Starting out: So you want to be a freelance writer?

When I spoke at the Problogger Conference in 2012, I also had the opportunity to attend the many fabulous sessions on offer. At one of those, uber-blogger Chris Guillebeau spoke about Making Money and Changing the World Through Blogging. Chris said a lot of good things and I was most impressed by how happy he looked, but I do remember this: "Never compare your beginning to someone else's middle." The quote seems to belong to author Jon Acuff, but the sentiment belongs to us all. It also got me thinking.

I know that a lot of members of the Fibro community are aspiring freelance writers and I enjoy sharing some of the stuff I've learnt about freelancing over the years. But sometimes it helps to hear from someone who's in the same boat as you are. So I'm starting a new series called Starting Out, in which I'm going to share guest posts from people who are... starting out.

Today's post comes from travel writer Megan Blandford. I met Megan a couple of years ago through blogging, and Twitter and all the other good stuff. She wanted to make the jump from writing on her own blog to writing for other people - and she has. She's written for publications such as Practical Parenting, the Jetstar inflight mag, My Career, Go Camping and 4WD Action, as well as websites such as iVillage, NRMA and Essential Baby.

Here's some of what she's learnt along the way.

Want to be a freelance writer? Here’s the tough advice you need to hear. 

Writers throw around a lot of airy-fairy talk of muses and inspiration and chasing dreams and creative flows – all of which is fine in the right context. But when you’re trying to run your own writing business sometimes you need to face some harsher realities.

 I always wanted to be a writer but the question of HOW? was a puzzle. The answer came in the form of some home truths, and once those were given to me (thanks Allison!) all the pieces fell together to create a new career.

What does life look like now? I stay home with my two children and work from home around them, writing about topics that intrigue me. I travel for my work, too, going to destinations that fit in with my family life to write and photograph for magazines and websites. Sounds pretty good – and it is. But it doesn’t come without its challenges.

So you want to live your dream and be a freelance writer? Here’s the blunt advice you need to hear first:

 •Consider doing a course. Before you make any career change you need to be informed and arm yourself with some new skills. Writing is no different. I did the AustralianWriters’ Centre course in magazine writing, and it both confirmed the knowledge I already had and taught me more about the industry I wanted to join.

 •You will face rejections. Over and over again. A turning point for me was hearing that even the most experienced and successful freelance writers still face rejection and – in my opinion, the worst reaction – silence. Once I stopped taking rejections personally it all became easier.

•Take on advice. It doesn’t matter how much you disagree, the editor of a publication is always right. Learn from them by analysing your rejections and what you could have done better.

 •Try and try again. I like to think of a ‘no’ email as an opening to a conversation: they’ve answered me, and now I can try another pitch. Building relationships means showing them you have plenty of ideas to offer that their readers will love.

 •Your skills need honing – now and forever. Practice, practice, practice. Your writing needs constant attention, as do your ideas – the more time you give to both (and really, ideas can be worked on right throughout your day) the more you’ll succeed.

•Treat it like any other business. If you’re serious about making this a viable venture, you need to treat it like a business. That means managing your finances and bookkeeping, setting goals, marketing yourself, chasing new business and building relationships. Odds are that you won’t feel confident in all these areas but the reality is that you need to learn.

 •Use the skills you have. What’s your background? You could use your skills and knowledge to get you started by writing in your field of expertise. Are you a parent? There are countless parenting magazines and websites you could target. What do you want to know more about? Chances are someone else wants to know more about it too, so think about how to get that information out there.

•Consider different forums in which to write. These days it’s pretty hard to make a living writing just for magazines. Consider other outlets, like writing for websites, magazines and corporates (newsletters and blog posts, for example).

•Perhaps don’t quit your day job just yet. Freelance writing is hard work and it takes time to build up steady work and an income that you can rely on. Many writers start gradually, building up their freelance income and phasing out their old job. And with all that out the way, good luck chasing your dreams!

Megan Blandford is a freelance writer who specialises in family travel and creating online content. Megan lives on the outskirts of Melbourne with her family, and you can find her rambling her way through life at Writing Out Loud. 

Are you starting out as a freelance writer? Would you add anything to Megan's tips?

