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Profitable Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills

Written by CB Community

For many college students, striking the balance between part-time work and their studies is a huge issue.

Yet, there are some profitable ways of using your existing skills while enhancing them, particularly when it comes to something as sought-after as good writing!

Enter a Writing Contest

An endeavor that may be worth investigating is entering a writing contest. A look online for current writing contests reveals a huge mixture of events and competitions across the world that you could take part in.

This includes the likes of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prizes, the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and the Drue Heinz Literature Prize.

Prizes vary widely, from thousands of dollars for the winning entry to free entry to workshops or getting your work published online or in print.

Therefore, it makes sense to consider whether your priority is in earning money, gaining skills, or achieving some sort of wider recognition for your writing.

It’s also worth mentioning that different genres and topics are covered by these competitions, with some focusing on creative writing, others on poetry, and others on academic writing, for example.

If you aren’t sure where your current strengths and weaknesses lie, this is a good way of trying each of the different areas and seeing which ones you feel most comfortable with.

Some contests are particularly suitable for students, such as the example of the annual Future of Privacy Scholarship run by ExpressVPN.

The 2022 version of this writing contest is based on creating rules for the metaverse and entries should be between 600 and 800 words long, with a closing date for submissions of September 15th.

Write on a Freelance Basis

Another option for students seeking employment, especially those who prefer to work directly for clients rather than enter contests, is freelancing opportunities online.

These include paying jobs to write academic essays, carry out creative writing, and many other types of work that people need to do and are willing to pay for.

Freelance sites such as Upwork, Fiverr, Flexjobs, and Jooble are among the most reputable freelancer sites where you can expect to find a range of writing jobs worth considering.

The rates of pay vary considerably, so this is also a good opportunity to gauge how profitable your future career could be by seeing which areas are currently most in demand.

Growing areas such as cryptocurrencies and cutting-edge technology are well-represented at the time of writing, so knowledge of a specialist subject like this will help you to find suitable jobs.

However, it must be said that getting started and finding your first project may be difficult. Despite this, the experience gives you the benefit of being able to practice your resume writing and how you sell your skills to potential clients.

This way of working can also be helpful for college students who need to juggle their studying with earning money, as many are extremely flexible and let you work in a way that suits you, doing as many or as few hours as you’re able to.

Conclusion

The idea of making money while enhancing your writing skills is certainly something to look into, and it may turn out to be exactly what you need for your college years as well as giving you a strong start to your career after this.

About the author

CB Community

Passionate members of the College Basics community that include students, essay writers, consultants and beyond. Please note, while community content has passed our editorial guidelines, we do not endorse any product or service contained in these articles which may also include links for which College Basics is compensated.