It’s hard to believe it, but tomorrow is February 1st. And that means it is the first day of my month long insight into the life of an online writer. As of tomorrow I will be posting to my blog every day (except on days off, like Sundays for example) and sharing with you what I get up to during the day. I’ll show you how I find jobs, what I do each day and how successfully (or not) I juggle my home and work life.

If you haven’t yet signed up to my RSS feed (via the familiar button at the top of this page) do so now. You won’t want to miss a thing!

My Online Freelance Writing Career - ... earning a living one word at a time

I can hardly believe it is the 28th already! It has been a testing month (leaky roof, repairs and a fall down the stairs and a bruised coccyx for my partner) but despite all that I have still managed to achieve my writing goals for the month.

I started the year with the intention of finding some new clients, and I have added 4 to my books since returning to work on 3rd January. One of those was as a direct result of focusing on adding more content and testimonials to my professional site, so I’m pleased as punch about that.

Needless to say I have some goals in mind for February too. The first one is to provide an insight into the daily life of a writer on this very blog. This starts on 1st February – this coming Wednesday – so make sure you sign up to my RSS feed so you don’t miss any of the posts. Whatever happens in my career this coming month, I’ll be sharing it here. Let’s hope for all good news!

If I have learned one thing this month it’s that you need to be able to focus on your writing even when things change around you. There were days very early on in the month when I was sitting here writing with a leaky ceiling and water dripping into a bucket next to me. We had to turn off the power to the lights in the office just to be on the safe side, and make do with desk lamps instead. But thankfully I can still hit all my deadlines.

February should be an interesting month to share with you anyway, as there is every chance we will be booked in for a new roof to be installed on the house. So I could have two to three days of trying to work with all manner of noise going on. As someone who likes to work in peace and quiet it should be interesting! Our cat Jasper doesn’t like it either so he will be very unhappy and skitty as a result.

I’m looking forward to daily blogging from Wednesday onwards but also a little nervous. Will it be a good month to share with you? Will it be full of good things? I want it to be a warts and all experience so make sure you come back on Wednesday to find out what I really do during the day. Oh, and if anyone DOES know where January went, be sure and let me know. I feel like I ought to be starting my Christmas shopping again soon!

My Online Freelance Writing Career - ... earning a living one word at a time

I thought I would stray away from blogging about writing directly today in favour of blogging about my office. I’m lucky enough to have a dedicated room for writing in, although I have still been known to write in bed and even in the bath from time to time. Yep it has happened.

But I think I must have that New Year clear out bug – you know, the one that strikes just after New Year’s Day and (hopefully) lasts long enough to help you spring clean your entire home a few months early. Last week it was the bedroom, this week it’s the office that has borne the full brunt of my determination to get things sorted out. I’ve been toying with putting up a picture of my work desk but I fear you’d disappear or report me to the Untidy Police. I’m one of those creative types that has to have a messy desk so they know where everything is. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Anyway I’ve had a pile of shredding to do for months and while I know I should shred stuff as I go along, this rarely happens (even though I sit right next to the shredder). But since I got back into the office after the festive break I have been ploughing through the shredding like a woman possessed. And now I have but a mere couple of inches of paperwork left to go.

Working in here has been a challenge in the last couple of weeks because we had a leak in our office ceiling on January 3rd (yep the day my business partner and I we went back to work). We have a loft conversion, a leaky dormer window (now fixed) but we need a new roof. Trouble is until it is done we can’t quite be sure whether the leak will happen again. So as I sit and type this I have two buckets beside me (just in case) and a couple of towels. Also just in case. It only seems to leak when the rain is pouring down and the wind blows in the wrong direction. But since we have computer equipment around we take extra steps to keep it all safe and covered during the night and during cloudy weather.

So this desire to tidy and streamline the clutter in the office is doubly impressive when you think about it. I think a declutter is good from time to time, and it has one other major effect as well. It tends to clear out the space between my ears – clears the mind and makes it easier to get stuff done. I’ve already found two new clients this week and there is a third one potentially in the offing too. Maybe it’s all the shredding that’s making it happen?

My Online Freelance Writing Career - ... earning a living one word at a time

Unless you are already a writer, you might wonder what an online writer actually gets up to all day. Do we really sit and read tweets and status updates, or even visit our favourite websites when we should be working?

Working from home can definitely have its perks, and I for one wouldn’t want to work in any other way. But it doesn’t suit everyone. This is why it makes sense to find out as much as you can about what to expect if you are thinking of leaving your ‘proper’ job to try freelance or online writing full time. That’s why I am thinking of making February 2012 a “29 Days of Online Writing” month. I’m going to share my experiences and daily life with you every working day during the month. The idea is that you will learn more about what goes on in my daily life as an online writer. After all it’s not just writing – I’ve got other things to do during the day, like quick trips into town to do chores and paperwork stuff too.

