by Natalia Jones

Created on: January 18, 2010   Last Updated: May 31, 2011

The life of a stay-at-home writer is full of benefits but it can also be fraught with difficulties. If you aspire to pursue writing from home as a full time career you would do well to think it through properly before jumping in. If you leap in without researching what it is really like you risk ending up disappointed or even worse... frustrated.

The Stay-at-Home Writer Battles Loneliness

Loneliness is probably the biggest surprise for all new stay-at-home writers. Solitude might sound seductive, but it can be very difficult to adjust to being alone most if not all of the time, especially for personality types that thrive on human interaction. The writing process is often referred to as a solitary act because good writing needs the writer to withdraw a bit in order to feed on what is going on inside his own head. However, there is a big difference between writing part time and relishing the quite solitude for a few hours everyday and dealing with being your only source of company around the clock.

Writing from Home Requires Discipline

To be a successful stay-at-home writer also takes a lot of discipline. There is no one to impose deadlines on you or to dictate the pace at which you must work so everything is more or less left up to you as a writer. It is dangerously easy to become lazy and get less done every day. To combat the threat of little or no productivity, writers should engage in goal setting. Take a look at Setting Goals to Enhance Writing for more information.

Stay-at-Home Writers Must be Financially Mature

Last, but not least, stay-at-home writers must be in control of their finances before launching into full-time freelancing or focusing entirely on writing as their only source of income. This means that an emergency fund must be in place to take care of all household expenses in the event that something goes wrong. It is also necessary to be familiar with budgeting because it can be a huge adjustment to move from earning a salary, no matter how meager, to not being able to successfully chart your income over the next few months. How to Budget When You Get Irregular Payments can help clear this up.

All in all, those who wish to become stay-at-home writers should remember the time worn tenet ‘be careful what you wish for’ because sometimes when a dream comes true it is not always what you expect. This is not to say that full time writing does not have its benefits though. Flexibility and freedom as well as the thrill of doing what you love for a living are among the best advantages of life as a stay-at-home writer, but you must be prepared for the transition. 

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