Progress on my writing goals
Now that I’ve taken some time to write down actual goals, I’m at least getting little bits of writing done. I can already tell that I’m being too ambitious with some of the goals, so I’ll need to revise them, but it feels good to have something to work toward.
Also, I’ve taken on a couple of freelance copywriting assignments, the first of which I successfully completed after a lot of fussing over nothing. I haven’t done freelancing since I graduated journalism school over 10 years ago, so it was a bit of an adjustment. And I’ve never done freelance copywriting before. But the client had no major changes, so I can’t be too terrible at it.
What I’ve learned about freelance copywriting so far:
- Copywriting jobs depend on the client getting you materials to start from, so often involves a bit of waiting if they have other priorities
- Copywriting pays really well—not surprising as it’s not usually terribly exciting to write
- You may not always get a whole lot of direction, so ask plenty of questions to make sure you deliver what the client is looking for
- If you get little direction even after asking lots of questions, and/or the client takes too long to get back to you, it may not be worth the time and effort to keep them on as a client
All in all, this freelance assignment was a good experience, but I can see myself getting burned out quickly if I take on too many jobs, so I think keeping it at one job a month maximum is best. This first bit of work has been a good confidence-booster, so I am eager for more.
My other concern is that I want the writing I do in my free time to be fun and copywriting often isn’t, though it’s needed and important. Extra money is nice, but not if I’m left feeling completely drained. I’ll do a few more jobs and see how I feel before making a final decision.
Other freelance ideas and key tips for writers
I stillvwant to try coming up with ideas for articles that I could pitch to magazines, newspapers and other publications, but it takes a lot of time and energy to do those sorts of assignments, even if they’re on topics I’m interested in. So far, I’ve just been collecting a few ideas in a Google sheet, but I think I need more time to gather my courage before trying to pitch anything. Making this website look better would probably be a good idea too.
Apple+ News remains an important resource for me. They’ve added Writer’s Digest to their roster of magazines, so between that and The Writer, I’m getting lots of good advice and encouragement for my writing projects. Some key tips that have really resonated with me:
- Never give up
- Be kind to yourself
If you never give up, eventually you’ll find success as a writer, whether that’s getting a book published or getting a pitch accepted by an editor. So I just need to keep finding the time to write about what I really want to write about. As for being kind to myself, that’s definitely something I could do more of, as I’m harder on myself than anyone else is and always feel like I’m not doing enough.
My next step is to join some sort of writer’s group or professional organization. Putting myself out there and reaching out to others has always been hard for me as I dread rejection, but it seems like most writers and editors just want to help each other out. I know I’m always willing to help my colleagues, so I don’t know why I’m so afraid to reach out and connect with other writers or editors. Part of it is lack of time and energy too—if I struggle to find time to write, how will I find time to connect with other writers? Guess I’ll just have to do what I can.
A few thoughts on writing exercises
Something else I’m trying to find time for is doing writing exercises to keep my skills sharp and improve on areas where I’ve either gotten rusty or just have never been strong. I used to do these sorts of exercises all the time and had a lot of fun with them—sometimes they even turned into full short stories or other works—but as with everything else writing-related in my life, I’ve just had trouble finding the time to do them.
Writer’s Digest covers one poetic form each issue, so I’ve used that as inspiration for my first writing exercise in a while—writing a quintain. I ended up starting two different ones, which are currently each stuck at a single stanza, and then I had an idea for a third. They aren’t very good, but I find writing poetry is a good way to learn how to choose your words carefully and be brief with language. It also helps you develop your sense of rhythm as a writer. And it’s a fun challenge to figure out how to fit your writing to a specific set of rules for number of lines per stanza, number of syllables per line, etc., and still have it all make sense.
While it’s good to be writing about what I’ve learned about writing, I think throwing in the odd random diversion will be good, just the occasional blog on something interesting I’ve come across now and then as I’m not sure writing about writing is for me, as funny as that may seem.
I’ve just got to keep at it (whatever it ends up being), not be too demanding of myself and never give up.