8 Cruel Lessons From a Year of Content Writing

It’s a steady paycheck, but writing trash SEO articles can be soul crushing

Content writing represents an opportunity for writers to secure a weekly paycheck. Payments for articles or creative writing are usually delayed and might not be released for months. Writers have bills like everyone else, but it’s important to develop a proper balance so that the lure for quick cash does not override your dedication to producing meaningful work.

There are many content writing sites that allow authors to choose from a list of article assignments. Generally, the writer must complete a short online test and submit a writing example to sign up for an account. Once approved, the writer can work at his or her own pace and submit as many articles as they can write.

The downside is that many of the assignments are monotonous and the pay is not great. Some of the lessons you learn from content writing will serve you in your other writing goals, and others might sour you on writing forever.

1. You must write unbelievably fast

Working as a content writer does not afford you the luxury of contemplating the subtle nuances of every sentence that you write. The objective is to produce as many words as possible, and since you are not given a byline for the majority of your content writing assignments, the quality won’t impact your reputation as an author.

Content writing is similar to free writing and it can be very liberating. You crank out an article, give it a quick proofread, and send it off. Usually an editor will be assigned to check your work, but that editor will also be under time constraints so the editing process is minimal.

The most I ever wrote in a week of content writing was approximately 60,000 words which earned a payment of around $1,500. That output represented slightly more than a typical 40 hour workweek. Normally, I use content writing as a source of supplementary income and aim for $300 to $400 a week in around 10 to 20 hours of work.

2. Your content writing copy must be clean

Even with a degree in English and more than 20 years of experience working as a writer, I still allow errors to infiltrate my copy. As I get older I find that I’m prone to typing in a completely incorrect word simply because the first four letters are the same as the word I intended to write. It’s natural for writers to become overly focused on the eloquence of their language. However, when articles are sent back because of a few minuscule errors, your time commitment gets inflated to the point where the work is not worthwhile.

Although the quality of the writing you will produce as a content writer is lower than the rest of your work, grammar becomes an intense focus because it’s the quickest way your work can get flagged. Content writing teaches you to streamline your personal editing process and develop a keen focus for the common errors content writing editors are most likely to notice. The result is that you produce cleaner copy on the first draft.

That being said, your work does not have to be perfect. It only has to be better than the error-ridden articles that are commonplace on the internet.

3. Poor formatting will get your account blocked

Most content writing assignments will give you little more than a title and a few notes on formatting. It’s important to develop an ability to understand and apply the formatting instructions. Following submission guidelines is important for all writing objectives, and content writing offers you a unique opportunity to get paid as you improve your skill set in that area.

Sometimes formatting notes are hidden in weird places in your assignment sheet, and if you miss them you’ll get scolded. I’ve even had problems with editors who misread the sheet and accused me of errors in a document that was properly formatted to client expectations. Most of the time you aren’t sure if you’re being evaluated by a machine or a person, and there’s always a risk that you’ll be incorrectly assigned a demerit that will get your account shut down.

Content writing tends to break articles up into short paragraphs and subheadings. Many assignments supply a template that includes about half of the total words required for the article. The format for content writing is much different than the structure of a creative or artistic work and oftentimes feels like little more than a glorified outline. Generally, internet readers have the attention span of a squirrel and content writing formats reflect that.

4. You must sound like an expert on everything

As a writer, you inherently know a lot of options for creating introductory paragraphs, transitions, a body of content, and a satisfying conclusion. All that you have to do to sound like an expert is do some minimal research and grab a few pieces of information that are relevant to the subject matter. Vague language can also hide your lack of expertise provided that it sounds knowledgeable.

As long as you don’t get caught in a blatantly false comment, you can get away with writing detailed articles on subjects you know nothing about.

5. Your perception of the internet will be forever tarnished

You don’t have to spend too much time working as a content writer to have your perception of the internet permanently altered. It turns out that many of the articles, even those that appear on highly regarded sites, were composed by writers who had little to no personal knowledge of the subject matter. Until you’ve participated in the process, it’s hard to conceptualize how widespread this practice is.

There’s always an advantage to grabbing an assignment in a field where you have prior experience, but as a content writer you have minimal control over what article topics are available. Even if you’ve developed a healthy cynicism regarding the validity of source material as a result of academic study, working as a content writer will further refine your perspective in a way that’s enormously beneficial.

6. You’ll learn to pick topics where there is a lot of available work

One of the best ways to maximize your earnings as a content writer is to minimize the time you spend researching topics. When you go to the article pool, check to see if there are multiple assignments on the same topic. The more articles you can write after doing a minimal amount of research, the better.

7. You might get accused of plagiarizing yourself

It is important to make sure you introduce sufficient variety in your content writing so that each article is unique for each client. I used to rely on the fact that the nuances of sentence construction should naturally vary enough from article to article even if they were on identical topics. However, I found that once you’ve written an article 20 or 30 times, you start to refine them in your mind to the point where they emerge almost verbatim.

Most writers live in constant fear that they will lose work that they will never be able to recover. However, I’ve found that when you’ve spent enough time thinking about a piece you condition yourself to remember it with amazing accuracy. Although I still take precautions against hard drive crashes, content writing has lessened much of the anxiety I used to feel at the thought of losing work.

8. Content writing farms will squeeze you for all they can

There is the potential for meritorious advancement in content writing. You start out as an anonymous contributor, but if the quality of your writing is high, it’s likely that somebody who works at the platform will contact you. Once you become established as a top writer for a platform, they will offer you better paying jobs and bonuses for rush work.

It’s good to have a lot of work, but once the editors start to recognize that you are a quality writer, it might become overwhelming. You’re a cog in a machine that has a lot of overworked and underpaid individuals, and they’re going to keep piling jobs up on your desk.

I don’t want to spend the rest of my life content writing

I’m grateful for the lessons I’ve learned from content writing, but at the same time it can be a soul crushing obligation. I have always been fascinated by the process of composition, and content writing affords you the opportunity to practice your craft while getting paid. The emphasis on speed and accuracy helps make you a more efficient writer, but the limitations on subject matter can leave you feeling unfulfilled.

I expect to continue dabbling in content writing for the foreseeable future. Content writing allows you to be paid quickly, but at a much lower rate than other writing opportunities offer. It’s important to achieve a good balance where you don’t become so overwhelmed with work that you fail to submit to higher paying markets. The low rates for content writing can catch up with you and lead to burn out. With a healthy balance, content writing can provide the steady paycheck all writers need while also allowing the freedom to pursue more ambitious writing projects.

I much prefer to write stories and philosophical musings for you here on Substack, thanks for your sponsorship, it makes it possible!

Note: This article was originally published on The Writing Cooperative on Jun 23, 2020. It has been several years since I’ve taken a content writing job… thank goodness!)

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