Five Tips For Freelance Writers

If you are a writer, and especially if you write content articles, you may find after a bout of writing, you feel as though you have run out of ideas and don't have a clue what to write for your next article.

I browse and frequent several different writer's forums and information sites, and see writers asking all the time about how people come up with ideas for their articles. Frequently, the line, "Write what you know!" gets thrown around - big help, huh? It's not much of a help, because if you knew what to write about, you would write what you know, and you wouldn't have been asking in the first place, right?

For me, I am never at a loss for what to write. Everything, and I mean simply everything, inspires me to write. You'll see on my blog a tagline - "I am a writer! It's not what I do; it's who I am!"

Oh, how true this is. I have always written - I simply cannot NOT write. Everything inspires me to write and it always has, from a young age.

However, not everyone is as fortunate or as prolific as I am (always stuck on maximum verbosity), and sometimes it is difficult for most writers to decide what to write about next. If you are a contracted writer or employed by someone else to write, you will probably be given story or article ideas, and then you do your research and write.

Freelance writers, however, have a different problem with deciding what to write. For the freelance writer, most of the time you will seek out where to submit your articles, instead of being assigned an article, and if you write for places like Associated Content, Constant Content, or other online article submission content sites, you pretty much are on your own to decide what you should write.

So let's look at some ideas to help freelance writers decide what they should write.

Tip #1: Write What You Know

I know I've already mentioned this, but let's take it a step further and explain what this means. The easiest and fastest way to write an article is to write about something you already have some background or knowledge about.

I have a son who has ADHD, and I frequently deal with issues with the school system, medication, doctors, and behavior that provide me a wealth of information from which to base many articles I have sold on ADHD and parenting.

I also have a daughter who is in college, so I have managed to write and sell several articles to help parents understand the ins and outs of filing for financial aide, picking a college, helping your child prepare to move into the dorms, how to choose whether you child should stay in an apartment or dorm, and much more.

This is writing what you know. Think about the things you like to do or already do and write about them.

Do you like to play video games? Great, write video game reviews; video game hints, cheats, tips, and code; write video game how-to guides.

Do you like to watch movies? Great, write movie reviews, DVD reviews, compare remakes to the originals, write actor biographies or profile for your favorite movies. You can do the same for television shows you enjoy as well.

Are you a sports enthusiast? Write a compelling recap to the most recent game you watched, write background information on your favorite team or player, write stat reports for your favorite players, or write player or team owner biographies.

You get the idea - take what you already spend time doing and love to do and write about it and you will also find your writing will be very compelling because of the personal interest and love for what you are writing.

Tip #2: Product Reviews and Consumer Reports

Have you ever seen a product on the shelf and wanted to buy it, but you weren't sure it would perform the way you intended? Have you ever gone searching online looking for what other people have to say about a new product before you buy it? I know I have, and I've done this for things as simple as new food items all the way up to new makes and models of cars.

Every time you buy something at the store, you have just allowed yourself a chance to write a product review. I'm serious, you can review just about anything. Did you break down one night when you didn't feel like cooking and buy a Hungry Man microwave meal? Write about it and compare and contrast it to a home cooked meal or to other microwave meals. Did the new Swiffer Sweeper not live up to your expectations? Detail why it didn't and write it up as a consumer product review.

From laundry detergent, food, generic versus brand name products, electronics, clothing to cars, houses, and big tickets items - you name it, if you can buy it, you can write about it.

I personally enjoy reading product comparisons. For example, I recently read a great article comparing and various brands of fresh pasta found in the deli of a national supermarket. The next time I went to that store, I made a point of checking out the fresh pasta and actually made a purchase based on this article I had read.

Tip #3: How-to Articles

Do you have a skill that is unique, different, or even a common skill that you do in a unique or innovative way? Write about it and tell others how you do it.

I'm a writer. I'm also an editor. I frequently write articles about writing, grammar, editing... well, you get the idea. I have a skill that I use in a unique way, because I am a unique individual. Other writers might do some of what I do while others might do things differently, but I might actually be doing something you never thought about, and if I don't write about it, you'd never know!

If you just built a patio in the backyard for your wife, write a How-to Build a Patio article. If you just replaced a faucet in the sink in the kitchen, write a How-to Replace a Kitchen Faucet article. Did you just change the oil in your car? Well, I think you get the idea - everything you do can probably be turned into some type of a How-to article you can write about. You could even write a How-to Make a Grilled Cheese Sandwich Article!

Tip #4: Reviews

At some point, you will probably go to a restaurant, a fast food chain, a grocery store, a gas station, a nightclub, a movie theatre, a park, a civic center, a vacation spot, or some other venue or location for entertainment or function of some sort - write about!

If you received excellent service at a restaurant that has great food, let everyone know why your experience was a good one and write a restaurant review. If the service was bad, the food was lousy, and the place was a mess, warn other potential customers about how your experience was - be factual, but be honest.

You may also want to write in-depth book reviews or movie reviews too, especially if this is a newly published book or a newly released movie.

What about businesses and websites? You can review a website or a business and talk about functionality, services, products and customer service you receive from the site or the business.

Tip #5: Interviews

Interviews do not have to be with the rich and famous in order to be interesting. You may have a corner ma and pop gas station where you talk to the owner every time you buy gas. Interview him and write an article about ma and pop businesses and how he has managed to survive all the commercialization of the conglomerates.

Do you know any WWII veterans? There are not many WWII heroes left in this world, and when they all pass on from this life, they take with them stories, tidbits, information and a legacy that are pieces of history.

Why not consider contacting your local VA office or VFW post or a nursing home or retirement home facility and ask for permission to interview some of the elderly heroes of our society and immortalize them in print. Not only will this give you a lot of great things to write about, you'll get a great interview to sell, and you'll give these wonderful unsung heroes a moment of compassion, companionship, and a bit of notoriety.

If you have children in school, or even if you don't, interview the school principal about his take on education and budgets. Interview a few teachers about any subject you find interesting and write up the interview. You can even interview students about anything you think might be fun and interesting, such as their views on dress code, grades, punishment in the schools - just about anything.

You can even do a 'man on the street' type interview with people in your city about current events and write that up. It could be quite interesting and fun to do research for interview articles.

So there you have five ideas for articles. Taking just these five ideas alone can keep you writing for months and months, but if none of these strike your fancy, stay tuned, because I will have more articles coming about how to come up with ideas for freelance articles.

Good luck to you in your freelance writing career, and as always - Keep Writing!