Why Routine Is Essential For Freelance Writers
One of the many lessons that relayed to us writers time and time again is that to improve; we must practice. Write as much as possible, and it will become more natural. You’ll feel more confident to experiment and learn to recognize your bad habits and weed out the mistakes that you make as well.
It’s hard to practice writing if we don’t have a writing routine. We need to find time to fit writing practice in, we need a schedule to keep us organized and specific blocks of time reserved for our writing. Otherwise, it is all too easy for other things to get in the way.
Routine is essential for all types of writers, but especially for freelance writers. When it comes to juggling assignments, applying for work, making sure you get paid, oh and not forgetting researching and writing pieces and delivering them according to your deadlines, if you aren’t organized things can quickly become chaotic.
Freelance writers routines help them to prioritize and to factor in all the different requirements that are involved in each job. Everything from checking emails, writing pitches and sending off invoices needs to be considered when creating a useful writing routine.
A good writing routine can help freelance writers get on top of busy workloads, ensure a steady flow of work is coming their way, and could even help them earn more money too.
Here’s why a writing routine is so important:
It gives structure to the day.
Structuring your day is essential. If you don’t, it’s so easy to still be in your pajamas without having had breakfast at noon. A good structure helps you set goals and gives you a sense of achievement and satisfaction when you complete everything you set out to do.
It stops you procrastinating
A routine assigns slots of time to each of the things you need to do. A good writing routine will eliminate procrastination because there just isn’t time to do other things!
It makes sure you take breaks
You need to make sure that your routine looks after you, so give yourself a proper lunch break, and if there are other things you like to do each day, such as go for a walk or head to the gym you can factor these in too. This way you’ll feel you have the right balance and won’t burn yourself out by working too hard.
It allows you to see what capacity you have
It’s easy to take on too much or too little work. A writing routine will allow you to see where you can free up some time, or, if you are pushed to your limits, will show that you need to scale things back a little.
So, if you are a freelance writer make sure you spend some time creating a structured writing routine that will help guide your work. Already have a daily routine? Why not share it with us here?
Bethany Cadman
Author of Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers
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