I Refuse Requests Like These

I post articles like this from time to time because I hope that things might change for the better, even if just a little. It's part of my policy, and I hope it serves as a small wake-up call.

Writing Services

This was a hot topic for a while, wasn't it? The idea that ghostwriting for summer vacation book reports or themed essays was becoming popular. I haven't heard or seen anything about it in the news this summer, but I still see it occasionally on X or Coconala. It makes me feel disappointed, thinking, 'It still exists...'

I think it's because I have 'writer' and 'writing tutor' in my profile, but for some reason, I get these requests. They probably search for things like 'writer_essay_editing.' Most of them come through X DMs.

I'm sorry.
I provide guidance, but I do not do the writing for you.

That's the kind of reply I send. Also, for some reason, I get a lot of inquiries from people trying to make money by ghostwriting. They ask about market rates. I have no idea. They ask for tips on how to write well. I know how, but why on earth would I teach them?

Honestly, everyone, you're asking the wrong person. Machika-sensei hates that kind of thing. If you have the desire to write, I will support you and help you until you can do it yourself, but getting only the finished product with money won't do you any good (to the buyers). And for those providing the service, how can you cut corners like that? Trying to make easy money is naive (to the sellers). I don't say it that kindly, though.

Editing and ghostwriting are completely different things—!!!!!

That's about all I tell them. I don't know anything else. Even so, it has decreased significantly compared to a while ago. When the issue of essay ghostwriting was being covered in the news, I used to get several DMs a day, and it made my head spin. But even though that trend seems to have settled down, nothing has actually been solved; it's just shifting from 'I don't have to go out of my way to hire someone, I can just copy and paste' to 'I can just have AI write it and be done with it.'

It might seem like the height of inefficiency, but writing is also thinking. The time you spend facing your writing paper or PC wondering how to write something is not a waste at all. In other words, writing might also be about living better.

Time that seems like a waste at first glance. Accepting that such time exists is very important. It also leads to accepting yourself.

Let's all be kinder to ourselves.

1 Yen per Character

From here on, it's about the work of a writer.

In cloud-based ordering systems, it seems that the price per character is still the standard. I personally have never chosen work based on the price per character, though... This is another topic that makes me feel like I'm going to explode with all sorts of thoughts.

18 years ago, when Machika-sensei started working as a writer, the situation was even worse. It was back when the term 'web writer' wasn't even used yet. There were rows of dirt-cheap jobs on cloud-based sites like Lancers and CrowdWorks.

100 yen per article (500–1000 characters).

Most of them were ghostwriting for blog posts. The content was just specified keywords for each article, with no instructions on 'what the article is supposed to say,' and of course, no feedback—they just wanted quantity. That was all there was. It wasn't just individuals; businesses were mixed in there too.

That's why they were mocked as '100-yen writers' back then. You're a 100-yen writer because you accept work for 100 yen per article. Like a disposable 100-yen lighter.

I wonder if this is a common experience, but I used to get inquiries via social media even though I hadn't applied for anything. Maybe it was because I was a beginner at the time and marketed myself as a 'mom writer,' but people would say things like, 'Why don't you earn some pocket money while your kids are napping?' They really look down on you, don't they?

I want to use my precious nap time to catch up on housework or just take a breather. I'm the type who prefers to properly secure separate time for writing. Besides, I'd think to myself, 'What I want to do is work, not earn pocket money!' I can't tell you how many times I thought that.

As an aside, a few years later, I worked on the side of directing a team of writers for requests from a cloud-based site. By then, the pay for web writing had improved significantly. I think this is also when the title 'web writer' started being used.

I tried my best to convey that we should set compensation that writers would want to continue working for. I felt I had a lot to say not just to the clients, but to the writers accepting the work as well. Don't casually call editing or directing work 'middleman skimming.' Don't you just not know how hard it is?

I just wish both sides would improve their awareness. Well, I don't really see 100-yen articles anymore, but it seems there are still plenty of projects that pay 1 yen per character.

I even hear from fellow professionals, 'I wonder if there's a writer who will write a lot for 1 yen per character since the writing doesn't have to be that good.' What does it say about the writing profession that people think it doesn't have to be good? It leaves me feeling uneasy. I understand that considering the time and cost of revisions, it might not be profitable at any other price point. It might be a razor-thin margin.

Recently, people say that AI will make writing jobs disappear, but if that's the kind of work that would disappear because of it, I think it might be better for both sides if it just went away.

I don't accept jobs based on per-character rates. Personally, I think it would be better if AI handled writing that anyone could do, and writers could focus on manuscripts that only they can write.

Clickbait news

This is a post I made on X. This is everything I have to say.

I don't intend to condemn all web media, but when the system relies on advertising revenue, it tends to spiral in strange directions just to earn impressions. I hate that.

I understand that there are various ways to look at it, such as that it's provided because there are readers, or that it's just the business model and it's too late to change. I also know that I can't do anything about it on my own.

So, when I think about what I can do, I realize the only choice is to not accept such work. To keep refusing. I have to keep making those choices.

Also, as a writing project, what I find quite tough in terms of conditions is the emphasis on speed. The flow of uploading the same day a topic comes in. It might be possible if you're doing it as one of your assigned tasks during working hours as an employee, but... I found it a bit difficult to have my working hours restricted when I'm a freelancer. It's exhausting.

If you understand why 'clickbait articles' and 'bashing articles' are so rampant from the perspective of mass psychology, you'll be able to distance yourself from them.

Summary

It's not really content that needs summarizing, but it was a story about how I decline requests for writing services, per-character rate jobs, and clickbait news.