The Dark Side of Freelance Writing

In these difficult times many people have found themselves out of work and unable to find a job. If you’re one of them, you’re probably searching for a way to create some additional income. Well, if you understand the English language and can write a decent sentence, freelance writing may be an option. But before you jump into the freelance writing field, there are some things you should understand first.

Here’s a list of reality checks …

1. You Work When You’re Sick – if you’ve got a deadline and you come down sick, the deadline is still a deadline. Your client wants to know that you deliver what you say you’ll deliver. The fact that you caught the flu changes nothing. This is particularly true when you’re just starting out and trying to build a reliable reputation.

2. Deadlines Often Come Before Family – this is harsh, but again, when you’re just starting out you need to prove that you’re dependable. If a deadline is looming and there’s a family activity scheduled, you may have to miss the family activity. If the house needs cleaning and dinner needs cooking, but you’ve only got two hours before deadline … guess which comes first?

3. There’s No Security – you may receive a payment tomorrow and not another one for two months. You will often find yourself struggling to pay bills one moment, and flush with cash the next. Learning to budget and keep control of your bills is essential when you’re starting out. You never know when the next job will arrive.

4. You Wear All The Hats – not only do you write, you do the marketing, you keep the accounting records, you deal directly with clients, you cry on your own shoulder, buy your own office supplies, empty your own wastebasket, and on and on.

5. You’re Going To Have Difficult Clients – unhappy clients lead to criticism, rejection, and plenty of rewrites. It doesn’t matter if you think it should be done one way if your client wants it done another. Freelancing requires a thick skin.

6. Getting Paid Can Be A Challenge – you’re going to run into clients who are going to be agonizingly slow about paying you for your work. This is generally why you’ll want to collect half up front. Every hour you waste trying to track down a payment is an hour you aren’t creating product for the next client. Trying to get paid can sometimes be frustrating and draining, especially when you’re working with unethical clients.

7. Your On Your Own – there are no medical benefits, no retirement plans, no holidays, etc. If you want medical benefits, you need to find and pay for your own health insurance coverage. If you want a retirement plan, you’ll have to set it up yourself. And you’ll have to do this while stretching out your last pay day until the uncertainty of the next pay day.

There is an upside to freelance writing. In fact, there are a number of pluses. But before you take the plunge, you’ll want to have a clear understanding of both the good and bad. That’s the only way to make an educated decision. Is freelance writing for you?

If you’ve made it this far, then it’s time to discover where to find freelance writing jobs (http://www.thesuccessfulwriter.com/Article/Where-To-Find-Freelance-Writing-Jobs/7109)and more about freelancing here: The Successful Writer (http://www.thesuccessfulwriter.com/)

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