Words on a page

Each December, I take some time to go over how the current year’s freelancing went and to plan for next year. This year, though, I’ve decided to take another route. December has been a time to reflect on my freelance career.

I’ve been quite fortunate in that I’ve been able to make a good living over the last few years as a full-time freelance writer (mainly freelance technical writing). Even when I was working for The Man, my freelance writing brought in a decent to substantial portion of my income, and allowed me to express myself in ways that I couldn’t in my day job. Admittedly, that day job also involved writing but …  Read more... (350 words, 1 image, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

To be honest, I’m not an obsessive counter. Not of words, or of how much I’ve written. OK, I’ve mentioned when I’ve broken some barriers, but strangely enough friends informed me of those numbers.

It’s not that I don’t pay attention to how much I’m writing on certain article assignments, but I can’t tell you off the top of my head how many words I’ve written since I started in this weird and wonderful business all those years ago. I bandy about the figure 1,000,000 words — articles, corporate, and technical writing. On top of that, all of the words that I’ve written in practice, in blog posts, or in things that were just never published. Could be more, might be less. But I like the thought of six zeros …  Read more... (350 words, 1 image, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

Goals. They’re important for success in any endeavour or line of work. That includes freelance writing. In fact, I’d say that for the freelancer goals are essential. Having goals not only enables us to grow as writers and as professionals, but also drives us to increase our incomes.

Setting goals is easy. When I was starting out in this wacky business, my goals were (in my mind, anyway) pretty modest. I just wanted to earn a living by writing. And it was a struggle. Probably more of a struggle than it should have been. The problem wasn’t me or the goal. It was how the goal was defined.

Although setting goals is easy, it isn’t as easy at it seems. That’s not to say it’s an incredibly difficult process, but defining a goal like I want to make more money this year is one thing. We all define vague goals. What you really need to do is define a specific goal and work from there.

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As you may or may not remember, at the beginning of this year I started a process of rewiring the systems. While the process is going well, it’s going to take a little longer than I anticipated it would. Why? As I’ve discovered, it’s not something you can rush.

Intrigued? Then keep reading.

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That’s what musician Trey Gunn called it in a post to his online diary. And that’s what I’m doing now. Which explains why posting has been … well, more than just a tad thin over the last little while.

Part of that rewiring has involved changes to my writing Web site. Part of that is a new focus on other aspect of my business, ones in which I’ve become more confident over the last year or so. Some of it’s just a major push for simplification in my personal life — doffing ideas, thoughts, and things I no longer need or use.  Read more... (186 words, estimated 45 secs reading time)