Getting paid to write or edit from the comfort of your home, or virtually anywhere, may sound like your life-long dream—but it isn’t all smooth sailing.
No doubt, remote working is the future of work, and the rising number of remote workers make the telecommuting work arrangement seem promising.
But the sad truth is, remote writing and editing isn’t for everyone.
To help you discover whether this career path fits you, we will:
- Show you some exciting aspects of remote writing and editing jobs
- Reveal a few under-discussed challenges of work-from-home writing and editing
- Guide you to decide if getting paid to write or edit from home fits your lifestyle
Pros of Remote Writing and Editing Jobs
The growing interest in remote writing and editing jobs is for good reasons. We’ll discuss two:
1: Flexible Work Schedules
Many remote employers allow writers and editors to customize their work schedules, as long as quality standards and deadlines are maintained. They emphasize performance over stone-written work shifts.
For instance, First Page Strategy, a remote employer, allows a four-hour, Monday-to-Friday shift routine. With this arrangement, writers and editors enjoy the freedom to decide the most convenient four hours of each day to set aside for work.
For CopySmiths, remote writers work at least 32 hours each week. Writers can spread these hours across the week, based on their time zones and other conveniences.
So, if you’re a night owl from Kenya, you may prefer working 4 am to 10 am GMT (which is 7 pm to 1 am Kenya time) Monday to Friday, whereas, your South African-based teammate who feels more productive in the mornings may settle on a 6 am to 12 noon GMT shift (8 am to 2 pm South Africa time).
Thankfully, several online tools promote effective communication between remote workers, regardless of the different time zones and preferred work schedules.
Typical examples of such team management tools are Slack, Loom, G-Suite, GoToMeeting, and Hubstaff. They can help remote teams share training, record meetings, as well as monitor shifts and performance.
So, unlike traditional jobs with a rigid 9-to-5 Monday-Friday schedule, writing and editing from home allows you to set your own work hours, while creating time for other equally important day-to-day life commitments.
Erica’s tweet captures this experience:
2: Learn, Grow, Earn More
From accepting $10 for 500 words on remote markets like Upwork to landing a regular $1500-per-ebook job is a relatable experience in the remote writing community.
Interestingly, such a breakthrough may come only a few weeks after acquiring a new skill or implementing some new strategies from a free webinar.
The internet-dependent nature of telecommute writing and editing roles exposes you to an extensive database of information, paid and free, which can lead you to better-paying work-from-home opportunities.
Let’s review some scarcely mentioned places where you can meet, engage, and gain career-boosting information from fellow writers and editors.
Online writers’ and editors’ groups—You’ll find several relatable discussions and questions that address your challenges, and success stories from fellow writers and editors that’ll spur you on to take action to develop your skillset and increase your income.
On Facebook, for instance, the Writers’ Life Community, Writers Helping Writers, and Small Revolution’s CopyCreatures are such groups committed to writers’ and editors’ growth.
Training courses—HubSpot Academy, Udemy, and Small Revolution are common examples of advanced authority platforms that provide more-organized knowledge.
On these platforms, you’ll find a collection of valuable industry-standard writing and editing courses, both free and premium, that’ll take you through your journey. They all have courses for beginners and experienced writers and editors.
Also, visit their blogs for actionable remote writing and editing guides, and updates on industry trends and best practices.
Writing and editing coaches—These industry professionals know your pains. Their experience can help you put your best foot forward, present a smoother road to success, and simplify each step to advancing your writing and editing career.
Elna Cain, Erica Schneider, Jon Morrow, and Katrina McKinnon are a few examples of trusted coaches that can smooth the road to becoming a professional, remote writer or editor.
You’ll find many other seasoned coaches on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Follow them, engage with their posts, and eventually stick with a favorite—or two.
These places mentioned have enough information to kickstart and advance your writing and editing career.
This opportunity to learn fast, and the high possibility of converting such knowledge into more revenue, is one of the most desirable realities of virtual writers and editors.
Now, let’s examine the other side of the coin.
Pitfalls of Remote Writing and Editing Jobs
Away from the pros, these are two common pitfalls of work-from-home writing and editing jobs:
1: Navigating the Increasingly Competitive Market
Starting out, well-paid remote writing and editing jobs are tough to find.
