Category Archives: Freelance Writing Life

The Greatest Things About This Freelancing Gig

By on April 25th, 2013

I’m a teacher. I chose to be a teacher, and I continue to teach because I enjoy the challenge and the rewards of the profession. But there are always downsides, and in this season of assessment testing and stress, I was thinking today about my other job. I’m a freelance writer. I chose to start writing and to continue this career in addition to the full-time teaching one about eight years ago. It makes for full days, and there are times when I’m ready to throw in the towel, escape to a beach somewhere and lay still. Okay, we call …

3 Comments

Posted in Freelance Writing Life |

Shifting Schedules (Again): How to Tell When It’s Time

By on April 11th, 2013

As any work-at-home parent knows, your schedule is at the mercy of your family. The exception might be those who have a babysitter or daycare lined up, but for most of us, we have to plug along as best with we can with holidays, changing sleep schedules, summer vacations and the rest of it. Over the almost eight years I’ve been working from home, I’ve had to adjust my schedule a few times. I went from working naps to nights to nights-and-naps to just nights again. I tried mornings and then went back to nights. And that’s where I’ve been …

3 Comments

Posted in Work at Home Parents |

Weekend Reading: Your Home Office

By on March 1st, 2013

One of the biggest perks of freelancing is being able to work from home. And that often involves a home office of some kind — from a separate room to a corner of the kitchen table. This week we’re going to take a look at tips and examples of home offices for freelance writers, and tips on keeping that home office organized. If you’re still trying to figure out how to set your your ideal home office, check out these resources. You can read some of our own tips and see some of our offices in the related links below this collection. …

2 Comments

Posted in Working From Home |

Working from Home? You Might as Well Be Your Own Boss!

By on February 28th, 2013

Yahoo recently announced that all of its remote workers must either find their way back into an office or they should quit. Legalities and unemployment eligibility aside, this may very well mark a turning point for those of us who choose to work at home – that is, those of us who are at the whim of an employer. Stable work-from-home jobs aren’t always as stable as you might like to think. Yahoo is a great example, and even the giant upset with companies like Demand Studios and other content mills demonstrate how quickly things can change when you’re working …

4 Comments

Posted in Working From Home |

3 Cardinal Rules of Working with Kids at Home

By on February 14th, 2013

There is not much easy about our job unless you compare it to something like digging ditches or building a skyscraper. But that at least wears out your body rather than your mind. At the end of a day wrestling obligations to kids and careers, my brain is tired. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels mentally split almost constantly throughout the day. There is no question that working at home with kids underfoot is challenging. But it’s possible…if you follow a few ironclad rules of the trade. Never take on more than you can handle. For most …

No Comments

Posted in Work at Home Parents |

What We Can Learn from WAHM Writers

By on January 31st, 2013

We all know that the work-at-home-mom (WAHM) writers aren’t considered the upper echelon of the writing community. If you didn’t know that, you’ve never read about the cost-savings to be had by tricking desperate WAHMs into providing ultra cheap articles in a particular forum’s Special Offers. Well, as a few of us here can tell you, having children and enjoying a professional writing career are certainly not exclusive entities, and even when you stop to consider the penny-pinching, low-cost WAHM writers mentioned in those special offers and “tricks of the trade” forum posts we can learn quite a bit from their experiences. Focus on Making What …

1 Comment

Posted in Work at Home Parents |

Start Your New Writer’s Year Right!

By on January 3rd, 2013

Just an hour or two ago, I made my first folder of 2013. It was a small thing – clicking on “Create New Folder” and filing away some work – but it made the point in my mind nicely enough. This is a new year. It’s time to start this one off correctly, because it’s much easier to continue a good routine than it is to clean up a huge mess later on. Organize Old Files Start your year by blocking out a few hours on your work calendar (and get a work calendar if you don’t have one already!) …

3 Comments

Posted in Working From Home |

Clients We Love to Hate

By on December 20th, 2012

I love my clients. I don’t want you to think I’m a total jerk for getting up here on this proverbial soapbox and bashing the people who routinely buy my services. I’m not bashing them. I have no reason to – in fact, I’m suddenly thinking of dedicating a post to what makes them so amazing, but that’s not as much fun to write so I’ll put that one off for a bit. Instead let me tell you about some of the “clients” that I think we can all agree to hate. Yes, that sounds terribly ugly, but we hate …

3 Comments

Posted in Work at Home Parents |

Redefining Your Writing: Cleaning Up Your Career

By on December 6th, 2012

Your personality, preferences and skills influence all of your decisions, and that includes your writing career. Most of us who have our own careers in writing would have a hard time living with a set income again. If I need some extra cash, I take on an extra project, for example. You can’t do that if you’re salaried. Jenn’s recent post on her ambitious goals for 2013 made me start some rusty wheels turning about my own plans for the future. I think it’s time to redefine my work and possibly clean up my career. I’m getting a bit bored …

3 Comments

Posted in Work at Home Parents |

The Business of Freelancing: Disregard at Your Own Risk

By on November 22nd, 2012

Every now and again I’m caught off guard by the nature of this industry. I might not have been involved in the world of online marketing and freelance writing my entire adult life, but almost eight years in the field is enough to give me a rather cynical perspective on a lot of things. That being said, an experience this week took me aback and made me wonder – are there really writers out there who don’t know that they are a business? Apparently so. Let me explain: Earlier this week, I was working with a client on a post …

2 Comments

Posted in Working From Home |