Freelance writing for high schoolers?

Question

I am a soon-to-be Sophmore in high school, and I'm one of the many teenagers searching for a summer job. I have a hard time getting rides to places because of my parents' full time jobs, so I know that whatever I do it will have to be very close to home. I love to write, so what better to suit my circumstance than an online freelance writing job? The only problem with that is, I don't know where to look. I've tried Craigslist and all of the people advertising there need people with experience and college degrees. I am an established writer, especially for my age, and I want to be able to use that to my advantage. Any ideas?

Answer 1

IMHO the best way to earn money with your fiction is to write a boring, safe, generic novel (i.e. romance, murder mystery, true life experiences, biography, attack the catholic church, etc.) or to write short stories.

Trying to write the next breakout novel is fine but novels usually take several months and often you'll find that no one is interested. Novel publishers are interested in what they know and what they know will sell and make them money so they often won't venture in to unknown territory.

Poetry? Don't even think about it. It's hard to get it published and when you do manage to get it published you often get very little if anything at all. If you want to be a poet then do it because you love it. There's not really any other reason.

Scriptwriting? Try it if you want... it'll certainly give you a new perspective on dialogue... but the world of scriptwriting is mired in money, connections and small time politics. Unlike other types of writing, with sciptwriting; your finished MS is NOT the finished product and that can restrict your creativity.

So I'd recommend short stories. Write 5 or 6 and send them off to an agent who works with short fiction. Expect rejections - YOU WILL BE REJECTED at least several times! That's normal! If it goes well; try making a book of them. Even James Joyce used a book of short stories (Dubliners) to get his foot in the door! You won't be earning megabucks like you hear established novelists getting... but 99% of novelists don't get that either. 99% of novelists probably give up because they can't get published. By writing short stories you are more likely to earn a small sum of money. Try it... if you fail then at least you only wasted a few hours.