freelance writing

NaNoWriMo update: 45,612 words written, 4,388 to go! Deadline: Saturday. You can see a list of Toronto area NaNoWriMo participants listed by wordcount in descending order here. I'm listed as "Inkygrrl". If you're curious about who's working on a NaNoWriMo novel in your city, scroll to the top of the page and enter your city name, then press "GO".

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Almost every day, at least once a day, I have marvelled at how much I love being a writer.

There are a zillion reasons, and I've already expounded on many of them. But one of the reasons I love being a writer is because it's so ideally suited for my personality. For one thing, I'm pretty antisocial when I'm in workmode. I like immersing myself completely in my writing, shutting out the rest of the world (unless a part is directly relevant to my writing), not talking to anyone, not seeing anyone.

Don't get me wrong. Though I hated (HATED) working in a cubicle environment in Philadelphia, I did enjoy the social interaction with my team. But then again, I wasn't working on my own writing; I was doing Webstuff, management stuff, project planning stuff. I did find myself missing that interaction once I moved back home and started fulltime freelancing.

I've been fulltime freelancing for a full year now. In that time, I've come to some conclusions about personality traits necessary to be a fulltime freelance writer, at least from my own experience. These are:

You have to be disciplined in your work habits. This is the first essential; you don't have a hope otherwise. This also applies to anyone who wants to work from home. I found this incredibly tough in the beginning.

You need to be able to work alone for long periods of time. Having been self-employed for years now, I'm used to this. I revel in it. I suspect this would be far tougher for those who are used to a regular office environment.

You need to develop a tough skin re: rejection. Unless you're incredibly lucky, you're going to be facing a lot of rejection slips in the beginning. The first few times I got rejected, especially after the nasty ones, I felt like just curling up in a dark corner somewhere and never sending anything out again. Now I don't have the luxury of wallowing. It's still an ego blow when someone says no, of course, but if I pause to lick my wounds each time, I'm going to be wasting valuable writing and marketing time.

You have to be somewhat crazy. A necessary trait for anyone preferring a highly unpredictable and unstable career like freelance writing! :-)

Tonight I'm going to Newmarket to hang out with Jodi and check out her new place; she and James moved in last weekend.

Links/News:

For those on Livejournal, I've created a Blatherings update page. If you link to this via your Friends page, then you'll know whenever I update my Blatherings and be able to click a link to see the entry. It's not a true feed, so it won't cost you any Livejournal points.

My December Press Kit column for Writing World is online, for those interested.

One year ago, Helen Waters gave a Guest Blather.

Two years ago, I went to a memorial for Lloyd Landa.

Three years ago, Jeff, Jodi, Allison & I went to a Great Big Sea concert.

Five years ago, "Earth: The Final Conflict" was filming in our area.