from you and offer you every opportunity to say no. If they act like you owe them, run away.
Once you agree to write for free, you must be just as reliable as you are with money. If you cannot, notify the publication in advance. Usually they will understand; they also need money, so they know how it is. And if something falls apart, try to be as polite and polite as possible. This does not mean overworking yourself, it just means trying not to leave anyone in trouble. I’ve edited a lot of writers who worked for free or for very low pay, and I tried to make them feel comfortable when they just couldn’t complete what they suggested to me. This is the least I could do.
If and when your career takes off, you don’t have to post your “loyalty.” If you are too busy with a paid job, tell them. This is not enslaving contractual slavery. And if this publication explodes and you know they might start paying you, ask them to do so. There are a million other writers, but there are a million other publications as well. Choose the ones that value you the most.