--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The free-lance writer is a man who is…" description: "\"The free-lance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.\" — Robert Benchley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/robert-benchley-2562_men_the-free-lance-writer-is-a-man-who-is-pa_3090949.jpg" --- # The free-lance writer is a man who is paid per piece or… ![“The free-lance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.” quote by Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/robert-benchley-2562_men_the-free-lance-writer-is-a-man-who-is-pa_3090949.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/robert-benchley-2562_men_the-free-lance-writer-is-a-man-who-is-pa_3090949.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/robert-benchley-2562_men_the-free-lance-writer-is-a-man-who-is-pa_3090949.jpg) > “The free-lance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.” [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes a freelance writer as someone compensated per output, highlighting the transactional nature of the work. **In simple terms:** Freelance writers are paid per piece or word. Key Takeaway Understand the pay structure of freelance writing. Themes work economics freelance writing Mood analytical reflective Type informational critical When to use this quote - writing contracts - budgeting - pricing work - client negotiations Key Concepts labor market gig economy Questions to Reflect On - Is payment per word motivating or limiting? - How does this affect writing quality? A Different Perspective May ignore creative fulfillment aspects. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Free Lance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-lance-881496/) [Lance Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lance-writer-881495/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Paid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paid/) [Paid Piece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paid-piece-596298/) [Pieces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pieces/) [Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publishing/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-man-1081925/) [Writers block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-block/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing by writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-by-writers/) ## Related quotes > [“The free-lance writer is one who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-free-lance-writer-is-one-who-is-paid-per-piece-or-per-word-or/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [The free-lance writer is the person who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-free-lance-writer-is-the-person-who-is-paid-per-piece-or-per-word/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [The freelance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-freelance-writer-is-a-man-who-is-paid-per-piece-or-per-word-or/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [I think writer's block is simply the dread that you are going to write something horrible. But as a writer, I believe that if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-blount-jr/i-think-writer-s-block-is-simply-the-dread-that-you-are-going-to/) [Roy Blount, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-blount-jr/) > [“The freelance writer is one who is paid per piece, or per word, or perhaps.” – Peter Benchley”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-boutros/the-freelance-writer-is-one-who-is-paid-per-piece-or-per-word-or/) [Gabriel Boutros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-boutros/) > [I like the desperado aspect of essays, the free lance, that mercenary kind of thing, so I just do it, without asking anyone's permission.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-d-ambrosio/i-like-the-desperado-aspect-of-essays-the-free-lance-that-mercenary/) [Charles D'Ambrosio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-d-ambrosio/) > [“The word 'free-lance', I used to think, had a romantic ring; but sadly discovered, when I tried to be one, that its practice has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-macinnes/the-word-free-lance-i-used-to-think-had-a-romantic-ring-but-sadly/) [Colin MacInnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-macinnes/) > [I started working in London, and I've been free-lance ever since.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllida-lloyd/i-started-working-in-london-and-i-ve-been-free-lance-ever-since/) [Phyllida Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllida-lloyd/) > [An Ambassadore is a man of virtue sent to lie abroad for his country, a news writer is a man of no virtue who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wotton/an-ambassadore-is-a-man-of-virtue-sent-to-lie-abroad-for-his-country/) [Henry Wotton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wotton/) > [A writer is someone who has a one-man tent in the desert and occasionally he sees the footprint of an other writer - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/a-writer-is-someone-who-has-a-one-man-tent-in-the-desert-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/talent-alone-cannot-make-a-writer-there-must-be-a-man-behind-the-book/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A writer is a man like any other: he dreams. And my dream was to be able to say of this book, when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/a-writer-is-a-man-like-any-other-he-dreams-and-my-dream-was-to-be/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“Man knows, and in the course of years he comes to know it increasingly well, feeling it ever more acutely, that memory is weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryszard-kapuscinski/man-knows-and-in-the-course-of-years-he-comes-to-know-it-increasingly/) [Ryszard Kapuściński](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryszard-kapuscinski/) > [What better portrait of a writer than to show a man who has been bewitched by books?