Determination, focus and motivation

So this past week I had a visitor, which is why I didn't blog all week. It was my ex-boyfriend and I'm not really sure why I allowed him to distract me the way he did, but I did. And now I'm regretting it, more than one of my clients its upset with me and I've missed a really easy deadline. And on top of all that, I only went to 1 class all week. For what? I can't really blame him cause it's not like he was up bothering me or anything I just didn't feel like doing anything while he was there, I wanted to lay around with him.  Thank God, all my contracts are still in tact, I just have some serious catching up to do.

So what has this taught me? That being a free lance writer takes some serious determination, focus and motivation. Whereas with other career chooses such as music and acting, your friends can go along with you and help you and give suggestions. But who wants to read over my articles about gardens in London?


Writing is an isolating career it takes a lot of quiet and alone time to be successful. It gets lonely some times and frustrating because it takes longer than expected to write a 10,000 word article, but in the end this is my dream. I know I won't be writing what somebody else tells me to write all the time. It's just for the moment and one day I'll be free...free to do and say what I want and people will listen.  But until then I need a lot of determination, focus and motivation...

Don't fool yourself

This writing business is serious business...it's not roses and cake. It's like really hard work. For some reason I thought I would be able to wake up whenever I want and lay around my house and write and make money. Um no, not at all. Doesn't work that way. Writing, unless you sell a screenplay, novel or are o NYT Best Seller List you're not making a whole lot of money. Being a freelance writer is similar to a struggling artist or actor, you have to have the determination to make it or this business will eat you alive. It's really sink or swim, every man for himself. These contractors what a lot of work for small amounts of money and if thats all the work you're getting at the money, you have no choice but you accept.

It's crazy how everyone loves the arts, painting, acting, writing, etc. but you don't get paid the big bucks until you 'make it'. While my friends are working at a job they hate making $15.00/hr...that just doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. But I've learned over the years that I'd rather be happy than rich, or well off. And writing makes me happy. But...don't fool yourself, this is serious business. :)

What now???

So I've been in the habit of applying for as many jobs as possible, because I figure if I apply for 5-10 jobs I'm likely to get at least 1. And so far that process has been working for me...however, now things are starting to change. What do I do now that I'm getting more than 1 job out of 5-10? This weekend alone, I got 2 $1000 contract and $100 contract. I think I'm missing one, but I got 3 contracts in 3 days. And I have one guy that wants me to do a sample for a $1200 project, and keep in mind not all my applications are expired, so there's a chance I can get some more projects....I'm not complaining, not at all. I love my work and absolutely need the money but um...I'm also a full time student, I don't want to turn down any work, I want to work as much as possible while there is work, because being self-employed there will undoubtedly be a slow period, but at the rate I'm going I'm going to be getting about 2-3 hours of sleep  a night for like the next 2 weeks...again I'm not complaining, just a tad bit overwhelmed. Oh, that's the one I forgot, I have an outstanding contract, I just want to hurry up and get finished with this project it's paying $300, but I've had it forever because I just don't want to do it.

So I guess it's be stressed because you're not getting jobs and have zero dollars in your bank account, or be stressed because you have too many jobs... I'll take the latter of the 2, def. seems like the lesser of the 2 evils. Off to work I go...

Im Working to Make Money Here!

What is wrong with these people?! Do they not know I'm a freelance writer, which does not mean my services are FREE! I bid on jobs and they want me to submit sample work, which I don't normally have a problem with but when you're asking me to 4 and 5 600 word articles, for free?? Yeah, I have a problem with that! Especially when I have a website (acaciarae.webs.com) where I display my sample work...I mean if I'm a good writer, then I'm a good writer. This one lady is insisting that I do sample work for her project and the only reason I'm going to do it, is because is a huge project and if I get it, it will be a pay a lot of my bills...but for the most part I will direct you to my website or do a small sample.

I don't mean to sound stuck up or that I'm too good to do your sample work, its just that my time is my most valuable asset, and if I'm working all day on doing sample work for people when am I ever going to make money?? I'm just saying...I'm working to make money here!

It's a Learning Process

So I've only been doing freelance writing full time for about 6 weeks. So for I haven't made a whole lot of money and the money that I have made has taken me so long to make, it's much more profitable to get a regular job. I know there are freelance writers out there that make well over $100,000/year. I'm tryna get like them! I know it's gonna take time, but I also know that I'm doing something wrong. I've never really valued reading all the freelance articles I subscribe to, but I'm going to spend more time doing that, cause what I'm doing aint working. The goal in life is to make your money work for you instead of you having to work for you money. I'm working super hard for my money right now! Not that I'm complaining I know that I have to put in work and time to get to a certain goal, but I need to find a way there first. We've all been encouraged to take the road less traveled, well this time I'm taking the most heavily traveled path, the one with the most footprints and highest success rate!

We all have to start somewhere

Being a full time student, mom and working on building my own business is no easy task. It takes a lot of discipline, focus and motivation and I seem to be lacking in all those areas. I love to write, don't get me wrong and not having to work under another persons rules is amazing. But I'm still getting used to waking up and being at home all day. It's so easy to sit in front of the TV and eat with no real responsibilities. But wait! I have a ton of responsibilities, way more responsibilities I had when I was working a 9-5 job. I have to get up everyday and make it happen for myself. There is no day I can slack off, be sleepy, not feel good, or want to be lazy. Everyday I have to wake up, bid on jobs, work on projects, submit proposals, edit and proofread. I'm struggling, am ready to give up and go back to a 'normal' job it's so much easier to work for somebody else. I don't quite have the motivation and drive it takes to be a successful freelancer, but we all have to start somewhere...