Why Be a Freelance Writer?
This is an important question that all freelance writers should ask themselves. We’ll all give different answers, but we need to know what motivates us to pursue a career that can have a high level of uncertainty and significant amounts of frustration.
Here are my top five reasons for why I am a freelance writer.
#1. I get to live wherever I want.
Here’s where I’ve lived since I quit teaching college in 1994 to become a full-time writer:
* Chico, California, a beautiful mid-sized college town in the Sacramento Valley beside the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
* Kauai, the most beautiful of the Hawaiian Islands. If you’ve been there, you know what I mean.
* The coast of far northern California. I owned a home on five redwood-studded acres just three miles from the Pacific Ocean.
* Mount Shasta, California, at the base of a 14,179-foot-high volcano just south of the Oregon border. Great people, great hiking, and the subject of one of my hiking guidebooks.
* Ashland (my current home), a famous small town in southern Oregon, well-known for its beauty and friendly people.
In addition, I travel frequently. For example, I just spend January through March exploring Mexico.
#2. I love the intellectual stimulation.
My main specialty is creating learning and teaching supplements for college textbooks. Over the last 20 years I’ve worked on over 300 projects in a wide variety of subjects ranging from geography to history to political science to environmental science to education. I love to learn and I love to think, so this is the perfect niche for me.
#3. I get to set my own hours.
This is a big one. The last time I worked for someone else was back in 1994, when I taught American government courses at Butte College in Chico, California. Even then, I only had to show up at the specific times of my lectures. (Oh, when I lived on Kauai in the late 1990s, I worked for two days as an extra on the movie Six Days, Seven Nights with Harrison Ford.)
I really appreciate being able to work at my peak times, and to have the flexibility to schedule workouts, recreation, socializing, and vacations around my writing.
#4. I make a good living.
Not as much as some top freelance writers, but my niche pays me well enough to provide me with an excellent place to live, healthy food to eat, and opportunities for recreation and fun, while also funding my retirement accounts and adding to my savings.
#5. I enjoy writing.
Not all the time, of course. But most of the time.
Your Take
Why are you a freelance writer? Tell us in the comments below, or perhaps you want to write your own post?
Hi John,
My reasons mirror yours–the flexibility can’t be beat and I *love* the variety that freelance writing offers. One week I’m interviewing someone who specializes in the art of negotiation, and the next week is a pharmacology prof who’s doing research on MS. I’m always learning!
Lori, I also like working in a variety of areas. I’ve recently done several projects in education, including creating test questions for a course on the history of American education.
My reasons can be summed up in one word, John – Freedom.
Freedom!
That always make me think of the Aretha Franklin song “Think.” I love the way she belts out the word.
Me, too, John 😀
Well, so far your list and Cathy and Lori’s reasons are all on my list… and I’d add the people I meet. All sorts… people I wouldn’t have met any other way. And the internet has made that more so for me.
Good one Anne! I’ve also met a lot of people.
People kind of freak me out. Working in an office where I had to deal with other people’s moods and stresses was extremely taxing for me. As a freelancer, I can choose when to be around people and have enough time alone to recharge.
Dava, you’re probably like me in that you have some introvert tendencies. Here’s an excellent TED talk from Susan Cain, the author of Quiet:
I FEEL you on this! Last Friday a woman in my office was so rude to me that it took my breath away! I was actually so shocked by it that it has made me re-evaluate my entire life and how I want to spend my time.
I like this post because most of the time freelancers are complaining about how difficult it is to earn a living. This was so positive!
I’m glad you like the post, Angela, and I’m sorry you had such an unpleasant experience in your office. Sometimes working with other people can be very difficult.
Well you can’t always live wherever you want. I’d love to live in Hawaii – and yes probably I’d choose Kauai – but due to immigration issues its not likely to happen! Setting my own hours and having the flexibility to walk my dogs or ride a horse when the weather’s good is right up there for me. I can write in the evening to make up for hitting the trails while daylight was on my side.
Cheryl, I’ve always appreciated the ability to take advantage of the weather to get outside. I remember living on the California coast and taking my dogs out for beach walks in-between rain storms.
I concur with all of the answers above. I LOVE being able to do what I love every day.
As Cathy Miller said above, it’s about Freedom!
John, right now I’m in the splendid city of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico—truly a dramatic, vivid, historically fascinating place. I’m house-sitting in a great place, and I’m working every day. My sweetheart and I have done several house-sitting gigs like this, in the Bahamas and Panama too. It only works because we are freelancers.
I’ve had some pretty steep valleys in some of my workload lately, but it’s still good, because I can work on travel pieces and essays when the copywriting is slow. Last week I interviewed a champion woman wrestler for a magazine piece over Skype. So, for all the reasons you mention and more, freelancing is an intriguing and constantly changing way to make a living. Thanks!
Wow, Tom, San Miguel de Allende! I have friends who go down there every winter for a few weeks, and it’s on my bucket list. Good for you for nailing all those great house-sitting gigs.
I also house-sit for 3-4 weeks every winter in San Francisco. We couldn’t do this if we had a regular job!
All I can say, John, is “ditto!” I especially love learning new things and the flexibility of my schedule.
We are very fortunate, aren’t we?
The ability to make a good living is definitely a part of it for me — especially being able to make money doing things that I love. Traditional jobs always seem to have some kind of artificial cap on earnings. You can make whatever the standard pay is in your industry, and sometimes a bit above. But most employers aren’t interested in paying more than that. If you’re good enough to bring in more money, it goes in your employer’s pockets. I’ve never been okay with that. And the unlimited potential of doing my own thing has always been a driving factor (and it’s why I’m so big on diversifying my income streams — billable hours alone are also limited in nature).
But there was another reason I decided to go the self employment route when I was young. I wanted a solid, established business in place before starting a family. This way I wouldn’t have to choose between staying home with kids or leaving for work. And I wouldn’t have to struggle through the startup phase with young kids in the house if I wanted to start a business later. Phase one down. 🙂
Jenn, those are two excellent reasons for choosing to be a freelance writer, especially having a work-at-home career that meshes with having a family.
I also never liked working in regular jobs, and I especially didn’t like feeling like my income was capped.
Yes, I second yours & everyone’s reasons in the comments! And I’m with Jenn… I hate being limited, not only in income, but in possibilities. As long as I’m self-employed, I’m not limited to being a cog in a machine; I’m driving. I can choose the route and change direction if I see that doing so is what’s best for me & my business.
Very well put KeriLynn!
Because not writing is like not being able to breathe
I am totally with you on point #1. I am from London but I’m living in Oaxaca, Mexico, making my living as a writer. It is such an incredible privelege to be able to live here.
I totally agree with all of the comments above. i enjoy being able to do what I do on a daily basis.