About twice a week I receive an email from a desperate new mom or displaced office worker who is searching for legitimate home work, invariably asking about freelance writing in light of working at home. This FAQ deals with the questions is freelance writing legitimate home work? and I want to work from home, should get into freelance writing?
There are two different questions here. As far as the legitimacy of freelance writing as a work at home career, yes, it is completely possible, and no, it's not all a scam. Many writers work full time from a home office, making a solid income with this type of home work. Many other writers work part time quite happily bringing in extra household income that is commensurate with their hours spent. Yes, there are plenty of writing opportunities out there, either as a copywriter, a magazine writer, in editing, and even online for websites. And, yes, you can make a decent income. But, this leads us to the second question.
Should you try freelance writing because you desire home work? Probably not.
Surprised at that answer?
What I see in this particular question is not writers who want to write, but rather people in other careers who want to work at home, in whatever capacity they can, however they can. Their itch is not to write, it's to earn money from their house.
Guess what? It is my opinion that they will not be successful.
Writers must want to write, and they must have some initial degree of talent/skill in writing.
So, is writing a legitimate job as far as working at home goes? Yes, I do it nearly everyday. But, does that mean you should become a writer if you want to work at home? No. You should become a writer because writing is what you love, what you are good at, and what you want to do. Becoming a writer because you want some type of home work (any type of home work) is not solid enough reasoning to embark on this career.
