How Important Are Morals To You As A Freelance Writer?

September 01, 2010

I like to think of myself as a pretty easy going guy. I try not to let things bother me and I always believe the glass is half full, generally no matter what the situation is.

Something has been niggling at me a little lately, though and it’s not sitting as easy with me as I’d expected.

I’ve recently found out that one of my clients has some…unsavoury press against them. It’s nothing particularly major (i.e., the board isn’t made up of hardcore KKK members), but they’ve garnered a reputation that isn’t all entirely positive.

Initially, I didn’t think anything of it. I write for them on a ghost-author basis and so although there’s a lot of different pieces of writing circulating that were created by me, none of them are linked to me in any way, shape or form.

This eased my mind for a few days, until I started thinking about my morals as a writer.

Just because I’m not linked to this company in the public eye, doesn’t mean that producing writing for them makes it right — the more work I produce, the more popular they become, the greater their reputation will be and if their history is anything to go by, the more customers they are likely to upset.

And although I may not be known as a writer who writes for them by the public, there are some writers who know I write for them. I’m sure they wouldn’t hold it against me, but I think that in some ways it might be a hindrance, such as for work referrals (this is me being at my most pessimistic now!).

Maybe I’m thinking too much into this — a gig’s a gig, right?

Plus, a lot of work I do in general is as a result of my work with them (affiliated companies, referrals, etc). If I stop writing for them, I’ll be risking losing several other regular projects.

I’m still writing for them at the moment and although I’m sat on the fence a little, I think I’m leaning towards continuing to write for them. However, I’d appreciate some comments from other writers who have been in the same — or a similar — position and what you did in the end.