Sooner or later, every writer faces the question: should I write for free? There are pros who feel you should never give your writing away because it devalues the field. Others feel it marks you as a desperate amateur. Still others feel it may be a viable way for new writers to promote themselves and get those first clips when they are getting started. Many writers fall somewhere in between. They want their work to be seen, their ideas communicated to an audience, and they'd like to get paid.

There is a place for writing for free, and a time when you should not. What you need to do is estimate what non-monetary value you will get out of the experience. Will it help you hone your skills, make contacts, lay groundwork for future opportunities, and/or just plain accomplish something that you think is important? Consider the following:

DO:

Writing that helps you reach and grab specific audiences. You might find that writing editorials or letters to the editor for specific publications will help your name start to circulate in an area of interest. Or, you might provide brief sidebar material to another author's article, but your byline will help cement a clip and presence. Perhaps there is an advisory website that takes short articles in a subject you'd like to teach, and you can start building a reputation with two or three contributions.

Writing that helps you hone specific skills or subjects. Are you interested in travel writing but don't have much travel experience (yet)? You could do a short article or two on local attractions for a non-paying publication (or your newspaper) to get the form down. You would also have clips ready when you query other publications about assignments for your upcoming trip to Spain.

Writing that benefits a favorite organization. Perhaps you love animals and volunteer at a local shelter. The shelter might have a non-paying newsletter that lists upcoming fundraisers and features about successful adoptions. Your writing talent could help your shelter by making the newsletter readers (and hopefully shelter contributors) sit up and take notice of specific needs or fundraisers.

Writing that supports a cause you believe in. You might not actively volunteer somewhere, but do you have a friend or relative with ALS, diabetes, or some other health issue? While you research paying markets for doing research and trade articles, you might come across an opportunity to share your insights in an editorial or local publication that might not pay cash. That, in turn, can help you gain publication credit in the field you are researching.

Writing that boosts your job performance. You may specialize in novels, but know a non-paying opportunity that would illustrate your skills in your immediate corporate career. For instance, you could write copy for the in-house newsletter, submit an important tip to a trade journal, or add a section to the annual report. Add these credits to your performance evaluation and your paycheck may benefit.

Writing that's just for plain old fun. Do you freelance at nonfiction but love to read (and want to write) mysteries? You might consider submitting your 'messing around' locked-room mystery to low or no-fee contests. Or perhaps you'd really like to do a funny recap of a local event, with photos, and see if the Chamber of Commerce or a local magazine would print it.

DON'T DO:

Writing simply to get your name in print. The point of solid writing is to communicate something specific, whether it's an issue (like fundraising), an emotion (like a short-story romance) or a need (like a how-to article). If you write and submit blindly in the hopes of getting published just for the sake of being published, you are doing yourself and your craft a disservice. Unfortunately, there are always publications that will publish anything if they don't have to pay, so you don't even know if you have submitted quality work.

Writing that's solely out of allegiance. For instance, maybe you started publishing with 2-3 magazines that didn't pay but which gave you starter adequate clips. Now the editors keep hitting you up to submit more free work when you are pretty busy with paying assignments. Do what you wish, but don't fall into the trap of believing you must. Publishing and writing is a business, and these editors do realize you need to put your paying commitments first.

Writing that's "on spec" in hopes of getting future assignments. Freelancers run into this - "do a taster for me and maybe I'll throw business your way." Not a good reason to submit. When you encounter cases like this, you should rely on clips from existing sales and publications to speak for you. If a prospective employer wants you to write for free to prove you can, steer clear.

Writing for free markets because you're unsure if you are "good" enough for paying ones. This is a really big one for new and developing writers. Only you can decide if you want to go this route, and there's really no right or wrong here - only know what you want to accomplish and do what is necessary. There are a number of fine small press magazines for science fiction, for instance, that can enhance your reputation as you hone your skills and aim for the mass-market magazines. However, if you start by submitting at the top, and keep submitting rejected work until all you have are non-paying pubs left, you need to pause before submitting to freebies to consider if you have really tightened your prose as much as you can or if you have really aimed for the right market. If you choose to publish in a prestigious non-paying market, like a literary magazine, but you do so because of the prestige and because you are satisfied with your work, great! If you submit out of desperation, not great.

A good rule of thumb is to use free writing only when it benefits you - to develop a specific a skill, make a contact, build a specific audience, support something you think is crucial, or simply because you have time to play with a subject you love. Make sure it doesn't take much time out of your writing day or eclipse your existing assignments or paying opportunities. Don't use it to avoid an assignment or a more rigid set of quality constraints that come with high-paying markets. And finally, don't waste your time on publications that don't further you, your craft, or which you don't support. Good luck!

L.J. Bothell is a graphic designer/writer with marketing communications emphasis who lives and temps/freelances in Seattle, Washington. Questions? Contact ljbwrite (at) att.net.