Impact of Writing on Kenyans

For Kenyans, freelance writing is a lot like sales and marketing. There is the moment of negotiating a pay, like waiting to see who buys the offer at the end of the day. There are the instants of rejection, the occasional messy order cancellation, and the possibility of finding a certain employer. When the tides are right, freelance writing is real freedom. Kenyan writers consider themselves people of high-functioning skills, spending their days producing written information in coffee shops, strolling through the city with portable computers tucked under their arms and in some occasion, to a certain level, choosing what to write and whom to serve. They do not have chains linking to any boss, but an employee of many, available for assignment whenever there is a need. 

There are many reasons Kenyans see writing as the ultimate form of self-employment: a feeling of entrepreneurship, a spirit of independence and personally designed schedule. Nevertheless, there are even more ways writing influence the social rating of graduates. With the few employment opportunities in the country, writing brings a whole new solution to the problem, more graduates have taken the path with some quitting lower paying traditional forms of employment to begin a freelance writing career, and elites are becoming more confidence of survival based on a paying writing job. A factor that sets writing a ground above another form of employment in Kenya is the ease with which salaries become negotiable. Conventionally, job applicants can negotiate their salaries to a small degree amid the hiring, upon signing the contract; they begin to receive a fixed salary for years. Conversely, Kenyan writers can set their salary rate depending on the nature of every new project as a trend; payouts among Kenyan writers have been steadily increasing over the years. With good earnings, these people can boost their social status and economic stability.

Twenty years down the line, most graduates could see their future careers following a simple formula: hired, start as a junior employee and gradually rise to the top. Today, Kenyan graduates have no such clear paths, career plans are always shifting, and most young employees change jobs twice before finally settling. As writing gains popularity, most people consider it an option among the many career changes. Without a boss, writers assume sole responsibility for their performance; a client will be less forgiving of an underperforming writer. Thus, all Kenyan writers need to be more knowledgeable, creative, and attentive to detail, everything from how graduate see the role of education, need for further studies and desire to earn a living out of natural skill has changed to rhyme with this tune (Akolo, 2014). 

Initially, there was frustration by the payment methods available, in most cases, involving two different currencies. As a result, dozens of international payments methods are today popular in the country making money transfer easy, thanks to online writing. PayPal is the most successful payment method in this category, their debit cards and digital accounts are today public knowledge in the country. Other companies including “Skrill” and “Payoneer” are also finding their way into Kenya; this is only a new payment method that will eventually sink their roots deep into the country’s methods of payment. Local banks are already feeling their presence and are moving towards digital payment to counter the competition. With such a growing popularity and ease of payment, paid-writing will soon become a full-time employment in Kenya.         

Work Cited

Akolo, W. (2014, April 8). How To Make Money Online as a Writer in Kenya. Retrieved February 13, 2016, from Work Online Kenya: www.workonlinekenya.com/how-to-make-money-onlie-as-a-writer-in-kenya-2