For a Freelance Writer, the Learning Never Stops

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

Mahatma Gandhi

For a freelancer, and for everyone else too, there are so many benefits of keeping an attitude of continual learning:

1) You stay current; your skills never get obsolete.

2) You stay fruitfully occupied (an empty mind can really be the devil’s workshop).

3) You stay focused on your career goals.

Here are six ways you can continue upgrading your skills without burning a hole in your pocket. Leverage the reach of the internet to get access to inexpensive learning sources.

1) Search for open courseware. A lot of reputed international universities offer a portion of free learning material on their websites. Check sites of universities such as MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon etc.

2) Look for experienced writers who blog about writing. Look for blogs that explain the groundwork you need to have in place, pitfalls to avoid, tips and ideas.  

3) Sites such as Udemy, Udacity and Coursera offer a wonderful variety of engaging, free (and paid) online courses.

4 Online schools such as Poynter.org also offer a lot of tips and courses for those that want to pursue journalism.

5) If you’re a more visual learner, check for videos on websites like TED Education and Youtube’s Education channels.

6) Buy good e-books. E-books can be a cheap way to do all the reading you want. There are a number of informative and engaging e-books written on the subject of writing. Use them as inexpensive tools to make you a better writer. 

If you’re looking for books to improve your writing skills, here’s a short list to start off with. Although, in general, reading good books (literary or otherwise) is also a great way to improve your writing (and a more spontaneous and organic one).

1) For fiction writing: The Art of Fiction by David Lodge

2) For copywriting, editing and general writing skills:

a) The Elements of Style by Strunk & White

b) Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss

3) General writing advice: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott