Non Native Freelance Writers should look for work in their
home country – That’s the standard advice I read in many forums. That kind of
makes you doubt the possible success for ESL writers. I take heart from these
I do not get paid for great language or error free writing. In
fact I do not take risk of writing a long paragraph, apprehensive that I may mess
with my prepositions.
(I do not have an editor as of now. So please bear with me)
I give that royal jazz that people remember short notes and quickly switch to bullets in my writing,
like these:
·
I am not a native English speaker.
·
I am not the Ad-words or search engine
optimization expert either.
·
I have not done my Masters in business or any
other stream.
·
I am not tech savvy
(I am not playing safe here. The bullets are true. So is the
rationale – People do tend to remember short notes)
Another truth is, I actually failed in Physics during
graduation and I really did not have the patience to go through those practical
classes in Optics and do those measurements all over again. It was just a
pursuit for degree and I got my Bachelors in Arts. Some things I do is because
the whole world is doing – absolute herd mentality.
(That makes me truly, sincerely and faithfully average, isn’t
it?)
English was my first language.
That is just name sake. I had to learn the national language Hindi
and the local language of the state Kannada. Compared to my command on these
two, English was definitely first all the way. My family speaks Bengali, the
language of Tagore and Satyajit Ray.
After having completed writing assignments for corporate and
native English buyers and having published books in English that did not really
make it to the best seller list, I realized I needed to re-visit my grammar
lessons if I had to make a living* writing.
(*Make a living = Earning big like my global counter parts
from English speaking countries)
I
love writing.
I cannot help that. I seriously love writing. I deviated from
paid blogs to business writing. Today when buyers ask me for writing samples
trying to figure out why I charge $135 for writing 700 words, I can read and
hear them loud.
(Like seriously? A dollar is lot more in your country)
I do not charge for what
I write, but the way I think. Simple!
Custom Offer Snapshot
(The other document indicated in the screenshot above is
mostly standard freebies which make the writing valuable to them)
Switching to write
business plans in story board format was a conscious decision because I
knew I was not very good in spinning articles. Grammar is, has been and will
always remain a pain for me. I am better off with cutting content like power
supply and outlining winning storyboards.
By the way, what was 900 words in March this year, is now 700
words only. We are in the era of shrinking word count, diminishing attention
span and vanishing focus. Writing that short about a business idea and yet
engaging audience’s mind is a Herculean task. I was okay to deal with this
challenge compared to writing 1500 words error free article in perfect English.
The fundamental thought is not to write what target audience may or may not read. The idea is
to write what you definitely want
them to read.
(Skipping sections is a way of reading).
This breaks a couple of myths for ESL writers.
Myth #1: You have to be exceptional in writing.
Contradicting popular opinion, I can comfortably say no to
this as I am not even close to being exceptional.
·
I have
the right ideas
·
I sequence them well in a story board
·
I ensure my readers have one or two takeaway/
learning
·
I do some research
·
I just manage to spice it up with outdated
humor.
(I will tie up with an editor to manage those prepositions
someday)
Myth #2: English fluency is a must.
I am yet to go back to my Grammar books. All I have learnt is
to fit my current writing skills along with my weaknesses in a market that suit
both parties. They manage the minor edits and tweaks that come naturally to
them while I manage the major creative thinking and writing from scratch part.
Here is a buyer who selflessly points out a grammatical error
in my profile, to brighten my chances in the freelance market. He appreciates
the way I think/ work and is aware English is not my first language.
(There is a world out there that is a lot more generous than
you think)
1. Tough part is to accept that you
have poor command on the language
2. Tiring part is the ongoing struggle
to compete with the best
3. Testing part is to figure what skills
can you couple your writing with
Once you are done with these three, you have arrived.
4. Triumph part is to compensate average
writing with exceptional research or creative thinking or whatever you are good
at.
If the four T s here are defining different stages of writing
nirvana, which stage are you now?
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