Someone else's story

One of the joys of being a 'pantser' (that is, someone who writes by the seat of her pants, with no plotting in advance) is reading through the story once you've finished. Half the time, you can't remember a word you wrote and so you end up reading a book that was, ostensibly, written by someone else. Or at least I do.

You may remember that I took part in NaNoWriMo in November last year. While I didn't 'win' and hit the 50,000-word mark, I achieved a respectable 46,000 words or so and ended up within spitting distance of finishing my story, a children's manuscript. I started the month with a paragraph of an idea and ended up with an epic adventure. How this occurred is a mystery to me, too.

I think one of the most valuable things about an exercise like NaNoWriMo is the fact that to make the word goal, you have to simply write. Words on the page. And when you have to get them out, it's amazing what comes out of your subconscious.

In the ensuing month or so, I wrote an ending and have begun reading the story aloud to Mr9, my harshest critic, looking for 'boring bits'. We have found more than a few, but he has also laughed in bits that I'd hoped were funny and look worried in bits that I'd hoped were worrisome.

It's not yet finished, but his advice so far: "Chuck in a few more battles, Mum. That'll sort it." I might add that this is always his advice. (I'm thinking that nuanced character studies may not be his forte.)

So now (having done some hasty research on 'how to write battle scenes') I'm going back to page one to review it all.

I'm actually looking forward to it.

There's nothing better than editing someone else's work.

Do you ever read something you've written and think 'where did that come from'? Or is it just me?

[image features Mr9's well-loved bear Bronte. She's a bit famous.]

Working from home in the holidays? What was I thinking?

This whole month can be filed under 'what was I thinking?'. Usually I try to keep work to a minimum in the school holidays. For some reason, I decided the boys were old enough this year to amuse themselves a bit while I got some work done during the day.

They'd watch a DVD or play the Wii or do whatever it is that young boys do to while away the hours quietly, so I was perfectly safe to take on a feature or two.

Or so I thought.

When you have small children at home and people find out you work from home, they think you're nuts. "How do you do it?" they ask, breathlessly. I wrote my first feature when Mr9 was three months old and just sort of got back into the saddle from there.

The truth is, it gets harder as they get older. When they're little, they sleep during the day. And I got very good at squeezing interviews and features into the two hour window of the midday sleep. Sleep time is very, very quiet time.

Now that they're older, they are good at entertaining themselves. They will play Lego, do the DVD thing, play the Wii, read a book, colour in, whatever. But they're never quiet. There's always bickering, they're always hungry, and, frankly, they just want to have a chat sometimes. Two hours is just a dream. I work in 15-minute snatches, and only once we've done some kind of kid-friendly out-of-the-house activity to a) tire them out and b) appease the Mother Guilt that eats me alive no matter how much I try to tame it.

I've always worked at night. But nine years ago I was... younger. I could do a full day with the kids, have a 4pm coffee, and work until midnight. Now I simply don't want to. I have got used to writing in the daytime. I like it. Going back to my nocturnal habits just makes me tired.

I have three deadlines this week. What was I thinking?

Are you working from home this holidays? Did you organise yourself better than I have, or are you wondering what you were thinking as well?

The long, hot summer

It has been so long since we had an actual summer, I'd forgotten what one felt like.

Now I remember.

***
For a week, Fibrotown has been getting on with business under a haze of smoke. The streets are full of people in bright orange, their reflective strips flashing in the sunlight as they walk. We wake in the morning with the smell of smoke in the air, rising with the heat of the day. We go to sleep to the wail of fire engines echoing through the night. The highway opens and closes.

A marquee city has sprung up at the Fibrotown Showground, full of services to support volunteer firefighters in the area. It looks for all the world as though an epic music festival is about to begin.

Mr6 plays fire rescue on the rug.

The bushfires are down the coast a bit, near the homes of friends, but all are safe and well. I spent the first few days monitoring the radio and obsessively checking the Rural Fire Service website. My parents, veterans of several fires in this area over the years, reassured me that it would never get to us. I checked for our Neighbourhood Safer Place, just in case. It is one block from our house. I was reassured.

So far, so good.