$500 for a 1k-word blog post is no doubt a great offer, but even established writers and editors don’t find such opportunities often.
Of course, there is high demand for remote writers and editors, but the rising number of applicants outnumbers the available jobs.
You’ll find many remote writers’ and editors’ accounts on job boards such as Upwork, Fiverr, Guru, and People Hour without a single order.
Truly, there are ways around landing telecommuting writing and editing jobs on Indeed, Craigslist, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other social platforms. But they all require advanced strategies and consistency.
Even worse, AI writers such as ChatGPT and Copy.ai (promising a light-speed turnaround for almost free) are picking out good jobs from the already competitive writing and editing jobs market.
In fact, the introduction and rising acceptance of these artificial intelligence content-generating tools have left many writers second-guessing the future of their careers.
Expectedly, this fierce competition explains the rising number of desperate, low-fee writers who gladly trade their time and skills for peanuts.
For instance, you can get writing services for as low as $5 on Fiverr.
Lately, like never before, landing writing and editing gigs with fat checks is tougher than most aspiring remote writers and editors assume.
The current reality is that many first-timers and intermediates go weeks and months jobless. And when push turns to shove, some settle for anything to service essential bills. Some quit.
2: Too Many Distractions and Tough Time Management
Time management is, in itself, a challenging job, particularly for remote workers who control their schedules.
Distractions are everywhere, including the irresistible temptation to check for updates across your social media accounts, watch ‘just one more episode’ of your favorite TV series, or take naps that often lead to hours-long sleep.
Of course, expect kids ramming into your home office, barking dogs, attention-seeking spouses, and friends who do not regard work-from-home jobs as ‘serious work.’
These time-wasters not only encroach on your writing hours, they also mess up your creative juices and strangle the flow, making the entire writing and editing process more exhausting.
Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted.
Anonymous
On the other hand, your workload can sometimes build up, so much that it ruins your social appointments. Little wonder why rain checks, showing up late for hangouts, canceling pet walks, and failed meet-up promises are familiar stories among remote writers and editors.
Thankfully, time management tools such as Everhour and Hubstaff can be lifesaving. These applications provide FREE valuable features that help individuals and teams manage distractions and focus on their to-do lists.
They display projects, track deadlines, take screenshots, and report users’ on-shift activities to encourage more productive work hours.
Both Hubstaff and Everhour have free plans for you, as a single user. Larger teams may opt for premium plans, which start at $4.17 and $5 monthly, for Hubstaff and Everhour, respectively.
The truth is, a work-from-home writer or editor with poor time management skills will keep experiencing missed deadlines and overall unproductivity, a quick route to losing employers’ or clients’ trust.
To recap, this table highlights the gains and pains of remote writing and editing jobs at a glance:
| Pros Of Remote Writing And Editing Jobs | Cons Of Remote Writing And Editing Jobs |
| Work from the comfort of your home—or anywhere you wish | High competition; tough job search |
| Set your own work schedules | Easily get distracted and lose focus |
| Unlimited learning and earning potentials | Time management is tough when working from home |
| Encourages more time with family and loved ones | Poor work-life balance |
Is Work-From-Home Writing and Editing Right for Me?
Now you know the primary pros and cons, you should be well informed to settle for remote writing and editing jobs—or look elsewhere.
If you think the perks outweigh the challenges, you’re halfway already.
However, with the rising interest in remote writing and editing jobs, you should be ready to:
- Roll up your sleeves and commit to learning the ins and outs—Get coached
- Practice self-discipline and employ time management tools for productivity
- Up your skillset and stay up to date with industry best practices
- Stay consistent—always show up for your regular job search
- Deliver industry-standard projects
Proudly, we’ve coached and watched newbies grow from scouting for penny gigs to getting consistent well-paid remote writing and editing jobs.
What changed?
They understood that interest, skills, dedication, and patience lift amateur writers and editors into high-value professionals.
Ready to take your first leap? Small Revolution’s online courses and resources can speed up your learning process and help you excel in your remote writing or editing job search.
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