1. How else are you going to learn what kind of writer you are?
2. You’re more likely to succeed if you have a long-time loyal audience backing you up. Give them free things!
3. Sometimes you “volunteer” for fun writing things because they’re fun! And that’s OK!
4. As much as we joke about it, you really DO need the exposure.
5. It’s also a chance to try new styles/genres and solidify what you do/don’t love writing about.
6. Publishing credits still look good on a resume/CV regardless of whether or not you got paid for them.
7. If you’re not consistently updating your portfolio (collection of writing samples), are you really a writer?
8. The more people in the industry you know/have past experience working with, the better.
9. A lot of the writing you’ll do in your life will be “for practice.” Practice makes better!
10. Money matters, but it shouldn’t be the ONLY reason you write.
11. There’s value in sharing your work even if you don’t get compensated for it.
12. As long as people realize what your words are worth and actually pay you for things eventually, you’re OK. Right?
Meg is the creator of Novelty Revisions, dedicated to helping writers put their ideas into words. She is a staff writer with The Cheat Sheet, a freelance editor and writer, and a 10-time NaNoWriMo winner. Follow Meg on Twitter for tweets about writing, food and nerdy things.
Meg Dowell Writes 
Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio and commented:
Check out this helpful post from the Novelty Revisions blog with 12 Reasons Writing for Free Isn’t As Terrible As It Seems