Tips for Keeping the Nose to the Grindstone?

[ScottRC]

OK, my hours at my "day job" have been drastically cut - I pretty much only work two days a week, which isn't enough to live on. There's no reason I shouldn't be able to make freelance writing a full time job. I'm on another content site (it shares its initials with tuberculosis) and have figured out how to crank out articles there quickly, so that I can make between $10 and $20 an hour. The work isn't very creatively satisfying, but I can round it out with articles on this and other content sites.

The problem is, I'm not used to working on my own or on the Internet. I've already deleted the software that allowed me to play online Scrabble, but I find it oh-so-easy to get distracted either by surfing the Net or by just taking off and doing fun stuff in the real world. I still have enough in the bank to pay bills at the end of this month, but if I don't get focused I'm gonna be screwed.

I think I also let myself get too easily discouraged. I've only started contributing to this site this month and have only contributed 4 articles, but the fact that I haven't made a sale makes me anxious - even though, intellectually, I'm convinced it's only a matter of time.

So, do you all have tips for staying focused, motivated and hard-working?

[Debbi]

I can only speak from my own experience. I have three suggestions.

1. Set a routine. Here's mine:

7 - 8 am -- get up and eat, dress, feed dogs and all that.
8-9 am -- read email, goof around online
9-11 am -- write, write, write
11am - 12pm -- take the dog out for exercise, eat lunch, read a book for pleasure
12 - 2 pm -- write, write, write
2 - 5 pm -- spend time with my granddaughters
5 - 6pm -- check on CC for requests, sales (if any), and forum posts
6-7pm -- eat dinner, feed dogs
7-9pm -- decide what I'll write the next day, find research, finish up writing for the day, make submissions
9pm --> watch TV, play with dogs, read, go to bed

I know this sounds very regimented but I am easily distracted. So if I don't have a very strict routine for myself, I'll drift into activities that consume me and get no writing done.

Notice that I scheduled time for goofing off, doing things just for fun, and enjoying my dogs and granddaughters. If I don't do this I turn into a writing robot and get eyestrain, braindrain, and the urge to either crawl into a hole or scream bloody murder. Heh, how dramatic!

2. Being poverty-striken is a great motivater. It sure has worked for me in the past few months. I've tripled my income from writing in each of the last three months (when I started here).

3. Set goals -- My second month here I told myself I would make it to 50 articles by the end of the month and I did! Setting goals and rewarding yourself somehow when you reach them can spur you on.

I know everyone will have great advice for you.

[ScottRC]

Thanks, Debbi. So the actual time you spend writing is 4 hours a day, huh?

I think I trip myself up saying I need to write for 4 or even 8 hours straight. Then I write for a couple of hours, get distracted, drift away - and then get down on myself for not reaching the goal, which may not have been realistic to start with. Breaking up the day the way you do sounds really healthy.

So for the others out there making a full-time go of freelancing - how many hours a day do you put into the actual writing?

Oh - and I'm pretty close to giving myself the poverty-stricken motivation. I'm posting this plea for help because I'm thinking maybe I should get my act together before the actual, inevitable consequences manifest themselves.

[Celeste Stewart]

I spend about 4-6 hours writing each day, but it stretches out taking up most of the day because of all the distractions, ie little kids, in my life right now. I set a daily budget that says that I must write $XXX worth of articles each day, then I can stop. This works really well for me because I know I'll hit my target income if I stick to my budget. You can do the same by assigning yourself a specific amount of articles or words to write each day. If you miss your target one day, no biggie, tomorrow's another day. As long as you get back on track the next day, a day here or there goofing off isn't a problem.

[Debbi]

I may spend 4 hours a day (sometimes 6) actually typing, but writing is always in the back of my brain. Even when I'm throwing the frisbee on the front lawn, what I just wrote or plan to write is bublling away in my subconscious and I've stopped in mid-toss plenty of times to say "That's it! Catchiness!", while my dog stares up at me in disgust.

You're right. You can't set impossible goals like writing 8 hours straight or even 4 hours straight, becuase it is a creative process that demands a lot of brainpower. It's not like flipping hamburgers or making sales calls or doing laundry. It uses every scrap of gray matter you've got. At least for me.

I agree with Celeste about setting an article budget, either in dollars you will charge or number of articles written. Then you have to walk that thin line between feeling so much pressure to reach your goal that you freak out and can't finish anything or being so lenient with yourself, you say, "Tomorrow's another day, I can finish this article then." and not get anything done.

