Bad Writing Habits Freelancers Should Avoid

For many freelance writers, the beauty of the job is that there is no "proper" way to do it. Instead of being bound by rules, creativity is allowed to run free and the writer decides which story to tell and how to tell it. However, some article writers can easily fall into bad habits. Bad writing habits will often lead to less page views and lower earnings but many people aren't even aware they are making the mistakes. Here are five examples of bad writing habits to avoid.

Bad writing habits to avoid

Constant spelling errors

Every writer makes mistakes. Whether it is because we have a shortage of time, or simply that our fingers are typing faster than our brains can think, almost every freelance writer will have an article with a spelling error. Small typos every now and again are normal. But when articles frequently have mistakes it can be very off-putting to a reader. It gives an impression of laziness. Editing is important and if it is sacrificed for the sake of getting the article published quickly, you will soon find page views dwindling.

Taking on more than you can handle

Besides the love of writing, most freelance writers aren't creating articles just for fun. They are trying to earn a living. When money is tight, you might feel the need to take on some extra projects to increase your cash flow. This is only sensible if you have the time to fit them all in. It is unwise to accept more work than you can really do because once you get too tired, you won't produce such high quality work. If the quality is lower, the likelihood is the page views will be too.

Bloggy articles

On AC, there is a special section for creative writing. This includes memoirs which are always lovely to read. But writing about what you did last weekend isn't necessarily a memoir unless something life-changing occurred. If an un-eventful weekend is what you want to write about, it might be better to use your blog instead of a paying site like AC. It's not that readers aren't interested in your life, more that they don't expect to find a story about your recent shopping trip on an article writing site. Try to keep article writing and personal life separate unless you have a great tale to tell.

Excessive perfectionism

Writers strive to produce the best content they can. But sometimes you have to take a step back and realise that there is nothing more you can do. This is at the opposite end of the scale to not checking your work. There really is such a thing as being too much of a perfectionist. Spending too long pondering over your words will mean you get far less work done and you waste valuable time on something which is already the best it can be. Write, check, edit, re-read and publish.

Misleading/ "witty" article titles

This is one of the most infuriating bad habits freelance writers should avoid. When writing for the web you must be clear and concise. If your choice of topic is a story about a local heroic dog who saved a child from drowning, let your title tell people that. When a title tries to be clever, it often confuses the reader and they won't necessarily be intrigued enough to click the link to see what is inside. Likewise, never, ever create a title that advertises something which isn't in the article. If people are pulled into your article by an exciting headline and find that the story inside doesn't match the title, they will never trust your work again. Always be truthful and precise.

All of the above points are forgivable if they aren't done more than a few times but after that, you may see a decline in your page views. Freelance writing for a living has so many benefits but it isn't quite as easy as people might imagine. This is especially true when you are first starting your freelancing career. But if you have the talent, the rest is mainly common sense and hard work. Try not to fall into bad writing habits because when you do, they are hard to break.