When There Isn’t A Clue
A recent editorial in the local newspaper featured a new freelancer going on about how much she was enjoying what she called “the latte life” – sitting in cafes and being a writer. She painted such a lovely picture of what freelance writers do all day that I wanted to be one. Then I realized – I was a freelancer. And the editorial was what we commonly refer to as ALOC (a load of crap).
Obviously, this new writer has yet to run into a non-paying client. Nor has she had to scramble to find work so that the electric company doesn’t turn off the lights. I’d bet money that she’s got a significant other who’s footing the bills while she “works” at being a freelancer. However, the most disturbing thing about this editorial is the number of people out there who now believe we freelancers spend our time in leisurely pursuits. That, dear friends, scares me no end.
So here’s what it’s like to be a freelancer (the Cliff Notes version) – you get up at 6 a.m. You shower, change and get breakfast. After a few cups of caffeine, you head to your office (okay, we do have a sweet commute). Power up and dig in. This is by all rights not a 9-to-5 gig. It’s more like an 8-to-8 gig, because we have clients on both coastlines, those who have hours long past what we’re used to working for the average employer. The myth that writers can make their own hours is exactly that – a myth. If we want to earn, we must be available during office hours.
We get paid decently – anywhere from $50 – 100 an hour and more. However, maybe just 1/3 of a typical forty-hour week are billable hours. The rest of the time is spent looking for work, learning technology and oh, looking for work. We pay our own benefits, our own taxes (quarterly, too, so any real profit seems to vaporize every few months), and we maintain our own offices. We must be masters of organization, accounting, time management and contact management.
Yes, we break free now and again and get away from the desk, but not for long if we expect to survive. And as much as we’d love to sit at Starbucks and labor over a good conversation or take our laptop in and complete the stereotype, we can’t afford either the latte or the wireless connection. Besides, we’re too busy working to present ourselves as some sad little cliche. So to all beginning writers out there who believe that lattes and leisure constitute the whole of our freelance existence, please rethink either your opinion or your career strategy, lest you be sorely disappointed.
Lori:
This is the kind of thing that gives prospective employers the understanding that writers work for exposure, or the byline or the pure joy of writing.
Anyone who thinks writing is joyous, hear this: It is having written that brings joy. In other words, the fact that the hard part(s) is (are) over. The writer’s block, the interviewee who, no matter what method of torture you use, answers all questions with, “Yes,” “No,” or “What do you want to know?” And when you say, “This is what I want to know …” they say, “It’s fine.” Oh, and the rewrites and revisions. When all of that is finished and our client is satisfied and the check clears! that’s the time for the yippees.
I feel a new term coming on: Latte writer. What paper was this, anyway? I’m sure the editor is laughing … all the way to the bank.
What do you think she got paid? I wonder if she offered to work for the exposure….
This was in the Philadelphia Inquirer. A writer friend called and alerted me to it.
Amen, Carol! Amen. I think you’ve coined the phrase. The latte writer is the wanna-be writer who makes us working writers look bad. ;))
Lori:
Excellent post. I just made the switch to freelancing a little over a year ago and I have to say, I’ve never worked harder in my life.
My actual client work only takes up 20-30% of my time. I spend a LOT of time searching job boards, blogging for exposure, writing my own marketing materials, researching new programs and systems to help me learn and grow, reading, etc.
I have never once sat in a cafe drinking a latte and working!
Hey Lori, it’s cwbybrick…She’s either ‘One of those Special People’ or leading a charmed freelancers life.
$50-100/hr? Egads! Me, as a beginner, am lucky to pull $7-12.50/hr, $.3-.10/word or $10-20 per article!
Good Luck tho!
AWESOME post, Lori. I wonder if there’s anyway you can let ol’ Latte Life writer see it?
Brick, you of all people should be making more than you do! :))
Alicia, I think she was sufficiently ripped apart by all the responses to her editorial. 😉
Same here, Leigh. I work harder at finding gigs than anything.
So are you going to write a rebuttal article and challenge the editor to publish that version? I think it’s important not to let even more prospective employers get the idea we don’t work for a living.
I’m new to the freewriting business, and I have yet to have a day any resembling latte writer’s. But boy, it would be nice.
I can relate.
When people think I sit in my jammies all day and write, they haven’t got a clue. Worse, are those people who think that you are available to just drop everything to meet with them during your designated work hours.
I’ve tried the Panera Bread, coffee shop deal and it only works for about an hour or two every few months.
Oh my, the comment from me is proof that you should not try to type and have a conversation with a 5 year old at the same time! Too bad there isn’t a way to edit comments.
Don’t worry, Harmony. It doesn’t count here. :))
Devon, someone beat me to the rebuttal. I heard about the article a full week after the fact. Oh well! All I can do is address it here in hopes that employers and potential clients understand that we only wish for a life like that!
This cracks me up. Geez, I wish this freelance writer had such a leisurely and glamorous life! LOL How off the mark can you get? I think you should propose a counter article. I’d be glad to volunteer as one of your sources.
You’re on, Kathy!