If you are like so many other aspiring freelance writers, you already know someone who has found success in this line of work. You may admire that person for using his creative talents to earn more as an independent freelance writer, and you may desire nothing more than to emulate his successes in your own life. After all, you may have read some of his work and determined that you can create pieces of similar quality yourself. However, being able to write well and having the desire to work from home are just a few of the traits that a successful, full-time freelance writer needs to have. If you want to know if you have what it takes to be a full-time freelance writer, consider these points.

Writing With Speed

One of the most important traits you need to have to find success in this line of work is the ability to not just write well but to write with speed. If you want to know just how fast you will need to write to make a profit in this line of work, simply take a look at a few of the freelance writing assignments posted on bid sites. You can determine the typical rate of pay for the type of assignments that you are interested in writing. Then, determine how many articles per day you need to write in order to earn the level of income you want or need to earn. Many freelance writers write in excess of 8,000, 10,000 or even 15,000 words per day.

Stamina

As a freelance writer, you will need to write more than just an article or two with speed and skill if you want to earn a full-time living. To earn a full-time living, you will need to work diligently for the equivalent of full-time hours. Some freelance writers do give themselves a mental break to break up an eight hour workday. For example, they may work for a few hours and then run to the grocery store or run other errands. They will, however, return home and work a few more hours before taking a second break. Stamina is critical to this job, however. After a certain number of hours writing, your brain may turn to mush, but your quality of work and your writing speed must not waiver.

A Desire to Please

Some of the clients you work with may never or rarely ask you to make revisions, but others will ask for revisions fairly regularly. Freelance writing is a customer-oriented job. If you don’t please your clients, they won’t ask you to continue working for them. In order to maintain your client relationship, you must do what it takes to make them happy, and this may include making multiple revisions to a single piece. Of course, if revision requests become too burdensome, you may choose to end the professional relationship with that client yourself.

The fact is that many people can write, but not everyone has the additional traits that it takes to find success and profitability as a freelance writer. If you have the will to succeed in this line of work, however, you may be able to increase your speed and stamina with regular effort.