December 9th
Are You a Writer, a Blogger (or Both)?
Just curious. Though the title of my blog is “Freelance Writing Jobs” the truth is, we cater to both writers and bloggers. Which one are you and why?
Posted
on
Sunday, December 9th, 2007 at 11:06 pm under
Polls, Discussions .
I am actually a professional astrologer who has written ‘for pay’ and I blog on my own. Clients and students have told me for years I should ‘write a book’ etc…and it’s time to do more in that direction so I am glad to find your site. I’ve got a client who has done freelance writing in the past and wants to do more so I’m sharing your site with her too. Thanks~ Amy
December 9th, 2007 at 11:18 pmPS my blog is www.astrologicalinsights.info
I’m not sure you can be just a blogger without also being a writer. Even though the technique is a bit different, one of the main tasks of almost any blog is good, quality writing. I’m not saying that a blogger is JUST a writer…but I think any blog that isn’t run by someone who is first and foremost a writer will suffer and eventually fail.
December 10th, 2007 at 12:52 amI do a little writing, but 99% of my time is spent doing developmental and/or copy editing.
December 10th, 2007 at 1:06 amTo answer the poll question, both.
@Allison: To respectfully disagree, some of the most popular bloggers are celebrity gossip hounds like Perez Hilton…while there is wit and sarcasm involved, I don’t think the writing actually has all that much weight. Blogging has sort of become its own monster, where marketing and content seem to prevail.
December 10th, 2007 at 5:29 amI’m a writer. But I was given some advice on http://www.filipinowriter.com/blog/rdacalos and I started blogging. I saw it as a good opportunity to get some of my writing exposed.
My blog is pretty much about me and my musings. I talk about freelancing, music, martial arts, philosophy, etc. I had a post about a freelance work place their too. You can check it out on: http://d-liberate.blogspot.com
In a week or so, my official website will be up too.
By the way, I’ve never gotten to thank you for having such a wonderful blog. So, thank you! Your job posts are particularly helpful.
December 10th, 2007 at 8:48 amI work as a journalist, write fiction and non-fiction for long-term career growth and started my first blog to promote my creative writing.
Recently my blogging came into its own, in that I see my blogs now as separate writing projects rather than just being marketing/promotion tools.
December 10th, 2007 at 6:54 pmI do both. I started blogging for a network, then got in with a couple of magazines then more blogging.
Blogging is nice, but there are certain perks that go along with magazine writing that are much harder to get than by blogging. For example getting test rides on new equipment would be much harder if I were just a blogger, but since I also write for ATV and Motorcycle magazines, I get invited to some cool stuff and get to see and feel technology that isn’t common yet.
December 10th, 2007 at 7:36 pmI mainly write, I don’t blog for money but I guess “what’s the difference” is very much applicable for many of us.
This might be a bit off-topic but I just got this offer of “complimentary listings for writers, designers, translators and photographers.” at http://www.thenewsbox.com/
December 10th, 2007 at 8:46 pmAnybody knows this site? Is it worthwhile to sign up? Thnx.
Like Brooke, I do mainly editorial work–developmental editing, line editing, copy editing, and proofreading.
December 10th, 2007 at 9:00 pmI’m both. And neither, which I realize makes little sense. I have a degree in communication and a drawer full of writing samples from during and right after I graduated from college in 2001. But the full time writing job I was offered didn’t pay enough to support my kids, so I had to go in a different direction. I started blogging about two years ago, in an effort to keep myself writing in a public forum. But if I read all the advice on blogging, I’m not really doing that correctly either.
(I don’t really have a niche.)
So, I’m both and neither. Eventually, I hope to drop the “neither” part completely.
December 10th, 2007 at 9:08 pmI do editorial as well - proofing, copy editing, etc.
December 10th, 2007 at 9:26 pmI’m both, but more clients seem to want blogging than anything else lately. Unfortunately, all the blogging I’m doing for everyone else is really limiting the time I have to blog on my own blogs. I don’t know how you do it, Deb!
December 10th, 2007 at 9:33 pmJudging from all these responses, I think it’s pretty clear that in order to make a living freelancing, you’ve got to be fairly diverse.
My degree is in English, my work experience in PR writing, proofreading, and copy editing, yet now I find myself mostly providing health and environmental web content and/or blogging on the same topics.
And people think we sit around doing nothing most of the day! Freelancers are some of the hardest working people I know.
December 10th, 2007 at 9:57 pmTo make a living freelancing, you do have to be diverse. I’m looking at a real opportunity to break into PR and possibly publishing at the same time, but I’m keeping my grant writing work!
I say that I am a writer because you’ll never impress women at a bar saying you’re a blogger. Wait! I’m not single anymore! Scratch that!
December 11th, 2007 at 12:40 amI am a writer at the end of the day. I recently got a blog, and I am AWFUL at it! I feel lame because I can never get a feel of what to write since there’s no clear objective. I am slowly but surely learning, but enjoy writing articles, SEO, and copy far more. Check out my “work” here: http://style-television.com/
December 11th, 2007 at 12:59 amI make most of my money writing abstracts, articles about drug discovery, and training materials for medical interpreters. I blog about Russian literature in my spare time. Beyond being fun, it’s a great way to build my writing portfolio.
December 11th, 2007 at 1:11 amhttp://lizoksbooks.blogspot.com/
I consider myself a journalist. My work has been published in a variety of print publications, and I’ve worked on assignment often in the past. Today the majority of writing is for my blog, but I use many of the same techniques I did when writing for print. Blogging can be more relaxed in tone, but I attempt to maintain the standards my past editors demanded.
So I am a blogger, a writer and a journalist. Of course, I also use a camera to illustrate my writing…so that makes me a photo journalist as well…
Really enjoy your blog. I also follow you on Performancing as well.
Tom Bonner
December 11th, 2007 at 3:30 amhttp://alphatracks.com
In college I wrote a lot for a couple newspapers, but now I want to do more with editing and proofreading. There are a lot of sites for mainly writers, but I would love to find a site geared toward hooking up freelance proofreaders/copy editors with employers.
December 11th, 2007 at 8:32 amI am a writer first, and a blogger second. Having said that, I absolutely love blogging, and what I love most is that it diversifies the writing process and makes it much easier to share thoughts, ideas, and of course, written work.
-Melissa Donovan
December 11th, 2007 at 1:21 pmWriting FORWARD
Hello, I’m new to this blog. I wanted to answer why I think I’m a blogger and not a writer. First, I blog because I love sharing information with others, I have no formal training, or excellent writing skills. I make common errors when writing and often notice them after I post, lastly, I have a lot of respect for those who are truly writers.
I subscribe to your blog hoping to get better at writing, I think that blogging can take me to be a better writer. Cool post, thanks.
December 12th, 2007 at 6:07 pm