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Moral dilemmas of a freelance writer

When I started my writing career which largely focused on product reviews and How-To guides, I never envisioned that it would evolve into moral decision making. Somewhat naively maybe.

Through the course of writing, I have been offered hard cash to mislead the public, albeit on a small scale.  I've not done it, but if I'm honest about it, I can't honestly say I'd rule it out.  That being said, I wouldn't write for groups which I find untenable, and I like to think I wouldn't write for a company or individual that would mislead or lie to potentially vast numbers of people.

Recently, I have been faced with a moral dilemma. On the one hand, the offer of hard cash to write a piece of work where you are fairly certain is untrue and will be used not to mislead people, but will give the impression that I like something I have never actually used.

I do not hold sway with the view that it's fine as someone else is already doing it.  To me, that is not a reason or justification for doing something you may feel is wrong.

I read an article about this on another blog. The writer on that blog likened it to someone renting space in your house, asking you to decorate the room and then not live in it. They rounded off the article by saying that they were the worst kind of writing jobs.

It is also true to say that the feel of this blog would change.

It all comes down to commercially yes, artistically no.

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photo credit: h.koppdelaney