I’m getting more used to the rushed pace of internet writing. From scratch, an original 500 to 750 word article now takes me about two hours to write. That’s if there are plenty of resources on the net to aid with the research. Mind you, the quality won’t be that of The New Yorker or Harpers Magazine. But that’s not what you are getting on the net. What you are getting are workmanlike articles, stuff that’s sturdy enough to be useful to most readers and something the search engines will recognize as worthy of ranking. You are not getting Dostoevsky or Thoreau nor is there a need for that. Increasingly, the net is consumed in bite sized chunks, small paragraphs, often scanned and not read for its literary value. It is delightful when we do find fine writing, but that is not what most web site owners are paying for. And its not what we writers can hope to achieve in the time given us. Which brings me to another point.
I think that one reason the internet pays so little is because the writing only has to be average. And there are tens of millions of average writers. Many writers in Pakistan, India, and the Philippines have a good grasp of English and can write competent articles with just a little direction. Instead of competing against other writers in the English speaking world, we authors now contest against all those who know English as a second language. And there is no way we can compete on price against someone in the developing world. Where native English speakers can find a market are employers like law firms and other high-end services which demand that the wording on their sites be exact. I think it is within this niche that I will be successful. Now, some self promotion.
My brother Dave says that freelancers and independent contractors would go broke if they had only one client. Even though I am now working primarily for one company, I am still soliciting work from other firms. I would be happy to draft an article for you, gratis, based on your requirements. If that trial article seems acceptable then we could talk about further work. I’ve added a gmail account to my contact choices. Feel free to write me at thomasguyfarley@gmail.com. Thank you.
