Interview With A Writer: Sharon Hurley Hall

June 01, 2011

Every week, we get thousands of people reading the information that’s published here on GetPaidToWriteOnline.com.

Before I started writing here, I used to visit regularly and take in everything that both Sharon and Dana said.

Over the last few few months, I’ve been getting to know Sharon a bit better and I recently had a chat with her about a range of different topics.

I realised that if I was interested about Sharon’s life and career, most of you would be, too and so today you can read through the interview I had with Sharon.

Feel free to ask any questions that I haven’t covered or which you’d like elaborating on.

I’m contemplating the idea of running this as a feature, so if you’ve got any writer in mind that you’d like me to interview, let me know and I’ll try and have a chat with them, asking them any specific questions that you’ve got.

Dan Smith: We all know you here at GetPaidToWriteOnline.com as a freelance writer and blogger — how about telling us a little about your personal life away from work?

Sharon Hurley Hall: Personal life? What personal life? Seriously, I’ve been happily married to my soulmate for nearly 11 years and we have a beautiful 8 year old daughter. I’ve lived in different parts of the world, most recently the UK and, for the last five years, the Caribbean.

DS: And a little something that not many people know?

SHH: I don’t have any unusual hobbies, but the things I enjoy doing most in my spare time are reading (I’m a book junkie), playing Scrabble (I recently managed 3 seven letter words in a single game — nirvana) and going to pub quizzes (they appeal to the trivia hound in me).

DS: As we said, most people will know you as a blogger, freelance writer and owner of GPTWO. Is GPTWO your primary project? Do you work on another aspect of your business more?

SHH: I often describe GPTWO as my baby, though at 6 years old, my baby is growing up. :) GPTWO isn’t my main business, though it does bring in some income; it’s more a labour of love. I started it to help other freelance writers and six years on it’s still going, with a little help from you, Dana and friends. I spend most of my time doing client work and I also have a couple of pet projects which I’m hoping to do something with over the next 6–12 months.

DS: GPTWO is obviously a successful freelance writing blog. Are you happy with its success?

SHH: Very happy. When I started blogging, I had no idea it would resonate with so many people and I’m pleased that it’s still doing so.

DS: Have you got any specific plans for GPTWO?

SHH: I’d hesitate to call them plans at this point, but I’d like to include occasional audio and video on the site and I have a couple of ideas for more information products aimed mostly at new writers. As a former journalism lecturer and a working writer for (ahem) 20+ years, I feel I have a few insights to offer into the writing business and I’d like to share them.

DS: Tell us a little about your other freelance writing projects.

SHH: How long have you got? I took to blogging the minute I started and contribute regularly to other blogs. One of my biggest client projects is running the Taking Off Travel Blog for Park Ride Fly USA, but my freelance writing resume is littered with stints at sites including Daily Writing Tips, Blogging Tips, Quips and Tips for Writers and many others. I’ve also ghostwritten thousands of articles and dozens of ebooks on subjects ranging from consumer finance to business development. I love learning new things, so I’m almost always interested in a new topic. Oh, and recently I added another string to my bow by learning to write resumes (something I’ve done for friends and family for years, but it’s nice to have it bring in a few pennies.)

DS: Any interesting / nightmare freelance writing stories?

SHH: In six years, I’ve only had a problem getting paid twice. In the first case, it turned out that my client, who’d previously had an exemplary payment record, became an addict and disappeared off the horizon, taking my last two months’ payment with him. The other was a client who passed on her cash flow problems to me — she’d previously paid up on time, so I had no idea that things were about to go wrong. All things considered, I’ve been very lucky, though, and my usual payment terms generally prevent that from happening with new clients.

It’s hard to pick out any particularly interesting story. I’m fascinated by the writing business and learning new things so I find it all interesting. One of the most challenging ghostwriting jobs I did was a book based on management theory. It was meant to make it readable and interesting and I had to conjure the book up out of thin air (and a 1 page outline). I felt a real sense of accomplishment when that was done.

DS: How long have you been a freelance writer? Have you always been a freelance writer / involved in writing? If not, how did you get into it?

SHH: I’ve been involved in writing ever since I left university. My first job was as an assistant editor/reporter which I got because the company needed someone who could also speak and write fluent French and Spanish (those were the days). Since then I’ve been involved in the writing profession in different roles — as a journalist, feature writer and editor, working for a range of organisations and publications. Freelancing is relatively recent — although I submitted a couple of freelance pieces when I was employed, I’ve only been a full time freelancer for 6 years.

DS: Have you always wanted to be a freelance writer?

SHH: Actually, no. As a child and teenager I enjoyed building things and planning houses, so you would have thought architecture would have been a good profession. Sadly, my artistic skills are minimal, so that was a no-go. At the end of high school, I thought seriously about a lucrative and fulfilling career as a French interpreter and translator, but life had other plans, and once I started writing professionally, I fell in love with it. I’ve always written, though — I have the journals, poems and half finished novels which most writers have.

