The best web sites for writers are critical resources that help them succeed. Among the many worth knowing about are the following.
The Freelance Writing Jobs Network
www.freelancewritinggigs.com
This site describes itself as “the number one online community for freelance writers." Besides posting paid writing jobs for freelancers, the site offers tips, advice, and observations on the freelance writer’s life, such as “5 Freelance Writing Lessons I Learned From My Dog” and "5 Forms of Passive Income for Freelance Writers.” Note: They’re not all passive, and there are risks of lost income or readership as a result of some. The comments on this post provide a useful counterbalance.
Linda Formichelli, The Renegade Writer
lindaformichelli.com/contact/index.php/site/home
Also for freelance writers, by the savvy instructor and co-author of The Renegade Writer and The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock, this sassy site is the perfect handbook for those who want to write freelance articles for magazines.
Writing World
www.writing-world.com
This busy little site is packed with great information for professional writers, as well as for anyone just beginning a writing vocation or avocation. It contains pages for beginning writers, and ways to promote what you’ve written. It even has sections on freelancing, and on business and technical writing.
Writers Digest
www.writersdigest.com
Though a bit cluttered and sometimes tricky to navigate, this site, which is the product of Writer’s Digest magazine, offers critical information for scribes. Don’t miss Jeff Yeager’s article, “10 Questions Writers Must Ask Before Quitting Their Day Job,” which includes the timely question: “Can I find affordable health insurance?”
Written by Chad Gervich, Script Notes covers “the craft and business of writing for film, television and new media.” Alice Pope writes about children’s books, and Kevin Alexander shares his take on the writing life—his, that is—in This Writer’s Life.
Check out the Writer’s Digest workshop site: www.writersonlineworkshops.com/retail for classes in every genre, including creative and inspirational writing, as well as business and technical writing.
Writersdigest.com also publishes its "101 Best Sites for Writers" that you can access on the site. But be forewarned: you might find your favorites missing from their list.
Writing Forward: Writing Tips & Ideas
www.writingforward.com
This friendly, well-written site provides loads of information for practicing fiction and nonfiction writers and aspiring writers, too. Under News, on the home page, be sure to select “Personal Stories.” Among them you will find: “How I Launched My Freelance Writing Career.”
Under "Writing Tips," you’ll see a compendium of guest posts that are valuable for any writer.
If you search “freelance” on this site, you’ll arrive at a smorgasbord that includes a heads up on radio shows that feature interviews with writers; an explanation of what writing coaches do; “Creative Writing to Creative Marketing” to help you when your writing is ready to travel from your desktop out into the world; and exercises to free up your writerly imagination.
Many more websites will be added to this list in future articles, but in the meantime, feel free to post your favorites in Comments.
If you liked this article, you might enjoy Bestbooksforwriters.com and Greatfreelancegroupforwriters.com
To read about creative writing, visit Tools & Tactics for Creative Writers.
Comments
An additional site to check out is Guru.com.
Approximately 500 writing, editing and translation jobs are open for bidding by freelancers each day on Guru.com.
The site's proprietary Rank system will also deilver data about your freelance performance history to help you better understand your unique strengths and weaknesses when competing for work.
Not a whole lot of useful information
Cindy,
I'd have to respectfully disagree with you on this one. This article by Lynette IS informative if you follow the links. She's providing other resources online that have been evaluated. I've visited them all myself (previously to reading this article for most but hadn't heard about a couple of them, like Writing Forward).
I think this article lays out some really good basic starting points for new writers and am grateful she wrote it. It's also one of the reasons I subscribe to this column because I found her articles informative on the whole.
When I mentor new writers, I ask them to check out her articles. They're that good to me!
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