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/what-better-portrait-of-a-writer-than-to-show-a-man-who-has-been/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Nothing can injure a man's writing if he's a first-rate writer. If a man is not a first-rate writer, there's not anything can help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/nothing-can-injure-a-man-s-writing-if-he-s-a-first-rate-writer-if-a/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) ## More by Robert Benchley > [I have often wondered how they manage to get return envelopes which miss, by one-quarter of an inch, fitting the blank you are supposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/i-have-often-wondered-how-they-manage-to-get-return-envelopes-which/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/my-first-big-mistake-was-made-when-in-a-moment-of-weakness-i/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [You might think that after thousands of years of coming up too soon and getting frozen, the crocus family would have had a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/you-might-think-that-after-thousands-of-years-of-coming-up-too-soon/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/it-took-me-fifteen-years-to-discover-i-had-no-talent-for-writing-but/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [But ice-crunching and loud gum-chewing, together with drumming on tables, and whistling the same tune 70 times in succession, because they indicate an indifference…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/but-ice-crunching-and-loud-gum-chewing-together-with-drumming-on/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [The naturalistic literature of this country has reached such a state that no family of characters is considered true to life whichdoes not include…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-naturalistic-literature-of-this-country-has-reached-such-a-state/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [There is no such place as Budapest. Perhaps you are thinking of Bucharest, and there is no such place as Bucharest, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/there-is-no-such-place-as-budapest-perhaps-you-are-thinking-of/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [I am both a public and a private school boy myself, having always changed schools just as the class in English in the new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/i-am-both-a-public-and-a-private-school-boy-myself-having-always/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed be doing at that moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/anyone-can-do-any-amount-of-work-provided-it-isn-t-the-work-he-is/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [After an author has been dead for some time, it becomes increasingly difficult for his publishers to get out a new book by him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/after-an-author-has-been-dead-for-some-time-it-becomes-increasingly/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [One of the chief duties of the fan is to engage in arguments with the man behind him. This department of the game has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/one-of-the-chief-duties-of-the-fan-is-to-engage-in-arguments-with-the/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [“There are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who do not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-in-the-world-those-who-divide-the-world/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/why-don-t-you-get-out-of-that-wet-coat-and-into-a-dry-martini/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Drinking makes such fools of people, and people are such fools to begin with that it's compounding a felony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/drinking-makes-such-fools-of-people-and-people-are-such-fools-to/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Behind every argument is someone's ignorance. Behind every argument is someone's ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/behind-every-argument-is-someone-s-ignorance-behind-every-argument-is/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) [Explore all 161 Robert Benchley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) ## More Men quotes > [When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back at him. I think the writers showed bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-owens/when-i-passed-the-chancellor-he-arose-waved-his-hand-at-me-and-i/) [Jesse Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-owens/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-man-who-can-master-his-time-can-master-nearly-anything/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [We do not want nowadays temples of worship and outward rites and ceremonies. What we really want is an Asram. We want a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-do-not-want-nowadays-temples-of-worship-and-outward-rites-and/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Most celebrated men live in a condition of prostitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/most-celebrated-men-live-in-a-condition-of-prostitution/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture. MARTIN LUTHER, letter to Chancellor Gregory Brück, January 13,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/i-cannot-forbid-a-person-to-marry-several-wives-for-it-does-not/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [Hats off to starting a franchise younger than we all did in 'Twilight' and keeping your cool. The 'Harry Potter' men and women had,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kellan-lutz/hats-off-to-starting-a-franchise-younger-than-we-all-did-in-twilight/) [Kellan Lutz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kellan-lutz/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-sarabhai/but-we-are-convinced-that-if-we-are-to-play-a-meaningful-role/) [Vikram Sarabhai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-sarabhai/) > [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Browse all 84,229 Men quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The free-lance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Benchley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-free-lance-writer-is-a-man-who-is-paid-per-piece-or-per-word-or/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Men" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-free-lance-writer-is-a-man-who-is-paid-per-piece-or-per-word-or/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/robert-benchley-2562_men_the-free-lance-writer-is-a-man-who-is-pa_3090949.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/robert-benchley-2562_men_the-free-lance-writer-is-a-man-who-is-pa_3090949.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/robert-benchley-2562_men_the-free-lance-writer-is-a-man-who-is-pa_3090949.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The free-lance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.” — Robert Benchley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert Benchley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The free-lance writer is a man...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-free-lance-writer-is-a-man-who-is-paid-per-piece-or-per-word-or/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-free-lance-writer-is-a-man-who-is-paid-per-piece-or-per-word-or/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```