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The Freelance Writing Life: Keep Your Eye on the Big Picture

Many people tell me they can't be self employed for two reasons: money and discipline. They are afraid to be without the regular, weekly paycheck. My feeling is that if you cover #2, the discipline, you've covered #1.

If you have any hope of surviving and thriving as a freelance writer, discipline must become your mantra. I love Donnie Deutch's The Big Idea. In my opinion, for freelancers, DISCIPLINE is the big idea. Everything else revolves around it.

I've been at this for about 25 years, and the process hasn't changed much, even if the markets and styles have changed. What you write about, and who you market it to, will always change. HOW you do it will EVOLVE. It's a mere nuance, to be sure, but it's a vital concept.

Every year, I go through my goals and tweak the plan. Just last week, I started a major overhaul. It's time. I push the concept of specializing in writing. Well, when I say "what you write about will change," this is what I mean. I'm at a different stage of my life than I was just five years ago, so it's time to re-evaluate my specialties. I've added a few and deleted a few. Some I've found I've drifted away from but long to be involved with again. This pen to paper evaluation is very tactile, and that's an important point, too. This very act of going through this physical and mental process helps me define my wants, needs and marketing plans. So, my writing goal in the vague sense, is always to expand my markets and improve my style. What has EVOLVED is the way I plan to achieve those goals. That involves getting to know myself as well as the current marketplace.

Devising a Plan
Here is the boiled down, extracted version of what it takes to be successful as a freelance writer for the long haul:

LOOK IT UP. Regardless of what your writing day looks like, set aside time, even if it's break time, to take a peek at new markets. I get free newsletters emailed to me all the time full of updated or new markets. These may or may not have listings in Writer's Market. I copy and paste the interesting ones in my own word processing document which I print out every so often as an adjunct to Writer's Market and my paying newsletters.

I tend to do this first thing in the morning with my coffee, or at the end of the day when I'm winding down For me, it serves to put me in the right frame of mind. I see all of the opportunities, and I want to get at it. It's almost like putting together that "to do" list

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