I'm having a crazy week, which would explain my leaving this blog to collect dust as of late but I've had a surge of work come in. This is good news but the bad news is that a new gig I have has a long lead time for paying but needs constant flow of work coming in. Because of that, I have to find extra hours in the day to not only write for them but to keep writing for others so that I don't impact my cash flow too negatively. It's shaping up to be short-term chaos for long term good because if this works out well, I can be more choosy about the work that I do in future and hopefully start to turn away the penny per word gigs.
Last night I attended my writer's group chat and the first words out of my mouth when I got there were, "I can't stay long, I'm facing 3 deadlines in the next few days." I planned to stay thirty minutes because I hadn't attended the last month or so worth of meetings and it's not only a chat, it's for a collaborative project that will benefit my writing career as well.
I ended up staying ninety minutes and having a bit of a laugh with some great friends. It truly helped.
The reason I'm writing about it is because many of us in this profession spend a lot of time in solitude, fighting the clock and juggling multiple responsibilities. If you're feeling like an island, find a writing group to join. It can be so helpful.
Last night we not only commiserated but we got a warning about a bad client out there who's recruiting and we often share leads and ideas that make everyone money. Plus it feels good to commiserate with someone who understands the challenge of being a writing wahm. I can tell my husband or my best friend all my woes but they truly don't understand. I can share my triumphs too and while they are proud of me, they don't understand the true feeling of triumph like only a fellow writer can.
So back to work I go but just wanted to share with you that if you haven't made writing friends to network and cyber-socialize with, DO! You can find writing groups on yahoo, google or msn groups and there are countless writing forums out there as well.
And, there's a great new community building at www.communati.com which is a shared adsense blog site that was born out of the demise of writingup.com where many of my supportive writer friends hang out as well.
Cheers,
Dana
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5 comments:
Just wanted to send you some virtual hugs and more support. Sounds like you're working pretty hard! Good luck getting through the chaos.
I was at that meeting, too, Dana, and I stayed twice as long as I had planned. It is great to have the support of your fellow writers - we all need to talk to people who truly understand the insanity and the joy of freelance writing. One of the leads you gave me has paid off and I have the feeling it's gong to get even crazier in my neck of the woods.
Thanks Story Girl..that felt like a nice, warm hug :D
Sharon, I know what you mean ...it hit me again today that people are actually willing to pay ME to write. wow.
Some days, it still floors me and I feel so blessed.
That said, I am not sure if I'll get to have any sleep or R&R for the next 8 or nine days :S
I do, however, have a girl's weekend planned next weekend (our second annual one)but am now thinking I picked a terrible time to get soooooo busy, lol.
Dana,
I found your blog from WAHM.I can relate to how you are feeling. Good job on getting the gig!
I agree with everything that you said in your post. It is an excellent post. keep up the excellent work! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Michelle Knudson
www.michelleknudson.com
Thanks for stopping in, Michelle.
Have a great weekend, too :)
Cheers,
Dana
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