Background Research

 Background Research

• National Careers Service says that I "may be able to publish and sell [my] work without formal training or qualifications, if [I'm] exceptionally talented and have taught [myself]". It also mentions potentially getting the help of a "literary agent" for this purpose, which is something I hadn't considered (although this is talking about normal writing rather than commission based writing).
• The NCS also mentions that it'll involve "choosing a subject based on personal interest, or at the request of an agent or publisher". This is relevant to my case as I'll be doing a lot of my writing based on the requests of my clients. It also mentions below this submitting drafts and obtaining feedback, which is something I could consider for my business - sending WIP versions of the story to my client in order to get their feedback on how its going, so that I can get a good idea of how the writing is progressing.
• According to a website called Hardie Grant Media, an editor commissioning a writer goes as follows: "the editor will send them a detailed brief [...] including what the story is, an up-to-date style guide and tone of voice document for that publication, article world length, whether it's for print or online, who the audience is...". This still applies to me despite me not operating as a proper freelance writer at the minute. My 'editors' will be my clients, who I can ask to send me a similar list of things for their stories. I can probably just ask for a plot concept, ideas for who the characters are and what they're envisioning for the genre of the story.
• Something else mentioned on Hardie Grant Media is the research behind writing, and how I could read or listen to existing material to get inspiration and to avoid "rehashing existing ideas". This could help especially for my business, as I could ask my clients if they had any inspiration in mind for their story. If given inspiration, I could read the material they informed me of and get an idea of what they're looking for.
• Looking into some potential contacts, there aren't any freelance writers in the nearby area. Therefore, I had to look elsewhere for potential people to contact:
• There's a photography company called Stephen Gostick Photography, who operates a similar business strategy to me (freelance commissions), albeit with photography instead of writing. He could be a good person to talk to regarding my business plan.
• There's another photography company nearby called MD Droneography, who do a similar thing as well. They're a lot more in-depth on their website than Gostick, but still seem to be primarily based around freelance drone photography for a variety of services. They could be good to contact too.
• The National Centre for Writing should still provide good contacts for me, as they have a number of different resources at hand and understand how to get new writers out of the door.