I was reading some article the other day about how, because of the explosion of blogs and Kindle devices, etc., that there are more and more people becoming writers than ever. I don’t doubt it. With the explosion of blog platforms, Kindles, etc., has come an explosion of blogs about freelance writing and writing “gurus” and services promising untold riches from freelance writing jobs.
But a little truth is needed, I think. I’m sure that most of the people who buy into these promises, are not serious writers, but looking to make “easy money.”
The reality is, there’s nothing easy about freelance writing. Even if you are a successful freelancer, you have to work harder than you might work at a 9-5 job to keep things moving.
It’s not about rolling out of bed at noon and sitting around in you PJ’s typing a few words in between The View and Who Want’s to Be a Millionaire. When you are freelance, you don’t have health benefits or disability insurance or any of that. And when you’re not tapping your fingers on the keyboard writing, your either doing research, looking for new writing gigs or hanging out in discussion forums and social networking sites or answering email. Me, I’ve been up since 6 am and in addition to making four deadlines, I have to work on the next issue of my ezine, which is long overdue. I probably won’t finish my work until 8 or 9 o’clock tonight.
So if you have a knack for writing and don’t mind sitting in front of a computer for hours at a time and like doing research and really don’t mind the unstable work situation, maybe freelance writing is for you after all. But, if you’re only getting into it because you read some Internet ad promising you an effortless source of income, don’t believe it.