***

On Friday night, Fam Fibro headed out to the beach for some much-needed respite from the heat and the general business of living. We spent a pleasant hour crashing through waves trying to teach the boys to body surf (my technique needs more work than theirs, I'd point out), followed by fish and chips overlooking the bay. We left for home refreshed and relaxed.

On the way home, we passed a convoy of high-wheeling bush-bashing RFS fire trucks, packed with volunteers, a new shift on their way to keep the Dean's Gap fire, 30 minutes further south, contained.

I have friends who are RFS members. Up until now, they seem to have mostly been involved with open days, sausage sizzles and demonstrations at the Fibrotown Show.

When the chips are down, however, they are the ones in orange.

I am swimming.

It makes a person think.

***

Today I stood behind two serious young men at the supermarket checkout as they piled 40 kilograms of mushrooms, dozens of cartons of eggs, piles of packets of bacon and countless loaves of bread into their trolley. Their bright red shirts read Emergency Catering Services.

"They bought only the best stuff," said the checkout lady as they laboured out with their heaving trollies. "Premium steak. Helga's bread. No home brand at all."

"Good," I said, trying to balance my peaches on the back of the conveyor belt to ensure they went into the bag on top. "Those volunteers deserve the best."

***
Tonight, it rained. The first rain of the year, as Mr9 gleefully pointed out.

Relief all round.

You can find more information here on supporting the NSW Rural Fire Service, and more information here on how to volunteer.

Dance like nobody's watching

Sometimes you just have to crank the music up and dance. Actually, let me amend that statement. Just like you never regret a swim, you never regret a dance. Well, I don't.

I've always been one of those people who dance like nobody's watching - mostly because, particularly these days, nobody is. Just me, my iPod and, if I'm lucky, Mr6*, who never watches, he just gets right on in there and shakes his tail feather.

My music of choice for such moments is pure pop. Katy Perry. Taio Cruz's Dynamite (which always makes me think of Katrina Chambers, who rocked it so hard during her season of The Block). One Direction.

What can I say? If you're going to leap around the living room, singing at the top of your lungs, your pride is pretty much shot anyway...

But I highly recommend it. It always makes me feel better. It will make you feel better, I promise.

Remember, baby, you're a firework**.

Do you dance at home when the feeling takes you? What's your song of choice?

*New Year, new ages: introducing Mr9 and Mr6.
**Sorry, couldn't resist.

A goal without a plan...

Ahem. *Clears throat*

First blog post for 2013 and my voice feels a little rusty. Doesn't take much to get out of the habit, now does it?

I've used my two weeks off to think long and hard about my goals for this year.

Actually, that's a lie. I've used my two weeks off to drink wine, hang out with friends and family, take my boys to the beach, finish my experimental children's book manuscript, eat too much, open presents, visit the Alexander the Great exhibition at the Australian Museum, do a little shopping, read several books and, for the most part, not think about goals of any description.

But that first sentence sounded much more impressive, right?

The truth is that I do need to clarify my thoughts about what I'd like to achieve this year. I am even considering dragging out the butcher's paper and drawing a mind map or something. I have friends who do this on a regular basis and it seems to work well for them. My goals tend to be along the lines of 'I might write a book this year' or 'Maybe I'll try... X'. This approach has also worked quite well for me, but I feel as though I lost my way a bit in 2012. Too much waft. Not enough outcome.

So my goal for 2013, at this stage, can be clarifed as such: "Work smarter, not harder."

Quite how I will manage this is yet to be decided. But I'm going to talk to some people, make some decisions, Google stuff. You know. Because I know that a goal without a plan is a dream. Even if I don't know who first said that.

I've got some amazing things happening this year - my first novel, Talk of The Town, is on its way, for starters, and I'll be speaking at two different conferences later in the year. As far as the Fibro is concerned, I'm hoping to bring back the Facebook chats, bring you more industry information and writing tips, and write a post about the dust on my sideboard (just for Jodi). Bet you can't wait!

I'm moving into my fourth year of blogging at the Fibro and, you know what, I think this might be the best year yet!

So tell me, do you have a goal for 2013? And what's your plan to achieve it?

photo credit: Jungle_Boy via photopin cc