Too Pooped to Pop

I started this blog with good intentions of writing about my new-ish freelance writing career and about how I am going to turn it into a full time job. When? Hopefully before Christmas! But I have been so busy actually writing that I haven't really had time to get this started! That's a good thing though right?

Until this year, I'd been dabbling away at this or that. I'd been getting some work but I had not discipline. The jobs I had had no definate deadlines. It was just a submit when you feel like it type of thing and I'll pay you. Which is what I did. I did ok with it - I made about $700 between July and December of 2006 - but the discipline wasn't there. It was still very random.

Then in January I started working with this writer who has been freelancing for a few years and is finding that she has way too much work to do all on her own. Rather than turn it away, she took on a few contract workers, one of them being me. Some people might not think that is the greatest idea but it is helping me in a lot of ways. It's showing me some of the things that I need to do to be ready for full time freelancing.

There are three things I've decided I need to do before I can quit the day job:

1. Get disciplined; make sure I hit the write word counts/page amounts; hit deadlines come hell or high water. She's good for me on this because the one time I didn't hit deadline she made sure I knew right away that this was not acceptable.
2. Get some money put aside. Payments can come fast or they can take weeks to come so you can't be sure how much money you are going to get in any given period.
3. Get a writing area. I'm working mostly at the kitchen table right now and I'm looking forward to having my own little work space soon. We're doing some reorganization in our home so that both myself and my fiance will have our own work spaces (we'll both be working at home).

My fiance works from home now doing bookkeeping/accounting/ taxes type of stuff and when I start working from home we'll both be here. I think we can handle working in the same room together but we definately need our own space.

I'm thinking that when I quit the day job I might take a bartending or waitressing job on a very part time basis so that there is some definate money coming into the house as well as giving me a reason to get out of the house. I could quite easily become very hermit like if I didn't have an excuse to get dressed, put some make up on, and get out.

Well, it is 2 a.m. and I must go to bed. The weekend is over and the day job starts again.

Be well all!