DS: One of the major downfalls for any freelancer is that the work — and therefore payment — can be sporadic. How do you deal with this?

SHH: I have been very lucky, experiencing very few troughs. However, I think it’s essential to plan ahead. That means looking for work before you run out, following up with old clients every so often to remind them that you exist and being alert to new opportunities.

DS: Have you ever wanted to leave the freelance writing career behind and get a full time, office job?

SHH: Never. Freelancing allows me flexibility that an office job never would. I worked in offices for a long time and I’m not planning to go back.

DS: Would you say that you’ve had a successful freelance writing career to date?

SHH: Pretty successful: it’s varied and brings in enough to live on. Of course, there’s always room for improvement — while I don’t need to have a four hour work week, I’d like to spend less time sitting at my desk, working smarter rather than harder. I’m always looking for ways to become more efficient.

DS: What are your plans for the future?

SHH: In the medium term I’d like to rejig my writing business so that I write for clients 40% of the time, and divide the other 60% between my own writing projects and creating time to think and to enjoy life. I’ll never stop writing, but I want to use those skills in the short term to create more useful information products similar to the blogging ebook I wrote.

DS: The premise behind GPTWO is obviously to help people get paid for their writing. Do you feel it’s more difficult or easier now to get paid to write than it was when you first started?

SHH: Hmm, that’s a tough question. There are more and more opportunities for online writers, but not all of these pay the rate you’d want. The other day I applied for a writing gig, only to find that it paid a princely $5 for a 500 word article. If that pay rate had been in the ad, I wouldn’t have bothered. At the other end of the scale, when you work for people who recognize the value of good writing, there’s no difficulty in finding high paying gigs. For most writers, I suspect there’s a combination of high and medium paid gigs.

DS: For anyone who has read GPTWO, they’ll be aware that I’ve said time and time again how friendly the freelance writing community is. Have you made any friends over the years?

SHH: Lots of them. There are too many to name them all, but here are a few. There’s a strong group of blogging buddies — we all started blogging at around the same time in 2005 — they include Dana Prince, Mitchell Allen and Rebecca Leaman, among others, as well as Malcolm Campbell, Shelly Bryant and Ralph (aka Pinhole). Suzanne James of Inspired Author was also part of the site and was a big help in teaching me about SEO. Then there are the people I read online, most of them writers, including James Chartrand, Jenn Mattern, Cathy Miller, Laura Spencer and my GPTWO writing community, which includes you, of course. The freelancing community is fantastic and I really enjoy interacting with my Twitter, Facebook and blogging friends every week.

DS: When it comes to freelance writing, do you have any specialities?

SHH: I’m more of a master of all trades and jack of none. :) I can write about aspects of writing (building skills, running a business), that almost goes without saying. For a long time I specialized in writing about consumer finance, thanks to a long ago stint with the Financial Times. I am pretty good at testing and reviewing web tools because of my thinly disguised geekery and I’ve done that for 5 or 6 blogs at different times. But I have also written about all sorts of things including fire safety, real estate and property, travel, self publishing, learning languages, the English language, online promotion, parenting, lifestyle design and much more. You name it, I probably know a bit of trivia about it. :)

DS: How about an area you haven’t tackled yet but want to?

SHH: Since I’m primarily a writer, the area that I’d like to do more with is audio and video versions of (or additions to) the posts, articles and ebooks that I write). I’ve had lots of good advice, but haven’t acted on it. I’m determined to get over that mental block within the next year.

DS: You’re an advocate of the Location Independent strategy — could you tell us a little bit more about this?

SHH: For me location independence is partly a state of mind. It’s about recognizing that you can make your life and work from anywhere. For others, it’s about constantly being on the move, which wouldn’t really work for me. I like to have a base, with the freedom to travel.

DS: So you like travelling? Tell us about some of the places you’ve lived in / travelled to.

SHH: I’ve lived mostly in the UK and different parts of the Caribbean but have travelled in Europe (France, Spain, Germany and the Canaries), South America (Venezuela and Mexico), North America (New York, New Jersey, Florida, Chicago). I’ve been to Bahrain and have also been to Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, Grenada, Carriacou, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Montserrat and Antigua. Not all of those in the last few years, of course.

DS: Have you ever / do you want to tie your travelling into your writing?

SHH: Since I run a travel blog for a client (which I’ve been doing since 2008), I’m able to blog about some of my trips there. I also contribute occasionally to other travel blogs and I share a travel blog with my husband, which I update occasionally. I’d like to do more travel writing.

DS: That golden, if not a little clichéd, question — have you got any words of wisdom for aspiring freelance writers?

SHH: Freelancing isn’t always easy, but it’s interesting and rewarding. You’ve got to be ready to put in the groundwork and accept a few lean months before success arrives.

DS: Interviews always finish with something interesting, funny or profound — have you got anything along those lines?!

SHH: I’ve got nothing profound myself, but how about this quote from Mark Twain: The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to say.