Stories serve an invaluable purpose. We all tell stories, whether in printed form or by gathering around a table and sharing an anecdote. It’s how we’re going to survive the upcoming holidays with family because stories are how we communicate with each other, and how we remember and frame experiences. It’s the foundation for human interaction. If we didn’t have stories, how would we ever capture how awful a date was or how moving an unexpected kindness?
Every writer will tell you to get used to rejection. They say it because it’s true. There’s no way around it. For writers, rejection is as common as succeeding and it never gets easier. But that doesn’t mean you can wallow in it your disappointment. You will never get anywhere if you do that. You need to learn how to cope with rejection and keep going.
There’s nothing more nerve-raking as a writer than submitting your work to an agent or editor. There’s that moment before you hit send that makes your heart skid to a halt and then jump back into rhythm. It’s a queasy act of faith before you’re forced to wait and worry. Is my work good enough? Will they like it? What if they don’t?
Writing is a strange career. It’s at once a creative endeavor and a masochistic effort. We stare at a blank page and do our best to spill out our ideas, emotions and past on the page. It’s a personal and vulnerable act that opens us up to criticism and judgement. To rejection. It allows us to explore expression and creation, which is both exhilarating and terrifying, depending on how the words are flowing and the day.
Over the past five years, I’ve posted 15 lists filled with advice for writers on a wide variety of topics within the industry. Now I’ve pulled them together in one compilation.
I’m in the last days of polishing my manuscript and am gearing up to jump into research for my next one. It’s been a long haul for this manuscript. I love the characters and story, but struggled with the usual things—self-doubt, length, setting, how to transfer the story I had in my head to paper, getting it right. Writing is never an easy process. We fling words on a page and then rearrange them until they feel right. Sometimes it takes no time at all and other times it takes what seems a lifetime. In the end, all that matters is that we finish.
Before I begin, I urge everyone to hire an attorney to draft their freelance contract. This cannot be overstated. A good attorney is essential in any business. Someday you will need one to send a letter to a deadbeat client or take a client to court based on your enforceable contract. Your success relies on the strength of your contract and your case.
I am not an attorney. This article is for information purposes to familiarize you with a freelance contract. It is not intended as a substitute for an attorney’s advice.
Being fired is the worst. It never feels good being let go for whatever reason. But sometimes it is necessary. As a freelance writer, there will be times (see our previous blog as to when those times are) when you need to fire a client. In the first part of this two-part blog, we covered when this is a good idea. Now it’s time to look at how to do it.
Here are some tips for how to fire a client:
Sometimes being your own boss has its downsides. Mostly when those clients who pay the bills and keep your writing career afloat aren’t as supportive and wonderful as you’d like. When clients cross the line from professional to unprofessional, it’s time to cut ties. That’s obvious. But being unprofessional is not the only reason to sever ties with a client.
Here is my master list of reasons to fire a client:
There are moments in a dance that instantly distinguishes a great dancer from a mediocre one. It’s the same type of moment that differentiates a choppy film from one that sweeps you away.
I’m talking about transitions. Those tiny moments between movements and scenes. The seconds hidden in the in-between spaces. A great dancer will use those transitions to make the dance flow seamlessly. A filmmaker uses transitions to hide cuts and let the story feel whole.
Writing is a combination of hubris, bravado and vulnerability. You have to possess all three to succeed. Selling your ideas isn’t easy. Selling yourself is even harder. Showing your work is anxiety-inducing. It takes a tough skin to be in this business where criticism and rejection are as common as commas. But you can’t harden yourself and your emotions if you want to write with honesty and connect with your audience. It’s a balance between self-esteem and vulnerability.
Writing is a tough gig, but a worthwhile one. If you want to write, then you will need to learn how to embrace the big three traits. Let’s break them down:
There are days I don’t want to write. No matter how I struggle, the words don’t want to come. Every syllable I manage on those days feels forced onto the page like Sisyphus with his boulder. Those are the days I wish I had picked another profession, one where I could punch the clock, do my task and go home without another thought. I even look back fondly on those days in college when I worked as a waitress.
Luckily those days are rare.