What are the best sites for writing?

United States
February 9, 2007 12:30am CST
What online sites do you use for writing? I use Associated Content and Gather, one pays in PayPal and Gather pays in gift cards. I just discovered Helium and am looking for other writing sites. Also I'd be curious to hear how you decide on your stories and how you research them. Good luck to all the freelance writers out there!
8 people like this
13 responses
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
16 Feb 07
I too do gather and I love it. There are some great writers on there. I have never heard of Helium. Is it any good? Do they pay good? I love to write. I am enjoying mylot. I find that many discussions are not well written though.
3 people like this
• United States
16 Feb 07
I agree with you. I think that Gather is definitely a notch above MyLot in terms of quality of writing, but I have found MyLot to be useful when I want to ask a question. There are a lot of folks on Gather that just post, post, post and never read anyone else's writing...not to mention sending a bunch of emails to you to read their stuff. I like Gather for the political discussions, however, and there are some great poets over there, too. I've been reading some of the contest entries for the publishing contest (first chapters) at Gather, and some have been pretty good.
1 person likes this
• United States
16 Feb 07
Sorry, as for your questions. I just joined Helium and haven't done anything over there yet. I think that payment is more like MyLot.
1 person likes this
@yogesh66 (1117)
• India
10 Feb 07
have some but i don't know if you like them http://www.writers-editors.com/writers/c... http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/w... http://www.poetry.com/contest/contest.as... http://www.freelancewriting.com/content/... for the free lance website, pick one.
2 people like this
• United States
10 Feb 07
Just so you know, only the last link works: freelancewriting.com.
1 person likes this
@GuateMom (1411)
• Canada
9 Apr 07
You can make the links work by simply deleting anything after the main website. So delete anything after .com and you will get to the main page of the website. Thanks for the links Yogesh!
2 people like this
@SageMother (2277)
• United States
9 Feb 07
Associated Content and Constant Content are probably the best two sites for those who write, for at least part of their living, online. I alter my writing to fit each situation that I am publishing in. Since Helium doesn't pay up front and pays so low, I do not put forth all my energy there. I might take a concept and do the first pass through there and submit it. Then I will work the concept more and submit the new article to Associated Content. I save the most detailed and tightest articles for Constant Content because their requirements are the most "intense", but I rarely post anything to Constant Content. In fact, I have had articles approved through them, and then pulled the article to submit to AC, because I know what the pay out will be and it will be sooner. I avoid things that don't pay money like the plague. When the phone company and the gas company take gift certificates as payment, then I will too. If I am going to put forth effort then it has to result in money. After all, I enjoy writing but it is form of income, not personal entertainment.
• United States
10 Feb 07
I know what you are saying about the gift cards. I guess that I use Gather as my testing ground or when something gets rejected by Associated Content. I can't complain about Gather because I won a $50 giftcard for Borders from them for my New Year's Resolution contest, and I spend a lot of money at the bookstore! I just found Constant Content this week, and I am hoping that this is a good find for me. Thanks for your advice.
1 person likes this
• United States
10 Feb 07
I have been debating about AC and Helium because I'm not sure if I would like doing that. I do write rather avidly on Gather, though today I was very quiet. Maybe I'll go write a little something something.
2 people like this
• United States
10 Feb 07
If nothing else, all these sites are good practice. The more you write, the better writer you become. Also I think it becomes less stressful (at least for me). If I've gone a long time without writing, I begin questioning everything I want to say. Good luck.
1 person likes this
• United States
10 Feb 07
I'm kinda new to this kind of thing so I was just wondering what the urls for associated content and gather were? Are they just the obvious, associatedcontent.com or not? Sorry if my question sounds stupid I just wanted to make sure I went to the right website.
2 people like this
• United States
10 Feb 07
They are both .com. They are good sites, you should check them out.
1 person likes this
@Hart57 (359)
• United States
9 Apr 07
Here are two additional sites you might find interesting: reviewstream.com and daytipper.com. You can submit reviews on anything you like with the former; the latter accepts helpful tips on a wide range of topics. Good luck!
@GuateMom (1411)
• Canada
9 Apr 07
I would be very careful of those two websites. Here is a link to possible scam info on Review Stream: http://paidopps.blogspot.com/2006/12/when-reviewstream-gives-you-lemonsmake.html Also, Daytipper has been receiving a LOT of critisicm for not paying. It seems they are in over their heads and have accepted too many tips. I personally have nearly $100 of tips there and not one has been published in 3 months, so I donĀ“t think it is a very good place to try and write. Constant Content and Associated Content are both good, though.
2 people like this
@miryam (6505)
• Italy
15 Apr 07
I write on Ciao.it, Italian, satisfied like Mylot, I make friends us, it is pretty, and he is in Italian. Lately the web it has a few of gaps, I hope is one fleeting what, pretty and a lot used.
1 person likes this
@Shaun72 (15959)
• Palatka, Florida
15 Apr 07
I have never heard of Helium. I am also in gather myself and associated content.
1 person likes this
• United States
15 Apr 07
I have been writing for Helium since I first posted this, but have not met payout yet ($25). This is a good time to get in because there is a writing contest going on and you can win extra money. It's a slower process making money (more like MyLot than Associated Content) but the writing is a bit easier than AC. Good luck.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
15 Apr 07
there are a few I go to...none pay but you have the chance to have your work critique by fellow writers http://www.editred.com http://www.writing.com http://www.zoetrope.com The last one is the website connected with none other than Francis Ford Coppula--and not only can you get involved with writing, but screenplays, costume design, photography...and lots more
1 person likes this
• United States
15 Apr 07
Thanks for the suggestions. I've seen a "Zoetrope" literary magazine at the bookstore before. Not sure if it's still in print because that was a way back, but thanks for recommending the website.
• Australia
3 May 07
Hello anythngart I try to write in Helium, but i didn't get my first sen. Poor me, i didn't know how they can pay me just for write in there, did I need to write a lot of topic on there?
1 person likes this
@Swtrose (3385)
• Canada
27 Apr 07
I'm guessing that you are looking for sites that pay writers? The classified section of my website http://www.todays-woman.net has some writing listings. You might also try http://www.constant-content.com/
@mayblaiz (31)
• Canada
17 Apr 07
This is certainly an interesting discussion page. It appears that the responses are focused on making money writing and wow, I never realized that I could get paid just for participating and offering responses. I just joined myLot and I don't think that I will join any others for the sake of time. However, it seems like there are other sites that offer payment at a faster rate than myLot but have not figured out (from responses) which ones... For me, as a beginning freelance writer looking to make income by finding publications to pay for my hard earned research and writing, I think that looking for potential and established publications would be my focus. For suggestions on doing this, I find that the best writing sites include: www.worldwidefreelance.com www.writersmarket.com www.writersdigest.com www.freelancewrite.about.com
• United States
17 Apr 07
Thanks for all your suggestions. I really appreciate it and will do some investigating.
• Philippines
3 May 07
There's this site called Write4Pesos.com, they pay in euros, I forgot how. I joined a long time ago but I guess I was stagnant for a long time so they kicked me out. They give you topics to research on and after you write 100 articles, (each article is 300-500 words), you get paid 15000 pesos, that's equivalent to $300+ USD.
1 person likes this
• United States
3 May 07
Wow, that's really a NEW one. Never even heard of it. Thanks for bringing it to my (and all the other writers') attention.