Starting off in freelance Writing is much like taking your first lessons in Kung Fu.

You’re going to get hit. A lot.

While you can become a Kung Fu master, is it possible to master writing?

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” — Ernest Hemingway

No one? Ever? Hemingway might be right, but one can surely become very good.

So what does it take to become a great writer?

Evidently, there’s more to writing than stringing words into grammatically correct sentences.

In less than an hour, quite a few top-notch writers can churn out 1000 words on a topic they know well. Even with little research, they’re capable of producing quality content.

But mortals (like you and I) will probably take much longer to produce the same word count.

It helps to prepare, though.

So what should you do before writing a single word? Let’s find out.

1. Identify Your Audience

Simply put, know who you’re writing for.

Why is this so important? Allow me to explain.

I’m writing this Article for freelance writers (like myself), for example. Hopefully, though, a prolific write reads it and tells me it’s not bad.

As a freelance writer, you need to determine the individuals or groups you’re addressing as this shapes the content you’re about to create.

Let’s say you’re writing a review of a new product, are you writing it for potential customers or retail sellers? Men or women? Young or Old?

Once you figure out your target audience, it becomes easy to establish the purpose, style, and tone of the article.

2. Know The Purpose Of The Article

Identifying your audience answers the “Who.”

Next, you need to answer the “Why,” specifically, why you’re writing the article. Again, taking this article as an example, I’m writing to explain the steps a freelance writer needs to take before typing a single word.

Common purposes include describing the benefits of a service, explaining a new concept, and showing a person how to do a certain activity.

What are you trying to accomplish with your writing? You must, absolutely must find that out or else your words will wander aimlessly.

3. Pick An Appropriate Writing Style

The style is the way you write. This includes word choice, sentence structure, flow and several other aspects of writing. Generally speaking, writing style can either be formal or informal.

Formal Writing (academic papers)

• Serious tone using a sophisticated vocabulary.
• Disengages writer’s opinions or emotions, no cliches or slang.
• Full words and long sentences with each point thoroughly explained.

Informal Writing (personal blogs)

• More casual, it’s usually writing the way you’d talk to a friend.
• The writer can show a wide range of emotions and use humor.
• You’re free (actually encouraged) to use contractions and short sentences.

Think of it as putting on a pair of jeans and a Tshirt compared to wearing a suit.

Suits look good, but you probably like the guy with the jeans better…

4. Adopt A Suitable Tone

Tone, or mood, is the writer’s attitude towards the subject or audience. If style was a color, then tone would be the shade of that color.

You, as a freelance writer, can choose to be objective or subjective, serious or humorous, logical or emotional among many other tones. The audience, purpose, and style of the article determine the tone.

To illustrate, you can be friendly and humorous if you’re writing an article about dating for women over forty. On the other hand, you should keep a professional tone if you’re crafting a speech that addresses surgeons.

It’s crucial to maintain a consistent tone throughout the article, varying your attitude distracts readers and may cause them to lose interest.

Never be condescending to your reader, writing with confidence and authority doesn’t mean talking down to people.

Find the balance.

5. Create An Outline

An outline is a blueprint of an article, a preview, if you will, of what the final writing would look like.

It could comprise of a few words, for instance, Title – Introduction – Body – Conclusion, or it could be a bit more elaborate. Take this article, for example, here’s what the outline looked like.

• Title (steps freelance writer should take before writing an article)
• Introduction (why taking those steps is important)
• Audience (why you need to know who you’re writing for)
• Purpose (the goal of the article, what are you trying to accomplish)
• Style (what are the main writing styles, characteristics)
• Tone (What is tone?)
• Outline (the blueprint of the article, purpose, benefits)
• Headline (the title of the article, why it’s important)
• Research (know what you’re talking about)
• Conclusion

Figuring out an outline makes writing easier, faster and more efficient.

6. Do Your Research

Know what you’re talking about.

Freelance writing isn’t just about personal opinions and knowledge.

People are actually looking for useful information. They want to know how to bake a mouthwatering apple pie. They want to understand how Bitcoin works.

Wishy-washy content is abundant on the internet.

Strive to provide an answer to their question, a solution to their problem, or an explanation to their query.

If you promise, deliver.

You can only do so through sufficient research. At first, choose a broad topic (like freelance writing). Secondly, settle on one idea. For example, “Best Websites To Find Writing Gigs.”

Once you get this out of the way, it becomes easier. Now you only need to come up the main points you want to cover. At this point, Google will be your best friend.

7. Craft A Great Headline

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” a phrase you and I heard quite a few times, and those wise words hold true in many situations.

Not in writing online, though.

Your readers will decide whether to read your article based on the headline, almost entirely. Some even argue that crafting a catchy title is more important than the rest of the article. An exaggeration? Maybe, but you get the point.

As a freelance writer, you need to make the headline interesting, attractive, and click-worthy.

Jeff Goins wrote a great article on how to craft catchy headlines. To summarize, use numbers or questions, pick an interesting adjective and promise the reader something valuable (a benefit).

Why reinvent the wheel? Use this tried and tested formula to create a great headline.

You can only get to where you want to go by knowing how to get there. You don’t need to know all the details, a rough idea will do. You’ll figure it out along the way.

Do you follow any of those steps when you write? Do you do it differently?