Writers Worth: When Fear Matters

We’ve been talking a lot about what we’re afraid of and what we should do to, well, get over it.

What we haven’t talked about is when we have to pay attention to our fears. When our fears matter, and when they deserve some attention.

Some fears that are more than just our little egos trying to live in a big world:

• Fear of not having the cash to pay the bills
• Fear of being screwed over by clients
• Fear of someone stealing our work
• Fear of this not really being the job for us

That’s some pretty heavy shit right there, isn’t it?

Every one of those fears are real. Every one of those fears has happened to one or all of us. Every single one of those fears is something we have to sort out.

Luckily, we can.

Let’s rip these open and put a spotlight on the dark places.

Fear of not enough cash

Yep, this one is as real as it gets. Remember starting out and wondering about, well, everything at once? How will I get clients? How will I do the work? How will I get paid? And remember taking those shitty gigs that did nothing to pad your savings account? Remember those shitty clients who argued every nickel? Maybe you’re still there. Occasionally, we all come across something that brings up fragments of those lousy times.

But the answer to avoiding those times, oh. That’s an easy one, my friend.

Charge more.

And don’t charge something like five bucks more. Charge like you mean it. Charge enough to pay your bills, to pay your taxes, to make a profit, to have a career. If you don’t know what to charge, do the calculation.

Fear of being screwed by clients

Yes, Virginia. There are clients who hire you with no intention of paying you. I’m happy to report that these people are the exception and not the rule. Then again, if you hang out at the low end of the pay scale, you’re going to attract that. See my previous point for how to fix that.

But it’s a real fear that a legitimate client who isn’t used to working with freelancers is going to assume that if the draft you send over doesn’t sit well, they don’t have to pay. They’re going to assume it’s like a restaurant. If there’s something not quite right, they’re going to expect a free dessert.

There’s an easy answer for this one, too:

Use a contract.

Don’t skydive without a parachute. With every client, you should be using a contract that locks you both in to your respective promises. You promise to do the work, they promise to pay you. Will you avoid disputes entirely? No. But you’ll avoid not getting paid at all.

Fear of theft of our work

Yes, there are unscrupulous people who don’t mind using your hard work and attaching their own names to it. It’s happened to me a few times. Clients reprint your articles, strangers reuse your blog posts (without mentioning it), jerks skim your content and wrap their own URLs around it (thus driving your traffic to their monetized sites). But it’s not just those who don’t understand copyright.

Writers should know better, but even a few of them think it’s fine to “rewrite” or “revise” your stuff and present it as their own. It’s plagiarism. It’s also horseshit thinking, but that’s an entirely different post.

Here’s how you resolve it:

Defend your work aggressively.

Write to all offenders as soon as you find the problem and demand they cease and desist. Alert Google and other search engines to the theft. Contact your editors and let them know if an article you’ve written has been lifted, even if you’re not sure if it was purchased. When someone rewrites your post, decide whether you want to leave a comment thanking them for thinking your original post was good enough to reuse, but reminding them they should have asked first. They’ll probably delete your comment, but your point is made — you’re now on to them.

Fear that this isn’t the job for us

That’s a big one, isn’t it? What if I don’t make it? What if I make a fool of myself? What if I get six months into this and realize I hate it?

Here’s your solution:

Trust your gut.

Know those times when you make a decision and you just don’t feel that great about it? That’s your gut telling you something. If you’re six months into this, struggling, and you’re feeling like maybe you’d just rather not bother, it could be this isn’t the job for you. If, however, that struggle is coupled with a feeling that you really, really want to make this work and you can’t see yourself doing anything else, there’s your answer. Now all you have to do is push past your roadblocks and find a better way to build your freelance writing business.

Writers, what legitimate fears do you have in your writing life?