Knocking off the Rust

It’s been a surreal experience to climb back into my writer’s chair. Some things are familiar–some of my clients have already hired me for upcoming projects–while other things aren’t. The fact I have to scan my work with AI detectors now when I submit it to clients is new and bizarre to me, but I do understand it. No one wants to hire a writer who doesn’t write but instead just lets software do all the writing. How is that creative?

One thing I am forever familiar with is the solitude.

It’s a very solitary profession. Which is rather strange when you think of it. I write for myself and my clients to create content that touches people and impacts them. I do that from behind a laptop screen and typically without talking to a single soul. I send my work out into the world, and if I’ve done a good job, my work creates a reaction. If it’s my own work or something I’ve ghostwritten, hopefully, the story I’ve created touches a reader enough to make them want to seek out more work. If it’s copy content for products, hopefully, it prompts them to click the buy button. It just seems strange that I can impact someone with words, without ever meeting them.

The life of a freelance writer is never dull. Well, so, that’s a lie. Okay, so, maybe sometimes it is a little dull. I mean, the work does ebb and flow, right? Sometimes, there is so much work I’m drowning in it, while other times, I’m crawling across broken glass, in a deserted parking lot, looking for work.

I had one week where I had to write two dozen 300-word dental care information articles, edit a 22,000-word novella, ghostwrite a script for an Amazon Prime Video TV show, write five 800-word blogs about London, write 2 client book proposals, ghostwrite a western romance short story. Yeah, that was a super busy week.

The work is great. I love getting work, but it’s when it comes in a big chunk like that, it makes it hard to have some sense of normal in my life. Let’s be honest: the life of a freelance writer is pretty strange. There are no regular hours and no conversations at the water cooler. There are no office romances unless you count the romance I have with my recliner where I write every day.

I write each and every day. There is a reason my laptop keyboard has several letters worn off of it and a massive divot in the spacebar. During one of my busiest years, I created 1,800,000 words of content. I don’t care who you who you are, that’s a lotta words! That averages out to creating just under 5,000 words per day. And that doesn’t count the content I edited or the word counts for my own work.

Also, another thing that can make it a little dull is the work itself. I had a two month period where I ghostwrote four cowboy romances in a row. Now, there’s nothing wrong with cowboy romances. I like cowboy romances. Cowboys are awesome. But writing four of them in a row was a little much. The adage ‘variety is the spice of life’ is never more apparent than in the freelance writer’s idea factory. I think variety keeps the juices flowing and keeps things clickety clacking smoothly. I kind of see my idea factory as the little Prius dashboard gas mileage indicator vine/flower thing that grows and flourishes when I have variety in my content and wilts when I don’t.

While some months are insanely busy, others aren’t. There are other times when I envision myself crawling across a desert, looking for anything at all. For instance, I once took a 250-word blog assignment for $2.50 because I was so desperate for work. You’ll laugh, but in my head, I thought well, if I do well with this one, maybe they’ll hire me for more. So, I started doing the math and figured if I did two hundred of them in a week, that would be $500. Never mind, they would never hire me for that many in a week, and there was no way I could develop two hundred blog topics in a week! It was crazy thinking, but this is how I make my living. I had to come up with some way to write and make money.

I’ve been back at the grindstone for about two months now and the machinery seems to be in working order. The words are coming at a faster pace which is nice. I have those moments where what I’m writing is rushing at me so quickly I can barely get the words down. I love it when a piece swallows me like that and starts telling me what to write.

It feels so good to be back. I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with some of my old clients, who are so kind to me. I’ve been writing blogs, editing manuscripts, ghostwriting novels, and, more importantly, finding my groove. It’s been nice proving to myself I can still do this and make a living at it.

I don’t ever want this ride to end. Writing and creating worlds with my craft is unlike any other job I’ve ever had. This is my favorite job and my last job. I will write until there are no more stories to tell.

If you’re a writer like me, I wish you well in the trenches, my friend.

So, leave the light on. Some of us are still writing.

Write ON!