That's why a routine works for me. Because I have four hours when writing is all I do and all the other hours to do other things. Of course, sometimes I think of something really exicting to write about and then wham! I find myself foregoing TV or plaing my guitar and rushing to my computer to get those words out of my head and into my CC "in progress" folder.

[Celeste Stewart]

I probably need to schedule in some fun time, Debbi! I will have to try to prioritize that because so much of my day is dictated not by my creative whims but by deadlines and assignments. I'm fortunate to have a steady workload, but that workload has its price in that I'm less in charge of my schedule than I used to be. I don't have the luxury of playing on my Wii or checking out this and that or even taking the dog for a spur-of-the-moment romp. One thing that I have learned through freelancing is to enjoy the slumps and not stress too much about my next assignment. Besides, I have an emergency plan in place for the slow times but that's another topic for another day.

[Lysis]

I'm a creature of habit and like to do the same thing always. The time I get up depends on my school schedule. This week I had back-to-back exams and yesterday it was finally over. I can stay up until 3 or 4am when I have exams and work and then I get up at 5am or 6am to study before the test. It's absolutely exhausting. So, today I wasn't up until 10am. I give myself a sleep-in day on exam week.

Normally, though, I get up at around 8am and goof off on the Internet until 9 or 10. Write for a few hours straight. Goof off some more. Write until 5pm, study until 7-7:30pm. Write some more until I'm too tired and go to bed.

[eek]

Hey Scott.

I've learned I need little breaks, too - to digest what I've just researched, mull over phrasing of what I want to say, and just to give my eyes and brain a rest from the strain of staring at a computer screen.

If you don't have a family, it's much easier to spread out those writing segments to evenings and weekends. But don't feel too guilty over doing normal stuff, or even fluffy stuff now and then. Being a writer for mainly internet content, it's nice to get ideas that I didn't find on the internet. Reading is a must for a writer, I think. Anyway, I try to turn distractions into opportunities. I allow myself an hour each morning to watch the Bonnie Hunt show, because she makes me laugh and it feels like I just had a visit with my sister. But I justify the time by doing housework at the same time. I have yet to come up with a good idea from the BH show, but they have a regular caption contest and I have hopes of someday winning $200!

I second all of the others' great suggestions - Keep a somewhat firm schedule with little breaks in between, set goals, and one more tidbit of my own to add: keep a notebook with you at all times to write down ideas or even that elusive word you were trying so hard to think of. Keep one on your nightstand too.

Back to the grindstone...
Emma

[ScottRC]

Thanks for all the great tips so far ... Actually had a pretty productive morning, I must say.

Being a bachelor with no kids has its advantages, but I sometimes think responsibilities like that would focus and motivate me more. The threat of poverty is getting pretty real though - I just got my "day job" paycheck and, holy crap, my nose and that grindstone need to get on much more intimate terms.

[Debbi]

Scott,

What writing site has the initials TB?

[ScottRC]

Debbi - I hesitate to answer because I don't know how CC feels about us discussing other content sites on this message board, but the set-up is so different that I don't think the two sites really compete - for authors, anyway. (Clients would be a different story.) For myself and probably other beginning freelancers, though, the sites can complement each other. It's Textbroker.

[Debbi]

Scott,

I think a lot of authors here write for several sites simultaneously since each of them is a bit different. I have never seen another site like CC. The sales may not be as "guaranteed" as other sites but the pay is exponentially greater and the satisfaction of writing what you want instead of something assigned to you is so rewarding and reinforcing. Even when I write for another site, I am always thinking, " how can the reserach for this assignment help me write a great article for CC?" I've sold a few articles for $25-$50 on topics I reserached for an article that sold for $15 on another site. Double-dipper, that's me!

Debbi

[Debbi]

Haha, Scott, I just read your dog-asthma article. Very educational and entertaining. I'm a sucker for alliteration as you know, but I also enjoyed all the other funny bits--tail-chasing, lapping it up, etc.--very clever.

You deserve a pat on the head! (and a biscuit too if you like).

[ScottRC]

Aw, thanks Debbi. Until I start actually getting some sales, I may need to stockpile biscuits. Pats on the head are nice too.

[Lysis]

Also, just wanted to add that I think there's a safety net in having your hand in several cookie jars online. Write for a lot of places, build up a portfolio and start applying to places that are more selective. You can start charging more, and if one place fails, you can just turn to another.