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Freelance writing is a great way to make a living if you love to write. You get to spend all day putting words together, and if you’re good, you get paid for it. For word lovers, what’s not to love?
There’s more to freelance writing than words, though. A lot has already been written about the business of being a freelance writer. However, equally important to a writer’s success is the ethics of freelance writing.
Ethical Concerns of Writers
While it’s rarely discussed, freelance writers face a lot of ethical challenges every day. How the deal with these challenges not only determines a freelance writer’s character, but also their future. You see, I’m convinced that a freelance writer who doesn’t adhere to high ethical standards in their writing will ultimately fail.
Here are some of the main ethical issues for freelancers writers:
- Plagiarism–Copying someone else’s work is a huge no-no for a writer. You would think that this would be obvious, but sadly there are many websites that publish other people’s (stolen) work every single day.
- Honesty–Presenting information that is true and correct is another hallmark of an ethical freelance writer. While an editor may catch some misinformation, ultimately it is up to the freelance writer to ensure that their facts are valid.
- Reliability–Doing what you say you’ll do may be a good business practice. It’s also an ethical issue that speaks to the very core of a writer’s character. If a writer can’t deliver as promised, can they be trusted on other fronts?
- Integrity–Sadly, the publication of slanted reviews and biased reviews has become so commonplace that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had to step in. Writers should always disclose relationships.
- Kindness–Time and time again, I read something online, only to scratch my head and wonder why it needed to be said at all. The only purpose seemed to be to garner “shock” traffic. This is NOT professional writing.
My belief is that bad ethics equals bad business. While freelance writers who allow some of these practices to slip into their work may seem to get ahead for a while, I believe that ultimately their writing business will suffer.
What Would You Add?
What do you think about the ethical concerns of freelance writers?
What ethical dilemmas have you faced as a freelance writer?
17 responses so far ↓
1 Vanessa // Mar 8, 2011 at
Plagarism is a tricky one. Even if someone doesn’t steal your work and republish it word for word, I have found a lot of my work (unfortunately) copied with a word here ard there changed, or a sentance reorganised to try and make it look different. That’s probably even more sad that having it plagarised in its complete form.
2 Johnathon // Dec 7, 2016 at
To me, that’s part of the deal. My comfort is that I can always write something else. All they’re left with is the one piece of work they swiped.
3 Claire Wagner // Mar 9, 2011 at
This isn’t about writing per se, and it doesn’t really relate to article writing – it’s more about business writing. One ethical issue I’ve been faced with continually over the years is “poaching” – going to work directly for another agency’s or writer’s client after they brought me in on a project. Usually a client has wanted to poach me and I’ve had to refuse unless I got express permission from the agency or writer, and/or they took a referral fee or managed me. I assume that somewhere in your archives you have a post about this. Thanks for these other great reminders.
4 Laura Spencer // Mar 10, 2011 at
Hi Vanessa, The biggest (and most obvious) problem I have is with people who republish my material verbatim without permission. Of course, I’m sure that the other situation occurs also.
Claire–Great additional ethical concern! I haven’t had to deal with it much myself since I mostly deal directly with end clients. The few times when I’ve worked under agency-like conditions the end client did not have access to me. I can see where this could be a problem. It’s one reason why contracts are so important.
5 rashmispirituality // Jul 25, 2016 at
Hi Laura I have written a book about self help interwoven with spirituality and have added real life anecdotes to explain some concepts. These stories I have picked up from people around me. Although I have distorted these stories and haven’t put any names but one of those people called me and asked whether the story was hers? What do I do? SO many such examples in my book – I am fearing, that I might land up hurting a lot of people. I know i should have thought about it before writing the book, and I did, but at that time it did not come across as a major problem. Is it ethically wrong to write about people even if the story has been modified? Please help
6 Laura Spencer // Jul 26, 2016 at
Hi rashmispirituality,
Wow! What a situation to be in.
I really can’t give you any legal advice, but if you are facing a lawsuit you may wish to consult with an attorney. Also, check with your insurance agent to see if your business liability insurance will cover legal costs.
Personally, I don’t vent or otherwise write negatively about other people in my writing. I think that often backfires.
Good luck with your situation.
7 rashmispirituality // Sep 12, 2016 at
thanks so much for your advice
8 Debra Stang // Mar 12, 2011 at
One ethical issue that I’ve had to deal with a few times is dealing with clients who want me to write or edit work that goes against my personal values. I now have a statement on all of my writing and editing agreements, “Debra does not work on projects that promote or incite racism, homophobia, child abuse, violence, or any other type of criminal activity.”
9 Laura Spencer // Mar 13, 2011 at
Debra,
That’s an issue that I’ve only had to face one time (I turned the project down)–but I see your point. I think it’s more likely to happen to writers who ghostwrite for individuals. The best way to deal with it is to know in advance what you will and will not do.
10 Oliver Lawrence // Mar 17, 2011 at
I think there are two sides to the ethical coin. One is about preserving your own long-term reputation by steering clear of any dubious or nefarious practices (which is in your interest as one of your marketing tools, if nothing else); the other side is the purely person question of “I don’t want to get involved with that” as a matter of principle or taste. And of course, whatever the job, if you don’t like it you can always decline.
11 Laura Spencer // Mar 17, 2011 at
Great point Oliver!
Having good ethics is definitely part of your online reputation and helps build good will for your business. As you point out, though, there is a ‘taste’ element as well. This is likely to vary from writer to writer…
One of the things I like most about freelancing is being able to say ‘no.’
12 Five from the WritingThoughts Archives : WritingThoughts // Dec 28, 2011 at
[…] The Freelance Writers Code of Ethics–Good ethics is vital to successful freelancing. Here are some ethical concerns of particular interest to freelance writers. […]
13 Do Freelance Marketers Need a Code of Ethics? | DOZ // May 22, 2015 at
[…] Laura Spencer at Writing Thoughts wrote on the ethics of freelance writing, and suggested a code of ethics that covered the following areas: […]
14 Rhonda Robinson // Oct 4, 2015 at
I have had people take my writing and change a few words then call it there own.
15 Laura Spencer // Oct 5, 2015 at
Welcome Rhonda,
This has happened to me too.
You’re probably talking about content scrapers. I think every writer has had to deal with them at one time or another.
The good news is that the content scraper sites seem to get shut down fairly quickly.
16 The Ethical Freelance Writer // Oct 18, 2016 at
[…] https://www.writingthoughts.com/the-freelance-writers-code-of-ethics/ […]
17 Johnathon // Dec 7, 2016 at
As a freelance ghostwriter of five years standing, let me assure you that you pretty much nailed the major ethical concerns. If anything, what I do, which requires that I exchange any and all credit for the majority of my work for an immediate payday, requires that I follow all the standards listed above even more rigorously. Do this work right and you can make an actual living at it. But you have to better than your average troll commentator to last in this business.