Scenariste Blog

I learned to be an entrepreneur at my great-grandfathers knee. And further refined my skills under my grandfather’s tutelage and my father’s mentorship. My family has been entrepreneurs for more than five generations. So being a freelance writer was not a shock to the system. I was prepared for the ups and downs.

So what’s the point of all this? Well, my father had a saying “There’s no point in asking the advantages of a job. You’ll figure those out soon enough. Ask about the disadvantage. Those are the more dangerous of the two. And they’re harder and more costly to learn.”

So in the spirit of my father’s saying, in this article I’m going to discuss some of the disadvantages of being a freelance writer.

The first disadvantage is the irregular income. No matter how successful you are as a freelance writer there will be months when your income is low and others when you will make more money than you’ve ever seen in your career. That’s part of the freelancer’s life. You need to be able to control your spending. You may think when the income is good that you can afford to loosen the ties on your pocketbook. But don’t. Even two or three years of income in the bank can be chewed up quickly by a contract or two going bad.

The second disadvantage is the constant search for your next contract. You are going to spend far more time on marketing your services than you ever thought you would. In fact, you need to be constantly and continually marketing. If you do short contracts, that’s not unexpected. But if you get used to a few long term contracts in a row you may let your marketing fall behind. After all, you can’t accept the work even if it is offered! Big mistake!

A third disadvantage is that of being cut off. Everyone needs people at some point in their lives. But a writer’s life is by its very nature, solitary. Loneliness is just one more characteristic of the job. You need to be able to deal with the empty room, the empty screen and not let it drive you over the edge.

Many people pick writing as a way to escape the pressures of their nine to five jobs. Unfortunately, they conveniently forget that as a freelance writer you are constantly at the beck and call of many bosses. Pressure is part of the game. Clients often (conveniently) forget that it takes time for you to schedule work and then get the juices flowing. They frequently set impossible deadlines and then ask you to meet them.

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Glen Ford is an accomplished consultant, trainer and writer. He has far too many years experience as a trainer and facilitator to willingly admit.

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