<\/p>\n
A few years ago, I found myself in command of a workshop on how to make a living from freelancing. Fortunately, my co-pilot, one of my lovely A friends (I\u2019ve realised since I began writing this blog that nearly all my friends\u2019 names begin with the letter A \u2013 clearly I need to work my way up the alphabet a bit more thoroughly), had done this kind of thing before and so did most of the talking. I think I was just there for colour and movement. And perhaps a little interpretive dance when required.<\/p>\n
Anyhoo.<\/p>\n
All was going well until a very nice lady in the middle of the fourth row put up her hand and asked if one \u2013 and she was a \u2018one\u2019 kind of lady \u2013 had to speak to people to be a freelance writer. I paused mid-whirl in my interpretive dance. \u201cWell,\u201d I said, \u201ca lot of contact is done via email these days\u2026\u201d I paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d she said, somewhat impatiently. \u201cBut can you do interviews like that as well? It\u2019s just that I\u2019m a bit shy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUmmm,\u201d I said, breaking the first rule of public speaking \u2013 they\u2019ll never let me into Toastmasters now. \u201cOne does actually have to talk to write professionally.\u201d Her face collapsed into disappointment.<\/p>\n
I was thinking of this little exchange on Friday as I made the train journey to The Big Smoke for what The Builder calls Coffee. With a capital C.<\/p>\n
Writers tend to be people who like their own company. I\u2019m quite open about the fact that I\u2019m much better in writing than I am in person (which is probably why I love Twitter). But that doesn\u2019t mean I can get away with not trying.<\/p>\n
So I try to do Coffee at least two or three times a year. It involves meeting up with the editors with whom I work regularly, those with whom I\u2019d like to work more regularly and, even, those who\u2019ve never heard of me before I ring them out of the blue to say hello. It serves to remind them who I am (or introduce them to my charms), allows me to find out if there are any direction changes for the publication or website, and gives me the opportunity to pitch a few stories in their direction to see if anything flies. Even when I lived in the inner city I tried to get as many as possible done in one day \u2013 now that I\u2019m in Fibrotown, that\u2019s essential.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t always result in work. Not straight away anyway. But it does result in a connection. And like everything else in the world, freelancing is about relationships.<\/p>\n
When you freelancing, it\u2019s very easy to disappear into your own parallel universe. You forget what it\u2019s like to have colleagues and bosses and people who simply don\u2019t like the shoes you\u2019re wearing on any given day. You sit in your vacuum and come up with ideas and wonder why none of them are finding the mark. So sometimes you have to leave the bubble.<\/p>\n
I really enjoy Coffee. In some ways, it\u2019s exhausting, dragging your sociable self kicking and screaming into the light (or maybe that\u2019s just me). But mostly, it\u2019s exhilarating. I always come home with lots of new ideas and inspiration, along with a healthy dose of motivation. Of course, the five or six cups of coffee that I take in over the course of the day may have something to do with that\u2026<\/p>\n
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A few years ago, I found myself in command of a workshop on how to make a living from freelancing. Fortunately, my co-pilot, one of my lovely A friends (I\u2019ve realised since I began writing this blog that nearly all my friends\u2019 names begin with the letter A \u2013 clearly I need to work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[729],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pink-fibro-life","category-writing","tag-freelance-writing"],"yoast_head":"\n