The Difference Between Freelancing as a Writer Vs. as a Developer
I’ve tried both. Here’s what I learned.
The difference between writing and web development? Probably a lot right?
I’ve worked as a freelancer selling both skills and I have to say that there is indeed a large difference between the two.
If you’re facing a fork in the road between these two paths, or are interested in learning more about what it’s like to work as a freelance writer or web developer, I’ve done both for years and will share my experiences in this post.
The main difference, between the actual work, I think is the amount of freedom you truly have. When I envisioned myself as a freelancer, freedom was my main goal. With writing, I have largely achieved that goal, with web development, it was a struggle.
Here is what I’ve learned in working as a freelance writer and a web developer.
The clients
Who needs to buy writing?
Businesses that are generating revenue and need more marketing material.
Who needs to buy app development?
Any Joe Shmoe with an idea.
The difference is huge.
One has a budget, an existing business, goals, employees, and a clear picture of what they’re looking for.
The other, is usually paying out of their own pocket, is enamored with the idea of startup founders, and has no idea what they want other than a vague idea.
Of course, not every app development client is like this, but from my years of experience looking for work as a developer, vetting, and finding clients is the worst part of the job.
There will be more professional agency types that look to hire a freelance developer but even they can be a headache. Why? Because they’re often price shopping.
They’ll get you on a phone call just to ask for your price and then talk to 15 other developers to get their price.
Why is this? Because developers are a dime a dozen, and there are tons out there looking for freelance work. Agencies and clients have their choice of many developers to choose from, and the price is a huge factor in deciding who they go with.
Compared to my experience as a writer, when a client talks to me, they’re straight to business and aren’t price shopping. They have a budget, and a goal (800-word article, ebook, whatever), and just want to start because they have other things to do.
How often do marketing managers offer equity in their nonexistent business for an ebook? This happens all the time when talking to coding clients, and it’s annoying every time.
I think niching into a more specific skill offering is a large part of this.
When I was a web developer, my offering was React.js and Node.js coding. Tons of people offer this so clients have tons of options.
As a writer, my areas of expertise were in Dota 2 esports and technical/software writing. Not many people work as a Dota 2 or software writer.
My advice: filter out awful clients from good ones by building a personal brand or specializing in something rare.
If clients see you have clout in the industry or you have the rare skill they need to hire, then you won’t have to compete against dozens of other developers who don’t stand out in the crowd.
Or you could grind out proposals and meetings until you find clients, either way works.
Client requirements
Coding is literally engineering.
Does engineering sound like something a freelancer should do? Not really, and this is one of the reasons why I don’t think development and freelancing have a harmonious relationship.
Regarding project requirements, app development has deep, multi-layered, non-trivial requirements.
Writing is much more simple and straight-forward.
“I need an 800-word article about the benefits of continuous integration for software development teams. Here’s a title. Please add this keyword in the article at least three times.”
How badly can you mess that up? You would create an outline that touches on all the points you intend to write about, get it approved, and then write the article. If something needs to be changed, it’s usually not a big deal.
Compared to app development…
“I need an app.”
“Alright, do you need a web app or a mobile app?”
“Both?”
“And what features do you need, a landing page, user authentication, admin panel? Dashboards? Analytics?”
“All of it? I want a website like Facebook for double dating.” (true story)
There’s security, there’s design, there’s production, testing, approval, code reviews, there’s tools, frameworks, libraries, and tons of more things you have to consider with every non-trivial app project.
Entire industries are devoted to just one area in the list above.
As a solo freelancer, you’re facing a daunting task when you’re solely responsible for an entire app. If your client pays you well, you’re experienced and have time, then it’s not too bad.
But you’re much more likely to run into clients who have no clue about the scope of their project, think $2000 for a Facebook-like website is expensive, and are in over their heads.
This is why I recommend freelance app developers not to work directly with clients.
Gathering requirements, project scope, and enforcing it is no trivial task.
Working with an agency with personnel dedicated to extracting requirements will save you from a ton of stress and from burning out by doing things that are very different from coding.
The work itself
What I appreciate about writing is that you’re judged on the final product.
With coding, not only are you judged on the final product but on your process of working as well.
What I mean by that is, the final piece of a writing project is self-evident.
“Here’s my 800-word article.”
The client can then read the article and ask questions that will be evidenced by the final product.
“Does the story make sense? Is the narrative right? Are the keywords used? Does this article convey the tone we’re looking for?”
The client can answer these questions just by reading the article.
How you wrote the article doesn’t matter, as long as it’s well written.
How you researched the article doesn’t matter, as long as the sources are credible and sourced.
What software you used doesn’t matter, as they’re all pretty similar and you can just copy and paste your work if anything.
All you need to do is complete the final product and your work is “done.”
But with coding, the process and final product are both up for judgment.
“Is this code efficient? Will this code be reusable? Are the files and folders following convention? Are the variable names conventional?”
How you write your code matters because other people will likely have to work with it.
The style you write your code in matters because your team probably has a convention to follow.
Your knowledge and experience matter because bad code is worth less than no code.
Not only that, but the final piece of software is also to be judged as well, perhaps more harshly than the code itself.
Is this apart of the job? Yes, but I didn’t sign up to be a freelancer to be beholden to such tediousness.
The process of coding is more serious than writing. As stated earlier, it’s literally engineering. Writing is more of an art. This is why standards are stricter in coding, as it should be.
How I do my work should be up to me. Judge me on my final piece, but let me work how I wish. This is a major part of why I enjoy working as a writer more than a coder.
I don’t work well with too many constraints.
Sure, writing has its constraints as well. Grammar, headings, style, tone, narrative, cohesiveness. But compared to coding, it’s way more relaxed.
Final thoughts
Growing up, I never considered writing as a means to earn a living. No one around me was a writer or said they wanted to be one.
Engineers, doctors, lawyers, managers, teachers, and other similar jobs were what everyone talked about. None of these careers spoke to me; matter of fact, no career spoke to me.
The more jobs I worked, the more I learned that I didn’t want to work a job.
So what was left? Freelancing. I struggled hard in the beginning but never gave up because I knew working a job wasn’t an option I would be happy with.
I started out coding, but I learned the hard way that being a freelance engineer requires involvement bigger than a real job.
Then I tried out freelance writing and learned that it’s a match made in heaven.
Writing clients just need you to write something and that’s it. Yes, there will be some clients that are very involved in how you work, but that’s not unique to writing.
If you want to become a freelancer to work how you want, when you want, and be judged solely on the final piece of work you create, then consider becoming a freelance writer!
If you’re highly technical, enjoy tinkering and engineering, being apart of a team to create something bigger than yourself, then consider coding as a career!