I hope that by sharing my days during an entire month, I can help some of those who might be considering making the leap to become full time writers this year. I will make another announcement closer to the start date, because we have some behind the scenes stuff planned for this blog (necessary but boring stuff) that needs to be done first. So in case it takes longer than we think it will (which will probably be the case) I will keep you updated here. Rest assured though that I WILL be doing this, and February is the planned month to do it. If it doesn’t happen then because the blog tweaks backfire, it’ll be March.

In the meantime I would suggest you sign up to my RSS feed so you don’t miss any of the updates when they occur. Stay tuned for more info soon! And thanks for your support

My Online Freelance Writing Career - ... earning a living one word at a time

If you read my blog regularly you’ll probably remember that back in January I wrote a post about getting more writing done in less time.

Since then I have been working hard to stick to that plan, and since one of the most frequent questions I am asked about writing has to do with finding time to write, I thought it was time for an update.

Here was my plan – to finish writing at 6pm every night if possible, and only work two evenings a week if I needed to.

I know every writer is different but I definitely function better when I get up at around 7.30am every morning (except for Sundays!). I head out for a walk to wake myself up and then get started on my work, with the aid of a glass of orange juice and a cup of tea.

I stop mid morning for around ten minutes and then work through until lunch. This can be anything from 12.30pm to 2pm, depending on appetite! Once that is done I carry on writing through until around 6pm, stopping only once or twice for a cup of tea. Can you tell tea is my vice?

Anyway I wasn’t sure I could make this work when I got back to my writing after the Christmas and New Year break.

I just couldn’t see that I would be able to do the same amount of work in less time. I was all prepared to give it a go and stick to the hours, but I really thought I would notice a drop in income.

So I have been impressed in the changes that have taken place. The money is pretty much the same (obviously as a freelancer it is never the same two weeks in a row anyway, but the overall pattern is the same as it was before). In addition to that I seem to be able to write more efficiently. I get the odd day where everything seems to take ages and I can’t concentrate, but that isn’t unique to me or my writing. Everyone gets days like those, no matter what job they might be doing.

I also get evenings off to do stuff, which in turn has released the cook in me to try out some great new recipes! It’s nice to have the time, the inclination AND the inspiration to cook now that I have reduced my working hours.

To be honest I am still pinching myself that I have managed to stick to the new timetable. I thought it would be harder than it is, although with that said I wouldn’t have been able to do it if I hadn’t had a break first. You need to be 100% and firing on all cylinders to make it work I think.

I’m also able to fit in more days off around my work which has been a bonus. It means that this week, being the week the kids are off here, we can go and see family for a couple of days. I’m even getting more time to write for my own blog too, which is another big bonus!

Oh, and there’s a brand new site coming up concerning one aspect writing that I will tell you all about once it happens… more news coming soon…

My Online Freelance Writing Career - ... earning a living one word at a time

This is something I have been pondering ever since last year with my own online writing situation.

Are you up against time with your online writing?

For one reason or another we never got a holiday last year, and I must admit I was feeling it when we finally got to have some time off over Christmas. I wanted a break from online writing so I could come back with my batteries fully recharged in 2011.

I’d been working a lot of hours and some days I would start in the morning and not finish until middle to late evening. I felt like I was existing to write and do very little else! This is quite common among online writers who work from home, and it can be tricky to reset the balance.

One thing I really wanted to do was to revert to a daily schedule of online writing and finish at a dedicated time each night – say, 6pm.

But I couldn’t do it when my batteries were running on low every day. So after Christmas and the New Year, when I’d had a couple of weeks off to recharge them, I started working with the intention of finishing at 6pm each day.

And here’s the funny thing. I actually ended up getting the same amount of work done in less time, because I was giving myself some downtime from online writing every day. It felt really good because I felt inspired to start work again each morning, instead of still feeling mentally tired from the day before.

Now my typical day starts with a half hour walk before I start my online writing for the day.

This wakes me up and gets me ready for the day. It also means I get some exercise, which makes me feel better anyway. On the whole I can write faster and more efficiently. I was fretting that working less with my online writing would mean less money, but it hasn’t worked out that way, thanks to the fact that I have been more efficient and speedier with my work.

So how do you fare when working from home and getting on with your online writing? Do you work more hours than you should? Do you find that finishing at a set time and giving yourself more free time actually helps you out?

Working from home can be a challenge at times, but I’m glad I have gotten back in control of my online writing – instead of it being the other way around!

My Online Freelance Writing Career - ... earning a living one word at a time

Writing as a career – is it as glamorous as it sounds or is there more to it?

Are you cut out for writing as a career?

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a writer. Writing as a career was something I always wanted to do. There was nothing else to shoot for as far as I was concerned. I remember telling the careers teacher at school I wanted to go into the police force because I thought she would laugh if I said I wanted to try writing as a career!

If I’d known then how demanding writing as a career could be, I might not have worked towards it

Ignorance was definitely bliss at this stage. The internet didn’t exist back then and I started off writing for magazines. It provided a nice income but not enough to go full time and write for a living. It was only when the internet really got going that I realised my ideal avenue for writing had appeared.

