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I write a lot, I mostly use wattpad and I have a very decent fan base but I don’t get paid for doing so. Recently I stopped writing because I haven’t been encouraged to continue, but for my birthday I’m going to get a laptop and I know with that, I’m definitely going to start writing more, but I also don’t want to write for no reason or for free. I’m 15 and I don’t really like relying on my parents to buy me stuff, I don’t ask for them to buy me alot but I still want to have money for myself and save up most of it so when I get older I can have a higher chance getting the life I always manifested. I just want to take a bigger step with my life because I feel like a bum just only doing school as a job, I do need more practice writing and my punctuation is probably slightly off but I feel like writing is one of my passions and I can do something with it. Any advice?????
The only thing I can think of is writing contests. You're young so I don't know if you can join a freelance writing site like Fiverr.com. I think you need to be at least 18. You can check Fiverr out and see what their rules are.
You could also try posting commission jobs on Deviantart.com. It's mostly an art site but people sometimes are interested in hiring someone to write a fanfiction or a short story. If you do that you'll need a PayPal account or some sort of online payment which I'm not sure a young person can get but you can look that up yourself. CashApp might work, I don't know.
Regardless of what you try just know it's hard making money as a writer because there are so many writers out there that you'll get lost in the crowd. Your best bet would be to write a story and try to get it published.
Here are some writing contests you can try. Some are free to enter and some you have to pay. https://blog.reedsy.com/writing-contests/
This is the job forum on Deviantart. https://www.deviantart.com/forum/jobs/services/
Start a newsletter and see if you can build an audience there. Substack is a popular platform.
We've all seen so much "end of the world" on this and other subreddits lately so I thought I'd chime in with a useful humblebrag.
In March I left my full-time content writing job (couldn't stand the return-to-office) to go back to freelancing. No clients booked, no plans other than to start browsing UpWork.
By the end of April I was booked up with work and had hit my day rate goal of $500. I write two blogs every weekday and handle whatever edits they want from previous work, if there are any.
Today I saw a comment on r/ChatGPT ostensibly from a writer with about as much experience as me (five years) who also left their job and claimed to have sent out 200 applications without a single word back. That's absurd. My clients explicitly hire me off the strength of a few pieces in my portfolio they probably skimmed through. If you can't do the same then your body of work isn't good enough. Simple as that.
I have more work than I can handle. I could very well be making more money if I actually knew how to prospect on LinkedIn or network online or in-person. But I don't and that's okay, for now.
Don't get bogged down in doubt. There are plenty of clients out there looking for high-quality work, and if you can provide it you'll be able to make money today, and tomorrow. Next month? Next year? Who knows. ChatGPT has another update coming out next week and maybe it'll be the one that drives away at least one of my clients. That's freelancing for ya.
Until then, keep producing the kind of work that we all claim only humans can create. Hone your style. It really all comes down to being a stellar writer.
I'd like to say there's more to it than that but when all my client-finding boils down to "scroll through UpWork and only apply to jobs that are offering >$50/hr," I honestly can't say it's about anything more than git gud.
And I mean gud. I have a bachelor's degree in English, previous in-house and agency experience, and a strong portfolio. Since I'm a writer, I know how to write a good UpWork pitch too. I meet deadlines and stay in communication. It's really not more complicated than that. Just. Write. Well.