|
So I hate to brag, but my job is better than yours.
OK, ok, maybe that is a bit snobbish. I'm sure some of you have lovely jobs that I might envy if I heard about. I always wanted to be a horse rancher, and teachers are pretty cool too, and not much beats being a mom (which we know is a job all its own).
Still, there are a number of reasons why being a freelance writer is pretty darned awesome:
1. I can wake up whenever I want to. Just because I have obligations to various clients doesn't mean I have to do them at specific times of the day. A few meetings aside, my typical day lets me wake up and eat breakfast at noon if I want. I can also build my own schedule to take 3 hour lunches, no breaks, and work in the middle of the night if it suits me.
2. I can work overtime when I need to. Ever have one of those big projects at work, or get stuck on a call and end up going over time - only to be yelled at for going beyond your scheduled hours? Laws are great for those corporations who might work us to the bone, but hell, give a person a chance to use their momementum, not lose it. As a freelance writer, I can pull a sixteen hour day if that's what it calls for, and no one will write me up for it.
3. I can call out sick whenever I want. This is one reason I ended up in the business: I couldn't hold a regular job because I get sick frequently. Now I have the freedom to take sick days whenever I need to, and make it up whenever I want to. And if I only feel sick for a few hours, and then feel fine, no one's going to dock me for coming into work late either.
4. My job description is flexible.If I decide I want to write romance instead of non-fiction, I can do that. If I decide I get bored of writing about one thing I love, I can go write about another thing I love. My experience carries and lets me enjoy the diversity of the world I live in - I don't have to go back to school and get a new degree or start from the bottom and work my way up again.
5. I get to do what I love. This, of course, is the crowning piece in any perfect job. Writing is in my blood, and now I can do it any hour of the day, for as long or as little as I want, and get recognized and paid for it.
Of course, there are some bad things about being a freelancer too, especially things like overworking yourself too hard, getting underpaid and underappreciated, and finding yourself too attached to your career. But for the problems that come with my job, I still think that it's the best one out there - and I don't miss the corporate world one bit.
Jaime Skelton is a freelance writer and columnist. Her blog Written Wings is a fantastic resource of writing tips. She also specializes in the gaming industry, writes other non-fiction and is a poet. Check out her professional site to learn more.
More posts on writing and the writer's life...
Cost of commute vs. cost of toilet paper consumption
Writer's groups really ARE good for character inspiration
Oh, you're a freelance writer? How's unemployment going?
Copyright 2010 Melody Jones - for more information, please see footer. |
My brain hurts. Otherwise known as my writing life.
