4 posts tagged “freelance”

Sometimes, life is so brilliantly easy that you can't help but smile. Today two strangers had a conversation that went a bit like this:

"I'd love you to write for my new project but I can't pay you yet."

"Your project sounds great! I'd love you to write for my new project too! But I can't pay you either. Why don't we write for each other instead of worrying about money!"

This is how networking should work! This is what is meant to happen in a freelance writer's day! Everyone is happy! Everyone wins. It shouldn't be any harder than this.

Take note fellow editors: This is how we want to work. It's simple really.

Which means more time for cocktails and cake.

One of the things that comes with freelancing is insecurity. Or rather, fear.

Fear that I'll never ever work again.

Ever.

A huge amount of my freelancing time is spent looking for work. Sometimes this is easy - London writers are pretty close-knit and a large amount of my work comes from people I know. Or people who suggest me to other editors. Rob H is a case in point here. Other times it's like hitting my head against a wall.

This last couple of weeks has been tough. People are fickle and a job that is solid can suddenly go up in smoke. I can spend hours on some samples for a prospective client and get nowhere. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much work I do, it feels like I'm fighting a losing battle.

Then out of the blue, people get in touch. They want to see my work, they want articles and they want ME. Suddenly, I feel very in demand and this is lovely. The tough thing is being able to carry on pushing myself when things are a bit shit. Teary chats with my Dad help.

It's difficult to get perspective sometimes. There's no one to help me do this. I'm used to having a team of people around me when I work so I didn't realise I'd miss this so much. It's very easy to see all the bad shit, and not see than a lot of good things have happened in the last week. It's easy to see the bad stuff. I've had two articles commissioned in the last week and I as getting so consumed by other shit that I forgot to get excited. Not only that, but I get to write about stuff that I'm really interested in. I get paid to do what I really want.

So I'm feeling reflective today. This isn't a sad, ranty post. I've felt both sides of the coin today and it's made me realise that even if things are shit, they do get better. I just have to keep doing my thing until they do.

My Dad is always right. 

There's a world of difference between people I know and the people I love. That might seem fairly obvious, but there's a small handful of people who support me in more ways than they'll ever realise.

I wouldn't be able to be a freelance writer without them. I'm not even sure I'd be a very successful writer. I reckon I'd go crazy without them. Sam often keeps my feet on the ground when things get messy and I feel like I'm not coping with it all. Cate always tells me that I can do all these mad and crazy things without question. She never stops believing in me.

There are people like Ang and Virgil who just trust what I'm doing. They never question it. Friends who are excited by everything I do and all of the writing I put out there. They just trust that I'm doing the right thing, and that I can do it. That I can write. Sometimes when I'm having a tough day, it's really important for me to hear that.

So when I think about last weekend, when I was sad and felt like I'd been treated badly by an old friend, I think about things and realise it doesn't matter. Because my real friends are the most brilliant people in my life. They believe in me all the time. Even when I don't believe in myself.

I've realised that I'm at a really strange point in my writing career. Even saying that sounds weird - I've only been freelance for around six months after all. But since erm, 'leaving' Glitterditch, I've been in a strange but really quite exciting limbo.

I have more free time during the day. Which means that Sam and I got to go to a theatre Matinee last week (Harold Pinter. Strange. Nearly fell asleep. That can't be good.) Sam doesn't have a proper job either which means we can have fun while everyone else is at work. This often ends in childish giggling.

The main reason I have more free time is really because I think it's entirely normal to write at two in the morning. I'm now also getting paid a good rate for the work I'm doing and this keeps me in pretty shoes. This stops me stressing out. And when my Dad says "Isn't it time you got a proper job?" I actually believe that although I'm poorer than I was when I was doing sales, I don't need to go back to doing 9-5.

So what am I doing now? Aside from some great and regular paid writing work for a couple of lovely clients, I'm doing a lot of unpaid projects. The stuff that will hopefully set me up for the future. The creative stuff that I really really want to do forever and ever. This is the only time I'm ever going to get the chance to do it so if I fuck it up now, then yes I'll probably have to go back to the office job. Which would at least stop my Dad from worrying.

Here's what I'm up to:

1. Setting up a very exciting new blog. Watch this space.

2. Working on a new book proposal with the beautiful Cate.

3. Scribbling my own coffee table book.

4. I'm also collaborating with a lovely artist called Jason. We're mixing my fiction work and his artwork into a whole project and exhibition about how writing and art works together.

That's a lot of stuff. And currently, it's all unpaid. When the birds are tweeting in the morning, and you've been asleep for six hours already, this is what I'll be working on. After I've spent all day working to pay my rent, buy food and wine and essentials like shoes. It's Saturday evening and I've already decided that I'm not going out tonight. Instead I'm going to stay in and work.

Strangely, even though it's daunting, looking at the list above makes me smile. I'm having more fun than ever and doing things that I really enjoy. Yeah, so I'll have to work 15 hour days and every weekend for the rest of the year, but I'm happy.