They say that the best way to learn is by doing. They also say that hands-on experience is the most memorable and valuable. Lastly, they say (who is “they”, anyways?) that if you want to know how a man feels, walk a mile in his shoes.
That’s why I think every writer out there should write 500 words for $2.
Don’t get me wrong; I’ll be the first to stand up and say that those wages are absolutely ridiculous for writers. We should war against sweatshop wages and promote value for effort.
But I’ll also be the first to say that writing a run of cheap articles is a learning experience that can’t be beat. You gain a deeper understanding of the struggles some people face. You’re in a better position to provide help and change by this new vision. Your writing takes on a new level of consciousness.
Even if you currently earn $500 for 500 words, my suggestion is to go the other extreme for a time. Writing cheap articles can:
- Teach you what it’s like to work hard for almost nothing.
- Give you a better understanding of just how tough some writers have it
- Gain a deeper sympathy for writers caught in the cheap article cycle
- Understand the value of what you do for a living
- Increase your credibility because you’ve been where others are
One of the reasons I can stand up today to write about how to improve a freelance writing career is because I’ve been in the cheap article camp. I used to write those $2 articles, and they provided me with valuable knowledge about myself, my ability, my talents and my self-worth.
I can honestly say I know how hard it is to work and get a handful of change back. I understand the challenges on a personal level through hands-on experience. I know how discouraging that life of cheap work can be, and how many writers feel unable to step out of that rut.
And I’m thankful. If it wasn’t for those $2 articles, I might not be where I am today. I wouldn’t be able to tell other people, “I know, because I’ve been there. And I am proof there’s a better way of doing things.” No one can say I don’t know how they feel or that I can’t relate.
I can.
You can work to create change, too. Come down to where other writers are in their career. Live the struggles they live. Learn the challenges, experience the hardships and understand the cycle of poverty some writers face each and every day.
You’ll discover valuable lessons, better experience and a deep empathy that lets you help other writers rise above the rut of low wages.
Disclaimer: I do not want to promote low wages, nor do I want to feed the cheap article machine. I understand my suggestion does give that machine a temporary mouthful, but the point is to find ways to gain understanding and knowledge to help others. Get in, learn, and get out. Then help others get out, too.
Sorry, it’s not always necessary to have been in the exact same situation to be of help to someone else.
I’m appalled at the writer’s on here. I agree with James, its reality check time, and right now I believe it is entirely necessary. I’ve never seen so many holier then thou attitudes in one place.
New freelance writers are coming to these pages for tips and advice, and yes, they read the comments too. So that person you are all looking down upon is watching what you are doing. What impression are they getting? That writers are a bunch of smug fools.
While $2 an article may not seem worth it to many of you, for others, its income. Don’t forget about that single mom just trying to feed her child, or many others just trying to make some additional money for the basics. Not everyone is so lucky to be able to make freelance writing a full time gig, or has the time to take on the higher paying projects. They’re cramming some writing time in between taking care of the kids, household duties, a full time job, sometimes a part time job as well.
For myself personally, $2 an article averages out to be higher then my hourly rate at my job. For someone making minimum wage, its nearly double theirs in my state. To you its pocket change, to someone else its the difference between life and death. Come back down to earth and remember who and what you are. Writing is a calling, not a gift.
Sorry James, just had to add my two cents!
Interesting post, James, but unfortunately I have to say I don’t agree with your theory.
Writing a $2 article doesn’t actually give you the experience of *needing* the money badly enough to accept such paltry rates. The needing is the key point to understanding, as you put it, the ‘cycle of poverty’. The fact that you can *choose* to do, or not do, this exercise is the very thing preventing you from understanding what it’s like for someone who *doesn’t* have a choice. As a friend of mine likes to say, going to the zoo doesn’t make you a monkey.
I’m also confused as to what you think a highly paid writer would learn from the exercise that they could pass on to a writer working for $2 a pop. How does going from B to A teach you how to get from A to B?
@ Chloe – The point of the exercise is not to experience needing money. It’s to live, for a short while, as someone else might live. That experience provides valuable takeaway.
For example, you might learn that it’s *not* that easy to just “Stop writing 2$ articles! You’re worth more than that!!” Go bid on jobs via the auction sites and see the challenges writers using them face.
