Writing on spec allows me to sneak in my personal opinions on things because I write about things I like or believe in It also has increased my reading time to between 2 and 3 hours in the early mornings. During my working years in journalism I received assignments 80% of the time. This is waaaayyyyy more fun
I'm still pretty new at CC but I am very pleased at the success I've had. I do write for requests when it's a subject I already know. That has proven to be succesful, especially in the photography field. I also write on spec in other fields where I know the subject matter. I have only written 48 articles so far so I know I am a long way from reaching the numbers many of you have reached but I have sold over half of them in a very short time and have had a check every pay day. So I am happy about that and the potential as I put in more time. I am trying to retire from a few of my other activities and devote all my working hours to photography and writing (and my web stuff). I figure at my age I deserve to only do FUN work! I am getting closer!! Then I hope to find time to submit many more articles. I am hoping the sale percentage stays at 50% or more when I do.
1. Writing to beat a deadline is the best cure for procrastination. Works for me because I was once a newspaper sub-editor, so very long ago. At that time, the whole press room would be twiddling thumbs for seven hours. (Actually everyone was reading porn including the chief). Then it was 60 minutes of frenetic activity where we didn't really breath properly, never mind about going to the loo. We had to wait for the last minute so that we could squeeze in the very latest hot news and hopefully scoop our rivals.
2. Writing to specs keeps me focused. I have to concentrate on keeping on topic and within the word count instead of rambling along like I used to do. Of course, I got paid and am still being paid for rambling along, too, but that's another story.
3. Haven't gotten round to fleshing out any of the article ideas I have noted down, for the simple reason that I am already fully occupied just keeping up with the public requests. Don't expect to see any lull in the incoming deluge of public requests, going by what had been happening so far.
4. Writing to specs forces me to maintain a better writing schedule which is good because the worst part about being self-employed is that there is no boss to give me a kick in the pants when I take it easy for too long too often.
5. I am still only writing on selected topics because I always believe that I must be excited about the subject matter if I want to produce something that will sizzle. And sell. Except I still haven't sold anything yet which means that there are lots of people here who write better than me. And I like that. Being a big fish in a small pond is good for the ego but being a small fry in the vast ocean is even better because there is room to grow.
That's the long and short of it from
Hallelujah Lovelight.
'The light of love shines bright in the night of my lonely gloom.'
Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. Actually I am not in the least perturbed by the total lack of news from the sales department. I feel that I have already profited from having my articles reviewed and my silly mistakes pointed out, all at no cost to me.
It looks as though you are very active on the forums, and that's definitely a good thing. CC is great because it is a community of writers and the forums help us all to write better. Just a quick note: I thought it was amusing to realise the difference one little word can make. This original forum discussion was about writing "on spec", as in "on speculation" or articles that are NOT for public requests. You must have read it as writing "to spec", as in writing to "specifications", such as a public request, which has a deadline and specifications about the word length and the topic of the article.
I've sold articles that have been sitting around here for over a year, so some articles can take a while to sell. Keep writing and submitting articles, both for public requests and "on spec" and you will see the sales start to come in. Writing for public requests is a good idea, but it is nice to write an article that you are passionate about too. I also find that there is more competition for the public requests, whereas when you write an article on your own topic idea, "on spec", you will find it sells because it attracts the customer who is looking for that topic and there are not a lot of similar articles vying for the customer's attention. Some customers just search and purchase from the available articles and do not request specific articles. This is where having a good portfolio of non-requested articles will generate sales for you.
I hope this helps and continues to encourage you. I have been enjoying reading your positive comments over the past few days as I have gotten back into the forums after a break for a while. I can't wait until your Eureka moment becomes "I SOLD MY FIRST ARTICLE!"
I'm gonna be honest. I've never been one for a deadline although I can hum the tune and dance to it. My first full month on CC I made over 500 bucks, mostly writing articles for the long standing requests. (That is one thing I miss.) Anyway, I've learned that you never know what's going to sell. I once had a political rant sell within hours of being approved. Some of my articles that have sold multiple times for usage rights were written on a dare. I've also learned that you just need to write it if the idea comes to you. You'll want to smack yourself when you see that an article on a similar subject sell.
It also has increased my reading time to between 2 and 3 hours in the early mornings. During my working years in journalism I received assignments 80% of the time. This is waaaayyyyy more fun