For those considering starting an exciting career as a freelance writer, or for those who are just getting their feet wet, freelance writing can hold many mysteries. And some of these unknowns can make the job seem like a purely wonderful way to earn a living. I’d like to take some time to clear up some of the most common myths and misconceptions about freelance writing once and for all.
Freelance Writing Is Easy Work. Absolutely! Most people would not even considering a job as a freelance writer unless writing came easily and naturally for them. Why would you choose to spend your days sitting in front of a computer writing for hours on end unless you had a knack for it. So, provided the words come easily for you, then yes, freelance writing is easy. However, if you are looking to get into freelance writing because you think it’s an easy job rather than because you enjoy writing and are good at it, this may not be the job for you.
Freelance Writing Is Easy Money. The truth about this is that sometimes it is easy, and sometimes it can be incredibly frustrating. For most freelance writers, writing is easy. However, it takes a great many words churned out over the course of a month to make a decent living, and often this means plugging away on the computer for long hours each day. So you have to really be devoted to spending long hours in front of your computer to make good money at this job. It’s relatively easy work most of the time, but finding the mental strength and fortitude to meet multiple deadlines, and to be constantly looking for new assignments or writing topics can be challenging. What’s more, after so many hours writing each day, after your brain is “on” for such an extended period of time, your brain can easily feel mushy. Yet with deadlines looming, many times you need to push through to meet your deadlines. This is not the glamorous side of the job. Is freelance writing hard like brain surgery or like manual labor? No, but it definitely is in a league of its own.
Freelance Writing Lets You Have A Flexible Work Schedule. This is certainly true. However, as I said earlier, it takes many long hours typing away at the computer to make a decent living during the week, and often you have deadlines you need to meet as well. So, you can definitely have the liberty to sleep in late one morning, have a leisurely brunch, and then find a few hours to sit in front of the computer when you are ready. But if you expect to make a living at this job, I honestly wouldn’t suggest that you make that an everyday occurrence unless you want to be burning the midnight oil every night. But that being said, you definitely have the ability to work around certain personal commitments you may have during the day. It’s not reasonable to expect to be able to write for three or four hours a day and make a living as a freelance writer. In fact, most freelance writers will work 8-10 hours a day and this may include 6 or even 7 days a week if deadlines are looming. The flexibility here lies in the fact that you can work a few hours in the morning, a few hours midday, and a few hours at night if you need to, with long breaks in between where you can fulfill whatever obligations you may have.
The bottom line is that freelance writing isn’t some magic paycheck where you say you are now a freelance writer and let the money start rolling in. But if you have a good work ethic, great writing skills, and you need to find a job where you can work around other obligations, such as caring for a sick relative, taking care of small kids, or any number of other obligations you may have, this is absolutely a great job.
