SiteYou Ask, We Answer: How much do you write?
Michelle asks: A friend and I were debating how many articles a writer could write in a month. obviously, this will vary from person to person and depend on type of assignment, but I’m curious to hear from you two — and hopefully readers who comment — how many articles they usually do a month and what length/type they are.
For me, every month is different: Some months I have four to six assignments, and some months I have 13 or even more. (That was this past August, and I don’t recommend it to anyone. What a load of stress!) The assignment length ranges from 500 to 2,000 words, but in my experience the 500-word articles can take just as much research as the 2,000-word ones!
Somewhat related: I’m a fast writer, and lately I’ve been billing myself as a rush writer for when editors find themselves with a hole in the magazine — say, if a writer flakes on them. Well, you wouldn’t believe how often magazines are in need of rush work! I just finished one three-source article for a national health magazine in four days, and I was so busy with that that I had to turn down two three-day assignments from a custom pub (which my husband ended up doing instead). So a lot of my assignments lately have been coming with super-short deadlines.
Renegade readers: How many articles do you typically write in a month? Post your experiences in the Comments!
7 Responses to “You Ask, We Answer: How much do you write?”
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Rachel
Said this on January 20th, 2008 at 12:31pm:I would say I lean towards being more busy every month. I have one client that I do daily work for on the web, as well as print work. I can’t seem to say “no” to anything… I never know when the work will dry up!
Rachel
Said this on January 20th, 2008 at 1:13pm:One month I did five plus in 15 days…but they were all large stories and several of them had MULTIPLE rewrites. I’d say most had about a 2 week deadline. It probably wouldn’t have been that bad, but considering I’m also a SAHM to two toddlers…I spent much time trying to get babysitters and childcare.
I enjoyed getting the work but I hope I’m never that busy any time soon. It was really stressful, trying to work and parent at the same time.
Robert
Said this on January 20th, 2008 at 6:09pm:When I was an intern at a daily paper, I was sometimes writing three stories per day, though it was usually two.
Far as tight deadlines go, try three hours from the time of the assignment.
michelle
Said this on January 23rd, 2008 at 3:37pm:thanks for the answers, everyone! always great to hear what works for others.
Duke
Said this on January 26th, 2008 at 5:30am:I write every other day and get pile up my articles till till the weekends.
Average about 10 per week.
Then the next step is the most important part for me as the purpose is to gain traffic via those articles. I have been using artemispro to summit to tons of sites that gets me the PR that I need. So far its been good
Cheers
Duke
diane
Said this on January 29th, 2008 at 9:59am:It depends on commissions, research/interview time, how much I know about a subject, how energetic I feel and what else is going on in my life.
Some weeks all I’m writing is pitches, and sending out those & introductory letters, freelance job applications etc. This is such a week! I do like that this job is so varied
Travis Hayden
Said this on January 29th, 2008 at 7:46pm:Busy weeks I’ll write 10-15 assignments a week, varying from 500-2000 words. That work load is manageable, but slightly unbearable. Ideally, I try and keep it down to 5-7 assignments a week, but sometimes – once a season – I’ll find myself in a mood wanting to take on the heavy workload. More often times than not I see quality suffering with the high quantity though.
Cheers,
Travis