Seven Essential Tools for Freelance Writers

This story was first published by me on Medium on 13 June 2022.

This freelancing thing is a bit scary, no honestly, it really is.

The freelancing life can be a challenging one.

There’s no boss asking how the project is going, no coworkers to gossip with, and no IT team to help you out when your emails disappear at 5 pm on a Friday night.

Getting things done is entirely dependent on you and your own internal motivation. You are responsible for every aspect of your new business and that can be intimidating.

I’m at such an early stage in my freelancing career that I’m still figuring out what my workflow looks like, this post sets out what my current set-up is. Knowing me and my addiction to all things new and shiny, this is likely to change.

Part of being a freelancer is finding a process that works for you. My neurodivergence shapes my day and dictates what types of tools and support I need but your workflow may look very different. Ultimately do what works for you.

Word processing, documentation, and general business workflow

These tools are the backbone of my freelancing practice, the ones I use daily and use again and again. The majority of them are free, which means they are ideal if you are just starting out.

Google

For the sake of brevity, I’m putting several tools under one umbrella. Google and its online tools have been a favourite of mine for several years. I use Google drive, sheets, mail, search, and the keyword planner the most although I do occasionally use other Google tools (maps, keeper).

Google works well for me, all the tools are integrated with each other and they are easy to use. I can access them through the Mac and through my phone and iPad meaning my documentation is never far. The big advantage of Google is that all its tools are free so they are a great option if you are just starting out.

Google docs — One of the world’s best know word processing apps, second only to Microsoft Word, I use it for all of my writing. It’s a simple, clean interface, making distraction-free writing possible. It also has great sharing features for working with clients.

Google Drive — a simple and effective place to store my documents and organise my life. It also integrates with lots of other online services such as Canva.

Google sheets — similar to Excel but free! I use Google sheets to track my work and my finances and any other data I want to analyse.

Web hosting

Web hosting can be expensive. I currently use Bluehost and WordPress (I’m counting them as one for the purposes of this post). Bluehost is reasonably priced and easy to use. I’ve yet to use customer service so I can’t comment on how supportive they are. The blog is powered by WordPress, the most well-known blogging software out there.

In terms of ease of use, WordPress has so many options that the back end of the blog can look a little scary but I’m learning. WordPress is so widely used that googling any issues quickly brings up the answer or a relevant support forum.

Writing Tools

Grammarly

The absolute daddy of all grammar & spelling checkers. Other spell checkers are available but Grammarly takes the top spot for good reason. It’s easy to use and it normally makes good suggestions around sentence structure and syntax. However, it’s not perfect, American English spelling is the default (this can be changed easily) meaning the missing ‘u’ has caught me out a couple of times. It also seems to have a thing for hyphens (I know, I don’t understand either, but there you go). I pay for the full version and find it invaluable for helping polish my final copy. A free version is available and very good. Don’t upgrade unless you know you’re going to use it daily.

Social media & lead generation

I’m not the biggest fan of social media. I have a tendency to lurk rather than comment and engage.

However, being a freelance writer means that building an online presence is crucial if I want to bring in business. So, with that in mind, I’m spending my time on the following platforms.

LinkedIn

If you are a freelancer, you absolutely have to have a presence here. Much has been written elsewhere about the value of LinkedIn so I’m not going to go into detail in this post. Trust me though, sign up and start building your presence here, it’s a great way to connect with clients and other writers. It’s also a great source of writing work. Absolutely essential if you want to succeed as a freelance writer.

Medium

A writing platform for writers. I’ve set up a profile and I’m trying to blog regularly. It’s a wonderfully supportive community full of other writers and it’s a great way to build your portfolio. Whilst you’re trying to decide on a niche you can write (and publish) on any topic you want to. I’m using it to experiment with different types of writing. It’s also a great way to showcase my writing to clients.

Bonus platform - Vocal

Much like Medium, this is a writing platform for writers. Unlike Medium, Vocal does not expect you to pay a monthly fee to access the platform. I've just started and my plan is to share content from Medium.

Other platforms

I don’t have any other platforms for my business currently although that may change. Other platforms that writers use include Twitter, Quora, and TikTok. All are worth exploring to connect with other writers.

Other tools

Listed below are a few other tools I find invaluable in my day-to-day workflow.

Canva

Oh Canva, how I love thee. Let me count the ways …

Canva is an online image and photo editing app. You can use it to make graphics for all of your social media platforms. It can edit video and photos and it can be used to build the graphics for your brand. It’s easy to use even for someone as unartistic as I am (is that a word?).

In short, it’s brilliant.

They have a free account which is limited (but still good) however I use the paid version.

Job Boards

There are many free job boards for freelance writers, one of the best and most well-known is ProBlogger (although there are many others out there). ProBlogger vets all the jobs posted and whilst they may not be high paying they are from reputable sources.

So, that’s a quick round-up of the tools I currently use in my day-to-day workflow for my writing business. As I grow and develop I have no doubt these will change.

What tools do you use on daily basis for your writing?