Transcription is my first love, no doubt about it, but as I dip my toes into content writing part of my motivation for doing so is the sad state of the written word becoming widespread across the internet. Don’t get me wrong, I would like to make a few extra bucks, but when I see some of the content out there I shake my head and think to myself, “I could’ve written better content when I was ten years old.” Why in the world wouldn’t I want to put my skills to work when quality writers are obviously needed. I mean, I’m not going to point fingers, but I am reading journalists for major, top-tier publications who need to go back to English and Grammar 101. I’m sure you have too. Even some of the headlines are nonsensical. If you can’t even write a good headline should you even remotely call yourself a writer? How in the world did they secure their writing jobs, and even more importantly how is their stuff getting past editors?
Now, I have no idea what goes on behind the editing desks in this brave, new, weird world of journalism and content writing. I suspect a lot things are being written by A.I., but good grief, at least do a cursory scan of the finished product!
Supposedly, the competition is fierce in the content writing world. I’m still figuring out how to get my foot into the door without paying some “service” to send me leads (the advice I’m getting is that I have to do a lot, and I mean a lot, of “cold calling/e-mailing”) but if the competition is so fierce why is the output quality so poor? Cream is supposed to rise to the top, right? It appears there is some level of apathy out there, but that’s just my theory.
I get top pay for my transcription skills, but I’ve had to earn it. I have over 30 years experience with lots of different types of transcription. It’s still not easy to get references as people tend to want to go to the cheap online sources, but excellent work has gotten me work from some high-profile clients. Once they see the high-quality of what I do they are recurring customers.
Right now, I have more questions than answers. I feel I have a lot to offer to the writing world given the state of it, so I’ll just keep plugging away at it.
The Scribe's Pen 