Capturing Chaos

If independence in your choices is a high priority for you, how far you can take that will depend on how much money you need to earn. If freelancing is to be your full-time career, you probably will always have to balance your own preferences with the demands of others. “Others” includes sites that pay for content, so even if you don’t have a roster of clients who pay you for assignments written to their specifications, there are always some constraints on a writer’s freedom.

Working for others may be easier if you can view it as temporary—just a step toward eventual independence. Whether that independence is even possible will depend on your skills, both those you have now and those you will need to acquire. Without expertise on one or more topics, or the ability to gain that expertise fairly quickly, earning a living as an independent freelancer will be difficult at best, and maybe impossible.

There are a multitude of options for developing a writing career that allows you flexibility and independence, but all require a commitment of time and effort. An important step is researching the various methods and their pros and cons. The path you take may not be a typical one, and may even be one that few professionals would recommend. But one of the advantages of freelancing is that it’s not set in concrete. Trying different paths is not only possible, it’s the best way to learn what works for you.

Part one: Freelance Writing: Find Your Own Path

In the process of trying to bring some order (and money) into my writing life, I suddenly found that blogging is slipping away quickly as a major part of that life. I’ve been doing the equivalent of house cleaning, taking a close look at what I’m writing, where I’m writing it, and what format I’m writing in. Most of what’s been bagged up and thrown out with the trash has been blogs. And the process is still going on.

I’ve always had too many blogs; for a long time they were my primary presence on the web. Each one focused on a different subject, one of them had a very substantial niche readership, and others had the potential to draw readers and, eventually, income. What happened? Continue Reading »

I’ve been reading a lot of articles about freelance writing, and all the ins and outs of developing a freelancing career. I’m not trying to build a career, just add to my base income for a bit more financial security. That means I have a lot more choices than someone whose very existence may depend on their ability to produce lots of content, day after day, week after week, year after year. But whether you’re looking for part-time freelance work or stepping off into a career, most of the advice is based on common assumptions.

For example—a substantial amount of the information revolves around clients—how to get them, what to charge them, your relationships with them, etc. The impression I got, until I started thinking about it, is that without clients, a freelance career isn’t even possible. Which led me to an overlooked area in career-building—how you, personally, function as a writer. Continue Reading »

Where’s that good advice I give everybody else and myself? Where’s that notebook that’s supposed to be by my bedside for late night inspiration? Just before hitting the sack last night, I had an excellent idea for today’s post. The thought briefly flashed through my mind that I’d probably forget it if I didn’t write it down. Nonsense! It’s such a great idea that I couldn’t possibly forget it. Isn’t that what they call famous last words? Well, at least I can post about the stupidity of (for the thousandth time) relying on my very defective memory.

I keep trying, but all I can come up with so far is that it was going to be the development of an analogy between writing and some else. If I ever come up with the “something else,” I’ll have it made. Instead, I’ll just bore everybody (all three of you) with a recital of my latest semi-accomplishments. Continue Reading »

A recent post on Freelance Writing From Home reminded me how narrow people tend to be in their thinking. The author was addressing the idea that too many people seem to have—that freelancing means you spend every day, all day, writing. Aside from the deadliness of such a routine, freelancing doesn’t even necessarily refer to writing. “Freelance simply means being self-employed. It doesn’t mean writing. You could be a freelance photographer or a freelance consultant.”

As a freelancer, you’re running your own business, which is supposed to be a path to freedom, not a different kind of slavery. Certainly, you’re going to have to work hard if you intend to make a living at it. But along the way, you should be learning how to work smarter so that you don’t have to work as hard. Continue Reading »