The Dream of Freelance Writing

Gareth Hancock
Jul 26, 2017 · 2 min read

I’ve been a freelance writer since 2011, this is what I know.

It’s a hard life.

The dream of writing for a living fails to understand the reality.

The dream says no more 9-to-5.

The reality is no regular paycheck. No paid holidays or sick days. And no switching off at the end of a working day.

The dream say no more shitty boss or annoying colleagues.

The reality is clients that don’t pay on time, or worse don’t pay at all.

The dream says working from home.

The reality is loneliness.

The dream says being your own boss.

The reality is admin and tax returns and working out when to raise rates without losing clients.

The dream says working your own hours.

The reality is working more hours than you knew you were capable of.

The dream says working from exotic locations.

The reality is nursing a coffee in McDonald's for the free WiFi.

The dream says clients falling over themselves to have you write for them.

The reality is days spent cold pitching to find a person that will take a chance on you.

The dream says lavish lifestyle.

The reality is cutting costs and saving money.

The dream says writing for a living is the greatest thing in the world.

That part is true.

This article originally appeared over on LinkedIn Pulse, here.

Written by

I write words for people. Owner of www.thatcontentshed.com (@thatcontentshed).

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