In Search Of Top-Class Freelance Writing Jobs: How To Make A Successful Career

Discipline.

To work from home requires a certain amount of discipline. It is very easy to get distracted from your work, if you have any interferences such as the TV, loud music or phone calls.

Discipline your family and friends not to disturb you when you are writing. A favourite is ‘I know you are busy but I just need to tell you’, and ten minutes later you are trying desperately to regain your train of thought

Ideally you need to have workspace, where you cannot see other people’s clutter. Any household tasks are on a list, and even the dog has their own clock so they know when its walk time.

Availability.

Choose your work times. They may vary depending on your writing projects, but essentially make sure you are treating your writing as a job and doing it at set times.

Tell your family the times that you are generally working and which days of the week. Try to keep to that time in the same way that you would if you worked outside of the home,

Let your clients know in advance if you are going to be on holiday, or if you are too busy to take on any further work right at this moment. By working this way it will cause you less stress.

Build up your reputation.

Start by doing some projects that you know that you can complete within an agreed time, and don’t involve too much research. Use these as bread and butter jobs.

Strive to get good feedback from your clients. Open lines of communication, be prepared to go the extra mile. Know your limitations, if you know that creative writing does not come easy for you then don’t go for that job.

Build on your own skills. This can be done by either trying types of writing (try blogs instead of report writing), or by taking a few courses that will help you develop some new writing skills.

Sense of humour.

It always helps to have a good sense of humour, not only does it feed your creativity, it helps you stay sane when your client decides that they don’t like the work you have painstakingly completed to their specification.

Writer’s block. This happens to every writer at some time or other and sometimes on a daily basis. Know when to stop and move away from your work and take a break.

Always have a backup plan. This is case a few things don’t turn out well, or due to circumstances beyond your control. Remember there are a lot of jobs out there and a lot of great clients to work with.

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