For example, you might learn what it’s like to be treated like crap. High-paid writers are respected. Poorly paid writers are worth the respect and are constantly put down, condescended to and treated terribly.
We well-paid writers take life much for granted. Coming down for a while off our pedastels can help us understand the obstacles others face – and then talk to them in their language knowing exactly the challenges they face to help bring them out of the rut.
I don’t know about you, but that seems pretty good stuff to me, no?
I completely agree with the article, although I’m not a writer, rather a web developer, I went through a phase of doing “$4 websites”. It sucks, big time! But it gives you a better understanding of how the system works, and when you do work your way up to a position where you can provide quality work, and charge reasonable rates, you appreciate it all the more.
I do still find myself working on sites for small amounts, or nothing at all, more because of personal interest in the projects, but I can see how such an exercise would remind you of how you got where you are today, and give you a new sense of appreciation for it.
My two cents: I think part of it depends on where you are in your career. When I left my job in tech PR, I had to do whatever was necessary to gain experience, clips, and experience as a freelance writer and copyeditor. Jus as the web developer stated above, I too did work far below market value to both make ends meet and to attain knowledge.
Fast-forward about four to five years now, however, and I can’t imagine a situation where I’d write article for someone like eHow again at such an incredibly low rate. Again, having a clip from them when I first started out has been helpful, but I do feel I’m worth much more now that I have a great deal of experience under my belt.
I really just think it depends on where you are in your career and what your specific situation is.
Interesting. I see this backlash against “cheap writing” in the Elance Water Cooler, as well. When I started freelance writing online in 2011, I had experience in PR and fiction-writing, but I was exploring new territory. I believe I was paid $1 an article for my first few articles. I built up some great articles for my portfolio and started building my reputation on freelancing sites.
I think we’re very fortunate to be able to do what we love for a living and command the pay we do now. I posed the question on Elance, What do you recommend these people do to get experience? Go to college and get a BS degree? Why–if they can start out writing for $2 and work their way up? If it worked for me, it can work for others. Granted, there’s an element of talent and experience required, but someone CAN start out writing for $2 and move up gradually. I’m not sure what sticks them in the $2 cycle but themselves. I could have kept writing for $1 an article but I started turning down offers right off the bat and was fortunate enough to find someone willing to pay $10 an article who loaded me down with articles for a couple of months. When I told her, two months later, that I could no longer write for that rate, she said she knew it was only a matter of time. Talented writers get their experience and move up.
If you have a talent and want to get started, GO FOR IT. But do it with the understanding that you’re only building a portfolio and once you get that experience, start gradually increasing your experience until you’re making what you’re worth.
Every time someone writes a 500-word article for $2, it undermines the earning power of other freelance writers. Last year, I quoted a company $30 per item for descriptions of his products in a catalogue. The client complained, stating that he paid a student only $5 per item the previous year. I told him I appreciated the opportunity to quote on the project, and perhaps he should try that route again. He hired me to write the descriptions and he contacted me again this year to write more. If you are a qualified writer, ask for what you deserve.
I take offense to so much in this article, but most of all there’s the fact that you admit that some people LIVE off of these low wages and yet you think writers who are making perfectly good money elsewhere ought to come in and TAKE these low paying jobs out of the hands of people who NEED them. Just to what? Pretend to have to slum it up a bit so you can “feel what that’s like?”
There are much more healthier ways to go about such a task. Why not do some guest blogging for a site you actually like? A lot of guest blogging opportunities don’t pay anything at all, but at least then you’d be putting in hard work on an article that is going to matter to you and to your career instead of some cheap SEO-laden page. And then you’re not adding to the problem of low wages by accepting them. Every person who takes a $2 writing job help to legitimize this kind of price point for other writers.
And yes, like you said, there are some people who can’t help but take such a rate because they’re in dire straits. If you’re not in dire straits, you’re doing nothing but harm by taking these jobs. You’re showing the people who offer these low rates that talented writers who are worth more will actually accept far less if it’s offered and you’re taking jobs away from people who need them to make ends meet. And if the entire point is to have empathy for those who are not as fortunate, then you should be trying to HELP them, not HINDER them by keeping them in a low wage hellhole and creating more competition for the lowest paid jobs.