On Writing for Free

I've officially been a freelance writer without any full-time client for two weeks. After being fortunate enough to land some great assignments, I've found myself in a slump. Over the past few days, I've sent more than a dozen pitches to magazines I like, but none have offered me anything definite. 

So, today, I considered turning to the dark side: Elance.com.

If you aren't familiar with Elance, allow me to give you a brief synopsis: they suck. The work on the site is...demeaning. Insulting. The website throws virtual poo at me every time I look at it.

Here's an Elance job offer that was just sent to me. 

Budget: $20 - $55 

20 Page report on Atkins diet Recipes: Breakfast, Appetizers, Lunch Dinner and Dessert.
I am looking for a writer to write no less than a 20 page on the topic of Atkins diet 

Recipes: Breakfast, Appetizers, Lunch Dinner and Dessert. 

(I will supply you with samples of similar content and specific topics to cover within the report once I select you). 

PLEASE NOTE that I looking for a writer to work with LONG TERM and will need you to also write other reports in the very near future providing your work is of quality material and your price per report is reasonable. 

PLAGIARISM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED! 

All material must be original content, my staff will check and any material found to be plagiarized will be reported to the proper authorities and not paid for! 

Please keep in mind that I do require the following from you; 

By accepting this job, you agree that you you will own no rights to and that your name will appear nowhere on or within the report/biography and I will own all the rights including resell and distribution rights. 

....
Note: Please respond to this personally with an attached sample of your writing or your application will be deleted without review. 

Submit 20 pages on the Atkins diet for a little more than a buck a page to an editor who type-yells? Now that's what I call opportunity! 

Oh, and it's a ghost-writing gig so forget about adding it to your writing samples.

There are other, better, opportunities on Elance, but most come with a catch (ie, they are great assignments but don't actually pay). 

Elance lays bare the economics of the written English word, and it turns out the written English word is worth a third of a cent. Whichever assignment you apply for, you can also be assured there are twenty other applicants from India, Sri Lanka, China or Malaysia who can write for less money than you and are probably quicker, too. 

Over at Demand Media, you could work yourself to the bone (and possibly the psych ward), trying to make a living wage. 

So, I've been endlessly turning over a question in my head: when no editors are responding, why not write for free?

The stress of writing on deadline for some anonymous jerk online would inevitably make me crave a chocolate bar, a massage and some new bubble bath anyway, and that money isn't going to magically grow on the dying house plant which sits next to my computer. 

So, instead of hustling endlessly, I think it makes more sense to spend my down time (when I'm not pitching) writing for myself, $0 per word. 

I used to love writing for free. My blog was my release, and I poured everything into it. It didn't get me much of anywhere career-wise, but writing for an (albeit small) audience every day made me a more authentic person, a better risk-taker and guided me towards my true(r) writing style.  

Then I began taking myself too seriously to do it anymore, which was a stupid choice.

So, what I guess I'm trying to say is: hello, world. I'm so glad I'm not being paid to talk to you. I hope I can do it for a long, long time. I'll gladly make my own lunch.