A couple of readers have asked me to write about "Mistakes you've overcome or life lessons" and "Whatever challenges you've faced (and overcome) in establishing a freelance writing career."
I've
made plenty of mistakes and learned a heck of a lot over the past eight years of freelancing (and the past 17 years of novel-writing...) What follows is far from an exhaustive list, but I hope it helps you learn from, and potentially avoid, some of my mistakes.
#1: Focusing Myopically on Making a Living Writing Novels
For years, I was keen to make a living writing novels. I knew (from the ton of writing books I
bought and read) that it wasn't going to be easy, but I also knew that I loved writing stories and that – given a chance – this was what I'd like to do for a living.
I wish now that I'd got into other forms of writing, particularly blogging, earlier. I love writing all sorts of things, not just novels – and not only are novels hard to make money from, they also take a pretty long time to write (and an even longer time to get good at
writing).
If you're in the same position:
- Try out other types of writing. I didn't know I'd love blogging until I started.
- If you really want to make money from your writing, look into business-y types of writing (like copywriting and technical writing).
- Don't give up on your novelistic ambitions. Set aside some time on a regular basis (try 30 minutes/day) to write fiction.
#2: Not Following Up
Enough
This is something that I'm still not very good at: I don't follow up well. When queries go unanswered, I tend to assume that the editor simply didn't like them (not that the query has been accidentally buried in their inbox).
I've learnt, over the years, that a polite and friendly follow-up message is much better than saying nothing (only to get an embarrassed email from an editor months later, who's finally
found my pitch). And right now, I'm trying to get better at other forms of follow-up: for instance, I plan to email former members of Writers' Huddle when I reopen for new members next week, to see if they'd like to rejoin.
If you struggle to follow up:
- Don't be afraid of hearing "no". Sure, some clients / editors / customers might not be interested in working with you again – that's fine.
- Create template emails to make follow-up quick and easy. (You
can customise/personalise them as much as you like.)
- Work follow-up time into your schedule or calendar.
#3: Moving On Too Quickly (When Things are Working Well)
I get bored fast, and in the early years of my business, I tended to stick with one thing for about six months before ditching it and moving on. (During the past three years or so, I've curbed this tendency because (a) my small children provide quite enough
variety in my life and (b) I've found the things I really love working on – Writers' Huddle and the Aliventures blog and newsletter.)
Of course, it makes sense to quit writing projects or directions that aren't panning out ... but sometimes, I quit things that were going just fine. I'm not sure this was totally a mistake, as I gradually worked towards what I love doing most, but (financially, at least!) I probably should've stuck with what was
working for a bit longer at a time.
If you get bored fast:
- Focus on types of writing that offer plenty of variety. (Freelance blogging for a diverse range of sites, for instance.)
- Make sure you're secure financially before quitting something that's bringing in good money.
- Find ways to make your existing work more challenging/interesting (e.g. trying out unusual blog post structures).
#4: Chasing Too
Many Goals at Once
I suppose this goes hand-in-hand with moving on too quickly: I've often chased too many different goals at once. I tend to be optimistic, to say the least, about how much I can accomplish in a given amount of time. And while I have achieved a lot during the past few years, I could've made better progress by focusing on fewer goals.
At the start of this year, I limited myself to two goals for the
year: (1) drafting and redrafting a new novel (the third in the Lycopolis trilogy) and (2) growing my Writers' Huddle site to 200 members.
Both of these tie in with where I want to go longer-term (I want to continue writing fiction and I want to focus most of my non-fiction time on Writers' Huddle).
If you end up chasing too many goals at once:
- Limit yourself to just one or two writing goals for the
year.
- Get very clear about how much time you have on a daily/weekly basis for your goals, before setting them.
- If you do have multiple goals, decide which is the top priority. Where at all possible, spend time on this goal before doing any other writing, during a given day (or week).
#5: Not Recognising How Much Control I Have Over My Time
My daughter was born in March 2013 and my son in
December 2014. I can't now quite remember life before the kids, but I have a pretty strong sense that (a) I often felt really busy and sometimes quite stressed and (b) I wasted a fair amount of time!
I've honestly no idea how I ever felt busy before! I wish I'd recognised a few years ago how much control I had over my time (and how lucky I was to be in a position where I could order my days pretty much however I liked). I could and should have been firmer with myself
about things like my working hours, when to allow time for social media, emails, etc, and I'd have made faster progress.
If you're struggling to get a handle on your use of time:
- Use an app (or spreadsheet, or notebook) to track where your time is actually going.
- Plan your "Ideal Day" (be realistic, you need breaks and down time!) and try to stick to it.
- Make a list of commitments you want to get rid of or avoid, and practice saying "no" – to
other people and to yourself.
#6: Only Writing Fiction Sporadically
This is perhaps my biggest regret from the past 17 years of writing: I only worked sporadically on my fiction. As a teenager, I worked on a novel for a couple of years, then lost interest (I got into online text-based gaming, which neatly used up both my writing energy and most of my free time).
As an undergraduate student, when
I had a fair bit of time on my hands, I worked in fits and spurts. When I was working full-time, I struggled to write around the day job. Even when I was a creative writing Masters student (admittedly part-time, around running my then-fledgling business), I sometimes went weeks or months without writing any fiction.
I've actually been more consistent with two kids and very limited time than I ever have previously, writing (or working on my novel in some way) for
30 minutes/day pretty much every day since the start of January. You can find my two-year plan here:
http://www.aliventures.com/novel-in-two-years.
If you find it hard to stay focused on your fiction:
- Write fiction at least twice a week
(anything less makes it hard to keep up the momentum).
- Commit to specific time-slots for fiction writing (mine are 5.15pm-5.45pm, daily).
- Track your progress in some way, ideally with other people holding you accountable.
I hope this has helped! If you've got a writing-related question (or if there's a mistake / challenge above that you'd like me to write more about), just reply to this email or drop me a line at [email protected]. 
