We all start our writing careers telling ourselves we will never work for less than we are worth or that we won’t write inane articles stuffed full of keywords. But in the pursuit of regular writing work which brings in a regular income, we sometimes find ourselves writing things we wish we hadn’t.
How do we, as writers, maintain our integrity and stick to our own personal ethics while still making the money we really need to get by? Having ethics is all well and good, but it doesn’t put food on the table or money in the electric meter. A little compromise is something we all need to learn if we want to survive.
However compromise doesn’t mean selling your soul. I have a few pretty clear rules when it comes to accepting writing work and I have always stuck to them no matter what. It has allowed me to be flexible and to accept work which I am comfortable with. I would say that my ethics rules haven’t hindered my career as yet, but I suppose time will tell.
The fact is that avoiding certain jobs keeps my integrity, but it also leaves me open and able to accept he jobs which truly interest me. It is also a fact that the dubious jobs are often the ones with the worst pay. So having morals is actually worth my while. So my rules are as follows – feel free to consider your own – but make sure you stick to them.
I will not work for less than £10 an hour
OK this is a little flexible as I often work on a per piece basis for my articles. This may mean that I sometimes run over or under – but the average time spent works out to be at least this much.
I feel that writers (especially online writers) are notoriously underpaid and some clients expect something for next to nothing. Sticking to my guns means that I miss out on some jobs, but I feel that offering my skills for less than this devalues the profession overall. If all writers want to paid correctly they need to all insist on decent pay.
I will not do rewrites
I couldn’t think of anything more soul destroying than spending day after day rewriting the words and ideas of someone else. Part of being a writer is coming up with new and fresh ideas and getting them down on paper in a way which is uniquely your own.
When I see that someone is looking for a writer to put 100 articles into their own words, I think of the original writer. Do they know their hard work is being used in this way? Are they aware that their article is being used by some to make more money over and above the price they were originally paid?
I have come across examples of my articles which have been blatantly copied and pasted, switched around, a word added here and there and presented as the work of someone else. There isn’t much I can do, as I have sold those articles, but it upsets me every time it happens. I don’t want to make another writer feel that way.
I will not write for industries I don’t support
I am not getting all high and mighty here, but there are certain industries which I will never be able to write for. I simply don’t want my name and reputation associated with them.
These include the tobacco industry, fundamentalist religion and another is the pornography industry. I could add to that any articles which are aimed at encouraging any sort of unhealthy pursuit such as drinking to excess or forcing junk food on children. If it makes me feel uncomfortable and I wouldn’t want my name mentioned in association with it, then I have to say no.
You need to consider where your limits lie. Simply putting your words out there and in effect lying just for the money is immoral. Be proud of your beliefs. Other people will be found to write about the subjects you don’t agree with. Let them get on with it.
I won’t write for people I don’t admire
If I am dealing with someone on a one to one basis and I am agreeing to do some work for them, I need to feel that this person is someone I believe in and like. It isn’t always easy to tell the true personality of someone from emails, so I take a little time to investigate each of my clients both to ensure their integrity, but also to be sure they are the sort of person I want to be associated with.
If I discover many complaints online about their business or that they don’t pay their bills on time, they won’t be working with me. I want to work with people who have the same ethics as I do. This means that they deliver what they say they will, when they say they will, they pay their bills on time and they believe in a cooperative relationship when it comes to work.
You may not find out all of this until you have been working for them for a while, but a client who you dislike, is not going to get the best from you. Just ditch them…
So there you have it. You will have your own set of rules, or maybe no rules at all. But I find that keeping to my set of ethics has stood me in good stead. I have a set of lovely clients who come back week after week. They like me and I like them. It works on a mutual level and I can sleep easy at night!
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