Read This Before You Set Up A Freelance Writing Career
Trust me, you’re going to need it.
If you look online, let’s say a simple google search on “How to become a successful freelance writer,” you will find tons of ways from articles and YouTube videos. There also is a step-by-step guide on how to be one. If you’re feeling motivated, maybe you will stick to the guide instead and try it for a couple of days to see how it takes because motivation is not permanent and your mood is always changing. As time passes by, the more you learn about things, the more daunting it is to be for you. You will have fears and doubts. You would ponder a lot about whether you have been making the right decision. Here’s the truth, no one realizes the most important thing to set up before going on to the path; the mindset.
Your mindset plays a significant role in determining your life’s outcomes. How you will end up in life, the way you live your life, the way you do things, and who you are as a person, are highly influenced by your mindset. A mindset is like a compass that is rooted inside your brain. A set of beliefs in how you make sense of the world and the surrounding things. By shifting and adapting your mindset, you can do anything you can think of, in this case, to become a successful freelance writer.
Have a Growth Mindset
If you read the book Mindset by Carol Dweck, you will find this term familiar. But here’s the thing, all successful people appear to have a growth mindset. People with a growth mindset believe that intelligence or skill, in any field, can be developed through effort. Basically, you can nurture your abilities in anything. Well, you may not be the next Elon Musk or Steve Jobs, but it is a powerful lens with which to see the world and it can improve the probability of your success.
People with a growth mindset don’t attach their identity to the results. Instead, they focus on growing and learning. People with a growth mindset are living in greater accordance with reality. The journey is the way for them; the journey is what matters. By believing in such a way, they can make better decisions that are realistic and measurable for them. They allow the journey to mold them to become the person they need to be.
This aligns perfectly with writers because writing requires you to learn. The most daunting thing in writing is the process. By having this mindset, you will form a better resilience and be more prepared for upcoming challenges. This mindset will also lead you to become a generalist, a type of writer who has a broad scope of topics, which is a great start to begin your freelance writing career.
Writing Is A Habit
The key to being a better writer is to write. Do you think those great writers you look up to can make a beautiful sentence in a single try and have a talent in their way of words? That’s partly true, maybe they all do have the talent, but their skill is accumulated by process and years of practice. Writing is a muscle, the more you train it, the better you become. Think of writing like going to the gym; it takes a commitment to simply show up. Like a commitment to sit every day in front of your laptop–or your journal. The best way to commit is to make it encouraging and build a habit out of it.
First, you have to create an environment that encourages you to write. Let’s look at Maya Angelou, a prolific writer. It turns out she kept a room in a budget hotel to escape the distractions of her domestic life. Of course, you don’t have to book a budget hotel, but you can design a specific place to write. If you’re living in a small space, you can set up a small writing corner, so that when you’re in there, your brain will expect you to write.
Next, you have to schedule when to write and then stick to it. Charles Dickens woke up at 7 am, had breakfast at 8 am, sat down in his study by 9 am, and worked without a pause until 2 pm. However, he liked to walk. Walking was his muse, so he would walk around the city until 6 pm and have dinner, then he would spend the rest of his evening relaxing with his friends and family. It’s surprisingly ordinary. He didn’t watch the sunrise up the hill in an old cupola and write his beautiful works in longhand. Instead, he walked, just like everyone else. Most writers have pretty much the same ordinary schedules, the difference is that they make the time to write and are able to squeeze in writing activities into their daily routines.
Last: Think of It Like A Business
You are not a freelancer; you are not a writer; you are a business owner now. Think about the marketing, how you get your name out there, your branding and portfolio, the persona you’re putting out, and most importantly, think about it from your client’s perspective. Most freelancers treat their job as a fun hobby, that’s why they’re not making much money. But if you’re sure about making your way up and making more money out of writing, then start thinking of it like a business. The digital world has made it so much easier to help you boost your online presence. You can start by growing your network. It helps you to get your name out there. A freelancer is just as good as the people they associate or work with, by doing this, people can link you to future potential jobs and opportunities.
Now you have the basic mindsets, it’s time for you to start your freelance writing journey!
