Ouch! I've Just Been Spanked by Textbroker.Com!

Like most people who can string together a few words, I think I'm pretty hot stuff. Recently I zeroed in on Textbroker.com as another means of making some extra money. Since Textbroker.com involves writing assignments where you're given the number of words required, the subject matter and the keywords to use, it sounded like a snap. It sounded like the perfect thing for those times when I'm suffering from a lack of ideas on what to write for Associated Content. It sounded like something any moron could do. And that's where I step in. So off I went to Textbroker.com, signed up and submitted my writing sample. Piece of cake.

Textbroker.com is exactly what the name implies: It's a site which acts as a broker between individuals or companies that need a bit of writing done and freelancers who will gladly spit out 200-400 words or so for pay. Texbroker.com rates your writing sample on a general scale of 2-5, with a "5" rating reserved for professional writers. It took about two weeks for Textbroker.com to rate my writing sample and at first, with the typical paranoia of the underachiever, I was sure someone at the big Textbroker.com decision-making machine was laughing themselves silly at my pathetic little writing sample. I actually didn't think it was all that pathetic when I submitted it but as time went by with no response my thoughts went from, "Well, maybe it wasn't as good as I thought," to "Oh my God, I submitted a piece of crap. Textbroker's gonna come pounding on my door and confiscate my computer." Neither happened and I actually rated a nice, middle-of-the-road "3", which I was thrilled to receive. That "3", while no doubt inaccurate (I'm hot stuff, remember?), represented me getting my size 8 foot in the Textbroker.com door. I was in!

So, armed with my solid "3" rating, I logged onto Textbroker.com and started looking at the available jobs. With Textbroker.com, the higher your rating, the higher rate of pay you receive. My "3" rating entitles me to work on jobs designated for us "3s" as well as jobs for "2s." If you're a "3" but choose to work on a "2" rated job, you receive a "2's" rate of pay.

It was of little importance to me. I was just happy to add Textbroker.com to my arsenal of money-making websites. Last week I managed to snatch up and complete six writing assignments. A couple of minor revisions here and there were requested by the clients (Jeeze, when they say use the keyword six times, they mean it!) but all my articles were approved. Yippee! Oh, I knew some Textbroker editor or another was supposed to review my articles but it was of no concern. My articles got accepted and I got paid. That's what mattered. Or so I thought.

A couple of days later I got an email notice from a Textbroker.com editor. I was ready for my accolades and quickly clicked that baby open. And that's when I got spanked.

Apparently Textbroker takes this whole, "good writing technique" thing pretty seriously. Without going into the gory details I was informed that I shouldn't use parentheses the way I do (but I've always used them that way!), that there really is a difference between using "which" and "that" when explaining things (something about "which" being indicative of a clause - gotta look that one up sometime), and I shouldn't ever use "etc.".

The topper, though, went something like this:

My writing (with details changed): "The contract, in its most legalized form..."

The editor's comment: "As opposed to the illegal or less legal ones?"

The editor may as well have added, "you idiot" right after that question mark.

Oh man, was I deflated! I've never thought twice about the way I write. I'm a former executive secretary and benefits analyst, for Pete's sake! If my writing was good enough for the City Council and good enough for Blue Cross, it ought to be good enough for Textbroker.com! I write the way I speak. Do you know how crushing it is to find out that, at age 47, I speak with too many parentheses (Impossible!), too many sentences that apparently trail off to nothing and go around indicating clauses which never come to pass? Or is it, "indicating clauses that never come to pass."? Ouch, my head hurts!

Don't worry. I have a point and here it comes: The Textbroker editor was right. I took that critique to heart and immediately started thinking a bit more about the words I use. I'm even going down to my garage to find an old textbook I have on punctuation. Ultimately I don't just want to be a paid writer; I want to be a good writer too. Right now I just want to be a better writer than I was last week.

Textbroker.com is a paying site. I can tell you that for a fact. But it's more than that. It's a site whose editors apparently pull no punches in their quest to provide you with honest feedback. And I plan on continuing my relationship with Textbroker. After all, it hurts so good.