What I’m listening to: Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day
Wait — isn’t summer supposed to be the slow period? I can’t breathe for the amount of work coming in. Yesterday, I was handed two more projects. That makes five projects on my schedule, and it means once more, I’m about to run when I was hoping to stroll.
I’ve not done any major marketing push since December. This is all organic. That doesn’t mean I won’t market. It would be foolish not to. So I’ve decided to start contacting new entrants into my specialty in hopes of building some new relationships.
As I was shaking my head over an encounter with a particularly confusing freelancer not long ago, I thought about all the ways a writer can sabotage their own career — laziness, missing deadlines, not charging enough, you name it. Still, even the freelance writers who are doing it right can sometimes be doing things that aren’t helping boost the freelance writing career.
I’m sure there are more, but I’ve found four things that I’ve changed at some point in my career, and each change made a big impact.
#1: Factor revisions into your pricing. Maybe you still make the mistake of assuming you’ll need just one round of light revisions. If so, you’ve probably been caught in the occasional revision cycle that seems never to end. First thing — write your contracts to include revision limits. Second thing — assume you’ll need that maximum when you’re pricing the project.
#2: Plan your day in advance. Particularly when I’m busy, I’ll map out my entire next day before I shut down the computer. It’s easy. Just open your calendar app and make a bulleted list of the things you have to do. Then decide how much time you’re devoting to each item. Schedule it for the next day.
#3: Follow up on one note or phone call. Following up is tough because you see yourself stuck on the phone or writing emails for hours. If you can’t muster that much energy, start small. Choose one. Then pick up the phone or write a simple follow-up note. That’s it. This gets you in the habit of following up, and you may find yourself thinking that maybe two notes are doable. Or three.
#4: Do something on your own. Look, sometimes the best lessons you’ll learn come from screwing up. The next time you head to the forums or blogs for an answer, stop. Go instead to your search engine and research the answer for yourself. Break that dependency on getting approval before you try anything new.
Writers, what did you change about how you do things?
Were the results what you expected?
What one thing do you think other writers need to change?
3 responses to “4 Things to Change Now to Improve Your Writing Career”
I've always been a list-maker who starts each day knowing what's on my to-do list (although mine is good old-fashioned ink-on-paper thanks to a weekly planner), so that hasn't changed.
But a recent debacle with an editor who seemed utterly incapable of clearly stating what she was thinking — either that, or she changed her mind every week or two — I will now factor MAJOR revisions into pricing.
My to-do list keeps popping up in front of me today, so I guess I should have added "Don't ignore your list." 🙂
Good for you, Paula. I'd certainly make sure you're compensated for the added aggravation.
Thanks for the post. Cool ways and ideas provided to build your writing career. Indeed you need to plan your day to get the most of the day for your blog.