Look for story writers to share your book with the rest of the world. Navigate the process with ease using a hiring guide.
You’ve had a lot of free time during the pandemic. That’s given you time that you need to think about putting to words the story that you’ve always wanted to tell. It could be a detective story, or one with adventure or even with science fiction elements. The only problem is, you haven’t got the vocabulary, the skill, and language to put that into writing. If you’re really determined to share that story with the rest of the world, then look for pros to help you. Here’s how you can hire the best one for your project.
Know What You Want
Before you start looking for story writers, think about what you want. Are you looking for someone with years of experience in writing creatively? To which genre does your story belong? There’s romance and adventure, science fiction, children’s literature, and more. Or maybe that story is only one of the many stories you’re interested in collaborating on with the right writer. Do you want to publish a short story collection? What about a novel? Other forms of prose content include essays—the personal kind, often called the non-fiction essay. That’s usually the form that a memoir takes. Once you’re clear about the kind of writing you want your stories to have, then you can find a writer who is adept in that language or writing style. That will make it easier for you to filter through your options.
Check Out Online Platforms
These days, freelancing platforms make it easier, now more than ever, to find talented professionals that you want to hire for a job. Sites like Guru.com, for instance, provide a wonderful pool of talent. It shouldn’t take you long to find qualified candidates and come up with a shortlist of names that you’ll need to research much more closely. That’s why you’ll need to look beyond the usual platforms and hiring channels.
Look at Samples
When you do hire writers, make sure you look at their work. Do you like any of the samples? They’ll usually have an online portfolio of their previous work. Take the time to go over these. It might sound tedious if you’re going to do this for every candidate. But doing this will give you more material to work with, so you can determine with greater ease and speed if the candidate is the right match for your needs. Also, keep in mind that people tend to put their best work in their portfolios. If none of the work resonates with you, then that means that you and the writer aren’t a good match. Find a writer whose work you admire, who delivers the emotional impact that you’re looking for, especially since you want the writer to work on your story.
Factor in Credentials
Don’t forget to check out the writer’s credentials. Yes, experience and education can be a huge factor as these tell you that the person you want to hire has had proper training and have the technical expertise you need. Other types of credentials include experience in the specific type or genre that you want your story to be in, workshops or classes attended or even courses completed. Also, if the writer has won any awards in creative writing, then those are all good indications that you’ve got the right person in your sights. Years of experience in producing creative writing output is also a good sign. You’ll want to look for these things before you hire a writer to collaborate with you in bringing your story to life.
Hire for Personality
Don’t just hire for credentials, though. Finding someone with writing skills shouldn’t be the only hiring goal you’ll want to satisfy. You also need to hire for personality. What kind of attitude and mindset does the writer have? Is the writer patient? You’re going to spend hours with that writer. Do you think you and that person can get along without any friction or tension? If there’s even the slightest doubt in your mind, if you have misgivings and you aren’t quite sure you like the person, it’s a good idea to keep looking. If you want your book to be a success, you need to work closely with the writer. And that’s not going to happen if you resent the writer in any way or you’re uncomfortable around them.
Talk About Communication
How often will the writer update you? How will the process proceed? How will you two work together? Will you meet up—in person or online—for a couple of hours a week? What’s the schedule? Will you need to pay the writer a portion of the total payment once you’ve hit a milestone in the novel or story? If you have ideas or questions, does the writer talk to you about them patiently?
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