Freelancers Here is how to up your writing game!

Writing. The documentation of life’s events as captured through the rods and cones of an individual’s retina.

The writer’s life is a cascade of emotions, in writing you experience the lives of others, and you feel what they feel in other to document what they would, if they could, and as much as possible, in the way they would. This is the freelance writer’s life in brief. I don’t know if there are more thrilling moments than when I get the impression that I have been able to fully capture what an individual wanted me to help them write- it feels like I have been able to get into their minds, extract information from it and come out without changing form. It’s magical.
The goal of every freelance writer is to write freely and uninhibited; great is that day when there is a free flow of words which fit into the context like a 71/2 sized hand would fit into a 71/2 sized glove. If we would be sincere, we know when this isn’t the case, and writing feels more like drudgery than like the beautiful crafting of words. Yet, words are the tools of our craft. We must mold them like clay until they form the pottery in which our hearts are well pleased.
Some people think writing is easy, and that talent is all you need to make it big in the writing game- turns out talent is just never enough. Becoming a successful freelance writer and making good money involves engaging yourself in lots of work and expecting that there would be some not so good times along the way.
How does a writer get to this high point at which writing brings such heightened pleasure? How does a freelancer up his/her writing game?
1. Practice
If you thought there was a way out of this, I’m sorry to disappoint you. If you want to write well, you’ve got to write more. You know, we really could take a cue from athletes or body builders- they never let a day go by without diligent practice of their craft. The cure to bad writing is some more bad writing, and before you know it, bad writing has been evacuated like pus is drained after incision and drainage; and all that’s left is good writing. If you want to write well, you have to write more. How many hours do you spend writing, daily? It determines how horned your writing skills would be/are. Keep writing, till your words become like a free flowing stream that dances to the tune of nature until you become enamored by your own writing.
2. Reading
Sometimes, there’s nothing more priceless than a change in perspective- which is what the reading of good books provide. It might not even be a change in perspective- it might only be a modification or even a strengthening of your previously held perspective, giving you more strength to pen down those words. Good books are like fertilizer, on which the writer’s mind feeds until it becomes strong enough to release rich plants up from his or her mental soil. When you read good books, you will find that your mind chews on something so much that it releases fervor into the next piece which you write, making it better than the last one which you wrote.
3. Paying attention to instructions
Going off on a tangent when you are given writing instructions satisfies no one- especially your client. In the face of instruction, talent is of little value if all it does is to disrespect the instructions given. When given a project to work on, instead of going straight to craft words, I have found it much easier to deliver an excellent job if I ruminate upon the subject matter of discourse, trying to familiarize myself with it and understand the context in which the client wants it delivered before progressing into the real crafting of words. It is when you allow yourself to come into the mental state of the client that you would be able to work in the way he or she wants you to work, thus churning out beautiful products in terms of writing.

In general, effective writing is not only an application of talent, but the proper usage of talent in the right way, aided by the right tools and people. In your journey as a writer, never disregard the little things- like instruction, consistency and reading for in such ways you would hone your skills and become better in the practice of your craft. No one roots for you more than we do! Never look down on yourself, write like you and not like any other.
Drop tips on how other freelance writers (and writers in general) can improve their writing below, in the comments section