What Freelance Writing Has Taught Me

It’s been two months since I decided to start pursuing freelance writing work. My long-term goal is to teach at the collegiate level, and I wanted to start developing other income streams now in order to make my dream a reality.

I freelanced a bit during my undergraduate days, but my opportunities were limited to “stringing” for local newspapers, covering city council meetings and interviewing the mother of triplets and some guy with a garden. I have a lot more opportunities now thanks to the internet and several years of professional experience behind me.

I wrongly assumed that freelancing would simply provide me with income and possibly some new research opportunities. I didn’t realize I had much more to learn. Three key lessons I’ve learned since hanging out my freelance shingle are:

Patience: I have never been known for being patient. It’s one of my biggest flaws. When I want something, I want it yesterday. Sometimes it’s an asset, like pursuing an interview for a story, and sometimes it’s a headache. But after sending out dozens of writing proposals and either not hearing back immediately or even at all, I realize that patience is a skill I’m going to have to develop if I’m going to have a successful freelance writing career. Otherwise, I’m just going to drive myself crazy and waste energy that could be used for writing.

Perseverance: It can be frustrating to bid on a project, only to see the work awarded to someone else. I’ve lost count of the number of proposals I’ve sent and never heard from again. It would have been easy to give up. I have a full time job. I’m also working on a master’s degree. I have plenty of activities and work to occupy my time. But I didn’t give up because I believed in myself and focused on my long-term goal. I keep moving forward with the proposals, and I finally started getting some work—and some regular clients.

It’s Not Personal: Writing is personal, but freelance writing is business. You may have talent and competitive rates, but you aren’t going to win every job. Your writing style may not be what the potential client is looking for, or you may not have the exact experience she wants. And those rates may be a little higher than what she wanted to pay. This doesn’t mean that you’re a bad writer or even a bad person. You aren’t right for the job—and that’s OK.

The last two months have been interesting, exciting and frustrating all at once as I attempt to build a successful freelance writing business. But each day is different, and I’m keeping my eye on the long-term—and there is no better motivation than that.