I’m a professional freelancer. This is what I do. It isn’t a hobby. I don’t write when my Muse finds me. I have contracts. This is how I make a living. How do I do something that so few people manage to do?
Step 1
I call myself a writer. That’s really essential in my view. You aren’t going to find time for it if it isn’t how you identify. There are just too many distractions.
Step 2
I treat it like a job. For some people, this may mean that they just make sure they work about 40 hours a week. I don’t work well with a ton of distractions so I tend to work 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. My husband works from home two of every three weeks and it is just easier if we both work at the same time. More or less. I do go to yoga two mornings a week but that’s essential.
Step 3
Learn to say “no.” When you work from home, people are going to figure out that they can find you. You will be called on to watch their children, give rides, and act as a caretaker. You will also get calls to go to lunch, go strawberry picking, hang out at the gardens and more.
I’m not saying that you can’t do anything of these things. You do need a life. But there will be times when you need to say, “No, I have a deadline.” Or, “I have to get this done.”
Step 4
Be ready to take care of life and then get to work.
Obviously there are times when you just have to take care of family things before you get to work. Today, my husband told me that my family sounded like a telenovela. I couldn’t give him grief for that because I’d already had that same thought. And it didn’t really matter that my week already includes two people off work on Wednesday wanting to have fun on their birthdays, a book due Friday, and a university graduation on Friday as well as a set of proof sheets to go over.
Before I could really get into all or any of that, I had to take 2 phone calls and check air fare and flight times for next week. I’ve done those things. I’m not waiting to discuss plans with several people over the dinner table. But now I can seriously dive into my work.
Making a living as a writer isn’t easy. And I’m not saying that it is something everyone will achieve. But if you don’t consider yourself a writer? If you don’t prioritize your work? I think we all know the answer to that one.
–SueBE
One Writer's Journey 