What’s on the iPod: All at Once by The Airborne Toxic Event
This pace shall be the end of me if it continues. Yesterday I had two more interviews, two more articles to write, and more coordination of interviews for the magazine piece. Today, four interviews for four different stories. Tomorrow, more of the same.
I’ll be glad to see September 27th come. That’s a day that, so far, has nothing on the schedule. Until then, plowing through.
I was thinking about what Devon said the other day about one of the essential freelance attributes – drive. It’s true. Without that feeling in your gut that makes you not walk, but charge to the computer every day to do the job, I don’t see how any writer can survive long at it. It’s passion turned outward. The trick is finding that same passion when the work is for a client and not on your novel.
How do you find that passion?
Get curious. Curiosity is a must for any freelancer. It’s how you find the way to write about any topic the client wants or needs and make it compelling. If you’re writing about auto insurance versus car rental insurance, you can find one thing (more than likely more than one thing) that’s interesting about the topic that excites or intrigues you (okay, excite may be stretching it). Did you know that rental insurance, in most cases, is unnecessary? Did you know that if your auto insurance limits are low, you could be stuck with a rather large portion of the bill should your loss with a rental car exceed that insurance? See? There’s always something to get curious about.
Take a stake in it. In all client jobs, you have to be part of the outcome. Meaning this – you should feel part of the job enough to strive for a super outcome every time. Sweat the details right alongside your client. It makes for a better product in the end.
Insert pride. If you take no pride in your work, it will show.Make it your point of pride to get the job done right and on time. Treat that project as if it were your own. Put the same effort (or more) into your clients’ projects as you would your own.
How do you find the passion that drives you?
I'm VERY much driven to work hard because I want to maintain the freedom and lifestyle I've created for myself – I don't need to ask for permission to take a day off and I can choose the projects and clients I want to work with.
Another thing that drives me is working on my own projects. I'm excited about taking an idea and running with it.
I find that if I take a job JUST for the money, I'm miserable. I believe in getting quality pay for quality work, but there has to be something that excites or intrigues me about the project.
I agree with all three of you. Most projects I can't wait to start – with most assignments, I'm brainstorming angles before I've made the first call. Then there are the other ones that I put off because they're the ones I took either because I needed the cash or because I had a gap in my schedule to fill.
Those jobs tend to be draining while the ones I'm excited about are more energizing.
For me, it's a combination. Like Kim, the freedom is most appealing. I am good at following instructions, but very bad at taking orders 🙂 Not having to ask permission or explain my whereabouts is important to me. But I also have that natural curiosity you mentioned. There are so many things that fascinate me, and it's a joy to investigate and learn about them. I love talking to people and finding out what they know. Another thing is that I truly enjoy writing, even if it's not my own work or even creative work. If there's a challenge in it, I'm probably going to like doing it.
Kim, great reasons to be driven! Having this freedom is incredible, and loving the work is just gravy.
Devon, likewise. I remember taking a gig ages ago that was tedious, underpaid, and took forever. Then when I accidentally typed in the wrong page count in the email to the client (who'd received weekly updates for months and should have known better), he flipped out on me, shouting about how he'd trusted me and I'd lied. I sent a note back apologizing for mistyping the number (and the fool had the damned file, so why not look?), he said "No worries." Bullshit. You ream me out like that and don't apologize and think we have no worries? We have BIG worries. One of the worst jobs I've had. I fired him after I'd fulfilled my commitment, but honestly, I should have dropped him on his ass after that. But that's not professional (just really, really tempting!).
Paula, I love those assignments! Today I have an interview with someone whom I've already interviewed this week for another story. She's just a joy to talk to and presents her information in the most sensible way. I look forward to talking with her.
Ashley, AMEN! No way we should have to explain where we are. We do have a responsibility to our clients for their projects (and for that we need to communicate well in advance when we're not going to be around), but they can't chain us to our computers and demand our undivided attention. That loses me, too.