The Journey - Freelance Writer to Author
I wanted to make my first post on here to establish two things; my personal shoutout to all freelance writers out there and also a promise to myself to get this job done that I have started.
So, to accomplish the first step, I say to all you freelancers out there, that I feel for you. If you are new to the freelance writing scene and struggling to find clients and establish authority, keep trekking, you'll make it. If you have been hitting those keys down on someone else's work for many years like I have, I applaud you as well and ask, are you tired? Because I know, I am.
I love to write; don't we all? Well, of course we do, or we wouldn't have bothered running on caffeine and Pandora trying to meet our many deadlines if we didn't. However, there is something exhausting about writing someone else's vision for so long that starts to drain you and make you forget about all those wonderful things you used to feel when you put pen to paper. I have been there many times. Sometimes, it's also such a timesuck that there is no time for our own work and creativity.
Then, there's that awkward moment when you happen across one of the pieces you wrote out there. it might be on Facebook somewhere, Goodreads, or it might even be on a best seller list, and you begin to regret a little that NDA you signed with the publisher. You just want to shout from the rooftops, "This is mine! I wrote it! See what I can do!" But you can't, because your meager salary cannot afford such a lawsuit.
When you add all this to the frustration of clientele, especially those all too common ones that stick with you for the long hall and make you feel secure and then drop you suddenly for no reason at all or for some BS reason abut your collaboration techniques slipping or them not liking the direction a project is going after months or years of loving your work.
That is where I am at my friends, my fellow writers. I have reached a point of no return in both my writing career and my main career, which is making me sick and sucking even more of my time away from my family. But I promise you, this post is not about complaining; it's about understanding where you are right now too and starting anew.
Instead of giving up, I have made a somewhat bold decision. I have stuck to the idea for many years that being self-published didn't count. However, I had that ideal in a world where being self-published meant you paid someone to publish print books and waved it in someone's face to tell them you accomplished something when really, you didn't. In this day and age, it is different. I read books from so many indie authors, those who self-publish online, and they go on to be in the media on best seller lists. And by golly, it's my turn!
So, I am beginning a new journey of shifting from being just a freelance writer who gets a small cut from a million to the even riskier job of putting something that truly belongs to me out there to either be rejected or loved dearly. Because this is what I was meant to be doing.
