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Much like any big decision, after you've got the facts, it's important to look at things logically. When it comes to considering going full time as a Freelance Writer, there are a few things in particular that need to be considered.
Since some might say it's the most important part of a job, let's start with the happiness factor.
Freelance writing seems to be an idyllic career move from a personal standpoint. I've always wanted to write, and I get a definite rush from selling that writing or being paid to do it. So, the life of a freelance writer would be quite rich in the fulfillment sense.
Plus, there's the flexibility that comes with being a freelancer - the notoriety and the prestige even. The last two will come over time, as more and more articles, content, and stories are written and seen. That leaves flexibility as the one immediate "intangible" benefit.
Now, flexibility can be hard to manage at first. The willpower to sit down and write is sometimes overshadowed by the willpower to just hunker down and play more Skyward Sword or Mother 3 or to hang around on YouTube.
Still, it seems that underpinning flexibility is "self-discipline," something my erstwhile kung fu instructor explained as "the will to do what you don't want to do but have to do." After six and a half years at that learning forms (aka katas) and how to do a variety of push-ups, sitting down and writing seems easy in comparison.
However, as a person whose only worked service and research jobs in the past, getting used to the idea that a "job" will end but your work will continue takes time. At time it feels like a fisherman might after seeing his latest catch devoured by a cat. Working multiple jobs at the same time definitely cuts down on the deflated feeling after one's done, but then we get into the fact that freelancing is not stable work.
This is probably the biggest con of going full time with freelancing. After all, unsteady work means an unsteady income. Though as a member of the "Boomerang Generation," it seems logical that the best move is to go for the opportunity that will pay off the most in the long term rather than the short term.
Freelancing in general is more of a slow burn. Income gradually pops over it rather than needing to be pulled out in wads like a propane tank in a bonfire. Besides, as long as bad months still see at least $800 and good months see at least $2300 coming in, then things will keep balanced.
Of course, anything with great promise carries with it great risk. Though, the lack of steady work and cushy company benefits of any sort right now don't seem particularly harsh. With a good name and a solid reputation the work will grow steadier, and the pay will get better. Plus, there are writers guilds and groups that can take the sting out of some costs of living.
Yet, there's a word in that sentence that is still troubling: "will."
That word is troubling since it makes it clear that freelancing is something long range, long term. Those sorts of jobs are foreign territory. In fact, long term planning has never really been something I've done - opportunity has simply linked to opportunity in the past. So the long range is a range I've never really needed to worry about. It's a range I'm not used to worrying about.
As a result, I've got some mixed feelings on that front of freelancing. But they'll be saved for the full moon next week.
Before that happens though, come check out an article about Shakespeare's possible ties to the legal world on Wednesday, and a Friday review of the strange-sounding Gigli.
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