Writing as a career is more than possible now thanks to the internet

… but it is still hard work. There are days when I am exceptionally busy and other days (thankfully quite rare) when I have little work to do at all. Most of the time those quiet days are self inflicted to give me time for other things. Like updating my blog for instance!

Some people tend to view writing as a career as a luxury way of life that is all positive and rather glamorous too. It certainly beats any of the other jobs I’ve had in the past, but there are tough days and long days and days when I wonder when I will ever get to go to bed.

Make no mistake, I’m not complaining. But I think it is important to realise that writing as a career is hard work – although it has significant rewards in many different ways if you are ready to take it on.

But you have to be ready to look for online ghostwriting jobs on a regular basis. You have to be ready to keep records and do your own taxes. You have to be ready to wear a lot of caps to ensure your career keeps going and keeps developing all the time.

If you can do this, you can look forward to being a writer for a long time to come. There is no doubt that writing as a career is the best thing I have ever done.

My Online Freelance Writing Career - ... earning a living one word at a time

Well it’s back to the grindstone today (albeit the nicest grindstone I could imagine) after the four day Easter break.  After a later start than usual (due to deliberately not having set the alarm and ploughing through lots of emails for an hour to get up to speed again) I am pretty much back into the swing of things.

But it has made me think about how I cope after a break of some kind, whether it’s just a long weekend or something longer – like a week or more.  I love having longer breaks and since I used to work in a major store where I had to work over virtually every holiday, I reserve the right now to take every single one off!  Bank Holidays are great because I get to put my feet up for all of them now.

I have become used to the fact that it takes me a while to get back into the swing of things though.  I now allow a couple of hours every time to get through that backlog of emails and just start off rather slowly.  I find I am soon back into working at my normal – much more efficient – speed, but I do make sure I block out some free time on my schedule for the first day back after any type of break like this as well.  I invariably find I need it for one reason or another.

For example this morning I had a batch of 24 articles in my inbox to deal with.  They didn’t all need writing today by any means, but because I had that bit of free time I was able to make a good start and get some of them out of the way nice and early.  So that should be another deadline I can meet in plenty of time.

How do you cope with getting back to work after taking a break of some kind?  Do you have methods and ways of getting back into the swing of things nice and easily?  Or do you find you struggle?  Share your thoughts and perhaps we can all learn from each other.

My Online Freelance Writing Career - ... earning a living one word at a time

I’m not talking about evenings or general days off here.  I’m talking about proper holiday time.

I’ve scheduled in six days off next week as my niece is coming to stay for a few days.  Should be good fun – and the break will do me good as well.

But it is necessary to prepare for it a while in advance so I can be mindful of deadlines and when certain projects are due.  I have also needed to make sure I don’t take on too much work in the run up to this break so as to avoid that scenario we are all familiar with – it has to do with a chicken and no head.

Seriously though it has worked out rather well this time (so far at least).  I’m booked up until Saturday so I can have Valentine’s day off .  And then it’s back to work for one more day on Monday to tie up the loose ends before heading off for my mini-break.

Luckily I have also booked in a long course from the end of February onwards which should take about six weeks, possibly longer, to complete.  So with any luck I will be back with a vengeance right from the start.

How do you cope with arranging any time off like this?  Do you find you have quiet periods leading up to it and when you come back, or do you get the balance just right?

My Online Freelance Writing Career - ... earning a living one word at a time

Working from home seems like such a breeze doesn’t it?  You can get up whenever you want to, spend the day in bed if you like, write whenever the mood takes you… and work whatever hours feel right.

Working from home - it still requires discipline, a home office (ideally) and the determination to work and not waste the day

But it doesn’t really work out like that, does it?  If you already work from home as a writer you will know that it takes a lot of work and discipline to make it a successful career.  You cannot afford to be distracted by anything else that could be going on.  If you have articles that need to be written and sold so you can pay the mortgage, then you must discipline yourself enough to be able to write them.

Structure is the best thing to focus on.  The more you can structure your day, the more chance you have of finishing all the jobs you set yourself to do.  It can be tricky getting the balance right though.  For example you might set yourself too much to do all the time.  This results in getting stressed as you cannot achieve all those writing goals.  Working from home is an amazing experience – but it can also be a nightmare if you cannot get the balance right.

In contrast if you don’t set enough work to do you won’t earn what you need to earn to pay the bills.  It can take time to figure out the best balance of work versus home life but it is worth persevering.  Try not to take on too many online writing gigs to start with.  Build up slowly and go from there – it is a much better way to try and find the right balance for you.

You don’t have to work the same number of hours in the same places each day if you don’t want to.  But you should at least have some kind of writing structure in place to enable you to write and sell articles or eBooks or whatever else you happen to be writing.

Every writer finds their own structure and way of working that suits them.  But be sure you don’t forget about your home life at the same time.  It is very easy to let that line blur – but if you do you will struggle to draw it again.

Working from home as a self employed online writer is one of the best jobs in the world.  But remember that you do have total control over how much or little work you take on.  So remember that and make sure you create a schedule that suits this fact.

Article source:  http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Allison_Whitehead

My Online Freelance Writing Career - ... earning a living one word at a time