Cheap Words

In the past writers made money from plying their craft. Not now. How many people do you know that actually make a living from only writing? Blogging? Writing copy?
Have you checked the freelance writers sites lately? Who wants to write an a 30 page article for $1?

Back in the day, newspaper and article writers made a good wage from doing what they do. They kept their ear to the ground for juicy tidbits around the city, went out interviewed people and wrote the story all before lunch. Then did it all over again. Day after day.
They didn’t copy articles off the internet, rewrite something with some fancy software program then stick their name on it, they actually used their brain.

Most old-school journalists and writers would have been fired for doing that. It’s called plagiarism.

It shows several things about a writer. First, it screams laziness plain and simple. What are you getting paid to do? Readers see right through it and say “Oh, this looks and sounds familiar. I can’t trust this person.” And they move on, click onto something else.
Plagiarism also shows incompetence. Aren’t you a writer? Then write, don’t copy.
Although advice is cheap, a good education stays with a person a lifetime. Take some classes, find a mentor and practice and get some feedback. Just don’t copy. And if you do, give the original writer credit with a bi-line and a link back to their homepage.

Maybe the writer will thank you and put your article on their website for the whole world to see.

More articles by Andrew Glaze can be found at Nanlixsy.