From Idea to Income: The Beginner’s Guide to Freelance Writing

A degree is expensive, but the good news is you don’t need one to get started in journalism. Plus, if you follow the freelance route, you can even get paid to learn on the job. 

When I was in journalism school, the department invited a guest speaker who worked as a freelance photojournalist in conflict zones around the world. When asked how he got his start, he told us that he really loved photography, so he got a camera and just went.

Now, of course I’m not suggesting that you fly off to a dangerous conflict zone completely unprepared. I offer up this story to challenge the notion that a degree is the only way to get started in journalism. 

Instead, consider finding opportunities in your own backyard, writing about them and pitching them to editors. This is called freelance writing. Use your freelance writing pieces to create a portfolio and other opportunities may follow. 

Let’s walk through the steps to becoming a freelance writer.  

Step 1: Decide What to Write About

While most people who graduate from journalism school start out as general reporters, freelance writers may have more success specializing. Here are a few benefits of specializing as a freelance writer: 

• Capitalize on what you already know a lot about
• Stand out from staff reporters
• Become the go-to person on a particular beat
• Write for specialized publications 

Think about subjects that you have interest in or are even knowledgeable about such as 

• Travel
• Technology
• Food
• Health
• Finance

Here are some tips for choosing a beat:

Consider what people in your area are interested in: The easiest way to get your first byline is to pitch local publications because they will generally be less stringent about your writing experience. Think about main industries and cultural activities where you live such as tourism, natural resources, outdoor recreation, etc. 

Think about your hobbies: Technically, you don’t need to be an expert on a topic to write about it. Journalists rely on research and interviews and are experts at getting up to speed fast. However, if you already have some knowledge and connections, you might have an advantage if a good story comes up. 

Rely on your education or work experience: If you studied something other than journalism, you can focus on that area. For example, science journalists are in high demand because they have specialized knowledge.  

Step 2: Generating Sellable Story Ideas

Once you’ve chosen a niche, you can do a deep dive to find story ideas your local publications may not have considered. 

For example, think about common frustrations you have experienced in your work life or personal hobbies. For example, in Canada I often hear amateur hockey players grumbling about “ice time”, which is their ability to rent a local arena for recreational games. Think about the things your employer might be complaining about such as the high cost of rent in the downtown core. If people are experiencing these frustrations, it’s likely that many people will be interested. 

Another place to look is common questions. When you talk about hobbies, skills or work experience with other people, what questions do they ask? For example, I used to work for a company that helped people with minor criminal records cross the border. (Don’t worry they need to be crime-free for years before they are eligible.) Whenever I told people about this, they were fascinated and wanted to know everything about the process. Likely, they wanted to assure themselves that the process wasn’t too lenient. However, their questions demonstrated that this was an issue with high public interest that people didn’t really understand. 

Personal experience can be an inspiration but try not to rely on it too heavily. It’s a principle of journalism to keep the focus on the story. However, if you have an interesting and out-of-the-ordinary experience, you also have some insider knowledge. You know the inside players and how things work and can interpret them in ways that others couldn’t. For example, let’s say you played chess competitively. Many of us would be at a loss walking into such an arena, but you could easily pick out the main players and the significant moves.  

Another place to look for article ideas is trending topics. The thing about staff writers is that they don’t have time to scroll through mounds of social media feeds looking for exciting tidbits from content creators. When I was an editor, I was lucky that Twitter was still a thing, because we had it embedded on the home page of our website and whenever someone tweeted about our town it would show up while I was working on other things. As a freelance writer, you can follow influencers in your area or industry and you might see trends that busy staffers miss. 

Another tool you can use to find trending topics is Google Trends. You can search by multiple filters and add your location to get highly specific results. Look for graphs with strong upward trajectories, this indicates a significant change in interest. 

Look at gaps in news coverage for story ideas. For example, maybe you have noticed that everyone is writing about how the city’s tax hike will affect homeowners, but no one is writing about how it will affect small business. This might be an area that you can explore. What bothers you about the coverage you see in the topics you are interested in? What sub-topics or angles do you wish they would cover with more depth? 

Sometimes, you might not have enough subject matter knowledge to identify gaps, but you can get ideas from experts. Follow some industry leaders and read their thought-leadership content. This could be their columns in trade journals, their LinkedIn posts or their blogs. 

Occasionally you will also find interesting perspectives on forums and in the comment sections on stories, but try to avoid the extreme negativity that sometimes exists in online reactions. I don’t have any statistics on the number of people who carefully consider their comment before posting, but I am sure it isn’t high. 

These are just a few ways to discover topics for your articles. The full guide, Turn Your Passions Into Articles You Can Sell, takes you step-by-step through the process of choosing a topic, refining your angle, writing and pitching. Grab it today and sell your first article this week!