Education

I'm just curious.. what level of education do freelance article writers have? I know legit ones obviously have a University degree? (Or college?)

What about ones who work at DP?

 

lol are you saying "legit" ones don't work through DP? j/k

 

from what I'm seeing, lots of people who work here don't have real degrees ! My reasoning is because of outsourcing...... lol

Some samples that I've seen are not at the University level either.. most content on websites don't need complex writing so I'm assuming that's why...?

 

I personally have a Masters in Library Science along with a Bachelors in Engineering Route to Business (a combination of Business Management and Project Management.)

As if those five years of school weren't enough (I finished the Bachelors in three years), I also went back to school for 18 months in between the two to complete my teaching certification in Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, Math and ESL (English as a Second Language - i.e. I know how to teach English to those who are learning it as a second language.)

I'm actually considering going back for a Doctorate in a few more years when my boys are a bit older. (I'm only 27 now, so I have plenty of time.)

My writing career is secondary to my teaching career. I quit a high power consulting job and an accounting job to teach because I love teaching. I also just happen to enjoy writing (and do it well, I suppose) so I do that, too. Does that answer your education question? LOL

The average reader is somewhere between a 6th grade and high school reading ability. This is why newspapers are written around a 6th grade level and many websites are as well. Of course, that is no excuse for poor grammar or sentence structure... It actually takes a bit of skill to write well at a reading level lower than what you can normally read or write.

Rebecca

 

I have completed two semesters of college writing and rhetorics. I think I might delve into the world a little more next year with some advanced writing classes.

Like internetauthor, I plan on going to school a great deal of time. Only my focus will be on computer science and business/entrpreneurship with a minor in writing

 

I have a bachelors and an MBA. I have a friend with ony an associates degree that can, and does, write rings around me. I also have an extremely smart and well-educated realtive that can't spell.

You don't have to have a degree to be a writer, and a degree doesn't mean you can write.

 

A degree won't matter if you just want to be a generic research-based writer (like a lot of content writers you'll find online). If you want to specialize, that's where a degree can make quite a bit of difference, both in getting gigs and in what you get paid. You're paid more for the expertise, not the general writing ability.

 

The group "freelance writers" is too large to even begin having a discussion about.

I've seen education levels all over the board. Only 1/3 of Americans have a college degree, so that might help you figure out something.

 

I have a Bachelors and a Masters. My course work has required extensive writing and I've also ghost written papers for various professors as well.

 

Personally I have a BA in Creative Writing and have been ghost writing for quite some time (all web content and articles). My minor is philosophy which is not extremely relevant but allows me to ramble on none the less.

Creative Copywriting
Christian

 

I have a BA in literature, but I don't know how well it helps me with article writing (I was so tired I started to write righting...). I learned to write 10-20 page pieces on Shakespeare, not the type of thing that interests most surfers.

 

I have a BA in English with a concentration in Writing, Minor is Psych and a Masters of Arts in Teaching.

The projects I get through DP vary in quality. Many of us have worked with well known corporations as ghostwriters and may not scream it all over DP.

The one thing I do not do is write educational essays for my own reasons which involve being an educator and feel students should write their own papers to earn the grade.

 

I'd have to agree with not writing educational essays. I wrote my own, so should everyone else.


On the earlier point - My BA in Creative Writing focused on journalism, research & fiction.

Creative Copywriting
Christian

 

Yet another BA in Creative Writing here! I also minored in journalism and film. Even though my degree helped me initially with building a reputation, I don't think its necessary to become a freelance writer.

 

A freelance writer only need this skill writing and read

 

That's only true if you're a generic content writer. There are lots of other kinds of freelance writers out there (in fields that pay quite a bit more in general) who need to be experts in their topic area, have a marketing / sales background for certain kinds of copywriting, know how to write for the media in PR writing, those who are educated in magazine features, news writing, etc.

 

Yes, a writer obviously needs to know how to read and write. But as Jenn mentioned, if you plan to earn substantially more than generic content writers earn AND you want to specialize, you need to have experience in your chosen field.

If professional writers only needed to write and read decently, then EVERYONE could be a writer. That's simply not the case. Professionals command higher rates and are usually experts in their field.

 

Academic qualifications are, in my opinion, highly overrated.

Very many very good professional copywriters have no
after school education and do very well from their writing;
and write very well.

Very many with academic qualifications just don't write well.

So no rule works. It's the writing that matters.

With that said, I have a degree in art and post grad qualifications
in design, some phd research behind me plus philosophy
undergrad work, creative writing courses, poetry study,
published articles, ads, poems and short stories, etc.

Phil

 

Perhaps true in copywriting... but not generally true in article writing (which I believe is what the OP was asking about). You can be good at writing with no qualifications, and get plenty of jobs at places like DP without a problem. But many of the bigger publications (online or off) don't hire freelancers because of general writing ability... they hire them for a certain expertise, in which case you do very often need a degree. Making it "look pretty" is what editors are for. Of course, if you have both going for you, even better. There's nothing over-rated about it when that's where the bigger money often is.

 

You're right that no rule applies. First of all, just going to college means absolutely CRAP when it comes to writing. Heck, half of the people in my j-classes couldn't write well enough to craft an interesting story on the inside of a bathroom stall.

And many who have come out of solid j-school places, such as Columbia, suck too. College helps refine you ONLY IF you put in the work and take the right stuff.

All degree holders are not created equal.

Also, how do you define good? Money? Talent? Both?

But, let me say that those who haven't went to college, properly, always use the excuse about college being overrated, not worth it and so forth. Yet, the fact is that on an overall basis those who have went, again properly, outperform and have more skill than those that don't.

There are always exceptions.

Even the best writers without higher learning behind them didn't just half-ass write on the back of last week's NY Times crossword puzzle. They focused and learned. They dedicated themselves to their craft.

Anyone can go through school. Not everyone can reach the middle to upper levels of the writing business (copywriting, journalist, PR writer, whatever).