Make Time for Everything

Those who know me best will just shake their heads when they see I've another blog to my schedule. But this is just what a freelancer does. If you have something to say but no logical place to say it, you create your own place.

And I have something to say.

Eleanor Roosevelt said that we should learn from the mistakes of others as we won't live long enough to make all the mistakes on our own.  I've been freelancing full time for almost three years now, and finally feel confident that I have learned a lot from my own mistakes and the mistakes of others.

I have stories to share that can be of value to other writers just venturing into the unknown freelance world. I also have a few pet peeves and gripes that I'd like to share with my fellow veteran writers who may find them amusing.

Maybe most important of all, I can introduce new writers to mentors who I have met along the way by sharing links to their informative articles, their blogs and their websites.

As the neighborhood kids went back to the structured environment of the school day, I decided that it was time for me to a bit more structure into my work days. I had let the long afternoons of summer pull me off track, writing just as much as I had to and no more, eager to flee my office and enjoy the sun. I was my own boss, after all.

But there is more to freelance writing than just writing. Once the research and editing has been done and invoices sent, the beginner might think the work is finished. But only the fun part is finished. Somehow I’d pushed one of the most important things a freelance writer needs to know from my mind.

You will have days when you'll work and earn nothing doing important tasks that are all part of running a business. And they have to be done. Freelance writing is a business. The paperwork and networking will pile up until you don't know where to start to pull yourself out of the deep hole you have dug.

And that’s where I found myself last week, overwhelmed with loose ends that had to be tied up in order for me to be successful. The only money I earned was from residual income on revenue sharing sites for articles I had previously written, but I got myself out from under the neglected record keeping.

Determined to regain my self discipline, I organized my email and calendar and was surprised to find I could find the time to fit a new writing blog into my schedule. I love blogging. It gives a writer the opportunity to write freely, with their own voice. Blogging makes you feel like a writer.

So, here we are. Ideas of topics to share are forming in my head faster than my fingers can type, but that’s the idea of a blog. I’ll share one blog post at a time.