Free and (not so) Easy

It turns out that being a freelance writer is hard work. When I was in PR, chained to my desk in a stuffy office, having to deal with pushy journalists, hundreds of phone calls and getting called in to meetings, I thought freelancers had it all. They didn’t have a boss to answer to, they didn’t have to prove how successful they had been over the past month to senior management, they didn’t have to get up at an ungodly hour, dress in a suit and travel an hour on the train to get to work. I longed to be a freelancer and, more than anything, I longed to write for a living. I didn’t want to have to beg journalists to include our products in their magazines anymore, feeding their egos and treating them to drinks, lunches, treatments – I wanted to be the one who’s ego is fed, who is taken out and fawned over. I wanted to be the one who held the power of the press in my hands and who is sent products and asked to experience spa treatments. But more than anything, I wanted to write and only write, to be able to sit in front of a computer all day and tap away at my keyboard, happily playing with beautiful words, crafting them into articles and features. I wanted to be able to get up when I wanted, to throw on some comfy clothes and work wherever it suited me – on the kitchen table, in the garden on a sunny day, in a coffee shop, even in bed if that’s what I felt like. I wanted to be answerable to no-one but myself and the publications I wrote for. I wanted to be able to only write what I was passionate about, to work on projects that I thought were fun and exciting. I wanted the freedom of being my own boss without the massive overheads and crippling responsibility of owning and running a fully-fledged business. I’ve wanted all this for years and now, finally, I am a freelance writer and journalist. I’m getting paid to write - how great is that?


But – and here is the big but – it isn’t quite the nirvana I thought it would be. It involves a lot of hard graft, especially at the start. You’re working for yourself now, you don’t automatically get paid no matter what. You can’t always just leave it ‘till tomorrow or Monday. If you want to get paid, and get asked to work again, you have to deliver amazing results and on deadline. I have been working twelve hour days, six days a week, and freelance writing does not pay mega-bucks so you struggle on and still have to check for discounts at the supermarket. Oh, and something else nobody told me, you can’t just pick and choose cushy jobs, especially not at the start – you won’t get offered the fun, exciting, glamorous, headline-grabbing stuff for years, if you ever do. At the beginning you need to take whatever is offered to you, you need to establish a good reputation for quality work, you need contacts and you need experience.

But –and here is the bigger but – it is all completely worth it. One hundred percent. I love writing, some types more than others, but any writing is better than some of the corporate stuff I used to have to do. And working for myself is a revelation – yes, it’s hard work and yes, you have to have immense self-discipline but the satisfaction and self-pride you get when you’re even offered job, let alone when you complete a job well and get paid for it, is worth it all.