FreelanceWriter
Detroit, MI
Female, 30
After working in strategic communications and marketing for five years after college, I decided to make the move to full-time freelancing--mostly, to give me the freedom to travel. I've been freelancing for three years. At any given time, I'm writing for 5-10 print and digital publications, covering everything from engineering to travel. Common projects include copy writing, research reporting and academic writing.
I connect to different writers for different reasons, though I don't necessarily try to emulate them. My favorite book is Anne Fadiman's "Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader," mostly because it made me feel like I'm not alone in my love of words and reading. One essay talks about long words, while another discusses Fadiman's delight at discovering new or unfamiliar words. Her writing is straightforward, uncluttered and absolutely oozing with personality. Jane Austen is another of my favorite writers. I love the way she analyzes human interactions, and how she packs a great deal of observation into small passages. In terms of journalism...hmm. Harper's is my favorite magazine. I love that it forces me to slow down and read each story--in the age of 140-character tweets and super-short blog posts, my attention span can use the exercise! The stories in Harvard Business Review are almost always excellent in terms of organization, writing and flow. In terms of newspapers, the only person that stands out in my mind is Thomas Friedman, who is one of the most sensible and persuasive writers I can think of.
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I was in college 10 years ago, so I can't speak from personal experience. Older writers I know have said that it's more difficult now. A lot of companies are outsourcing their writing work to countries like India and the Philippines because people there will work for pennies. (Literally, pennies.) American writers can't--and shouldn't--drop their prices far enough to compete with that. However, most of those workers speak English as a second language, and their writing reflects it. Clients worth working for understand the value of strong , fluent writing. I think "serious" journalism might be harder now, especially as many print publications die a slow death, but the Internet has opened up a whole world of options. Journalism as we know it is changing. Writers now can write for any number of websites. In most cases, it doesn't pay as well as print, but it's a completely viable way of making a living. There's more room for style freedom, the tone is often more informal and the variety is endless.
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I love this question. It would depend on the subject and tone of the novel, of course, but I love Ira Glass (of This American Life on NPR). I'm not sure if he counts as a true celebrity, so my next choice would be Tina Fey. Or Stephen Colbert.
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No. Thankfully, I've never had to chase down a payment. I'm very careful about the projects I take on; if I sense any uncertainty, I don't proceed. It's not worth my time. Plus, if I had to deal with the emotional and financial stress that goes along with unpaid invoices, I wouldn't last in this business. :) Most of my clients have been with me for over a year, which is the best possible situation for a freelancer. If an established client were to suddenly stop paying, they would sabotage trust, ruin the relationship and lose access to all of my accumulated knowledge about the company/clients/projects/etc.
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Good question. Honestly, I don't know. For me, the appeal of freelancing lies in its flexibility. If I decide one day that I want to stop traveling and live in one place forever and ever, I don't have to make any major career changes. I can keep working. If I decide I hate working from home, I can rent an office with other freelancers. I can expand the business and branch out into marketing consulting. The possibilities are endless. Plus, since my work isn't geographically dependent, I could decide to settle in the middle of the woods or the middle of the city without worrying about finding a job. If I decided to have kids, I could continue to work. I'm not sure that was your question, though. :) Obviously, it's impossible to say for sure what I'd do in a situation I've never experienced. From where I stand now, I think that if I decided to have a family, I would certainly keep traveling. It's who I am. Americans are woefully behind most developed countries in terms of travel, multiple languages and awareness/understanding about the rest of the world. That ignorance breeds hate and mistrust. If I had a child, it would grow up seeing the world as the friendly, amazing, accessible place that it is. I think it's fantastic when parents bring their kids out into the world. :) Check out www.sixintheworld.com/ and almostfearless.com/ for great examples.
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Any experienced marketing writer should be able to handle that kind of project. Luxury marketing is similar to standard marketing, with a few tweaks in tone/language/word choice. You might start with marketing agencies that have worked with luxury-industry clients. If they don't have writers on staff, they should be able to point you in the right direction.
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In terms of productivity, I'd prefer two big clients. It takes me a while to get focused on a project, so I don't get much done when I have to change tasks constantly. In terms of finances, however, 10 is more sensible. If you have two and you lose one, you've just lost half of your income. If you have 10 and you lose one...well, it's not awesome but you're not going to go under.
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