The First Step (I Took) to Freelancing Full Time
It’s really easy to sit back and say that everything sort of fell into place for me after graduating college. Unfortunately, I’m incapable of that level of denial. The truth is that the months after college were stressful. I graduated in March and decided to spend the three months between then and commencement in June relaxing and enjoying my new found freedom. Of course, after three weeks I was working 40 hours at a grocery store again and there was no free time; but at least there were no deadlines, readings, or homework to complete.
In June I started looking for work. It didn’t go well. First, I had no idea what to look for. I had an English degree. What do people with English degrees do for a living? No one had a single answer, so I looked for jobs I actually wanted – writing gigs and entry level editing. The jobs that were good didn’t want me and the jobs that were bad…well they were too bad. Throw in a distracting summer and a few more months of disappointment and not having any money and I stepped back to reconsider my options.
It was October and as tends to be the case with most 22 year olds, I decided to change everything at once. However, unlike most 22 year olds and especially myself, the changes actually set. I did away with a lot of unnecessary spending, started working extra hours and decided that I would start working part time on January 1st, only two days a week. I saved up enough money to last three or four months doing this. My goal was to focus all of my energy into deciding what I would do with my life in those months.
When New Year’s day finally arrived, I had no idea where to start. I started this blog in an attempt to “share” my journey and start writing more. I had a college degree in creative writing after all, why not use it? The days passed and I wrote three or four posts a day, alernating between two blogs and a slew of article writing ideas that had jumped out at me in the middle of the month. I made massive schedules with everything I wanted to accomplish each day (spending more time on those lists than on the things listed) and flew blindly into the world of online writing. I read dozens of blogs, wrote dozens of articles and applied for a handful of jobs that never called me back.
Eventually, it was luck more than anything else that landed me the kind of seedlings I needed to start making a standalone income. I met an established freelance writer on Craigslist and started working with him on a regular basis, receiving advice and bolstering my confidence. I met another individual on Craigslist and helped him prepare a manuscript for publication. By mid-February, I was making a part time income and had enough resources lined up to make it full time if I put the effort in. So, I quit my job.
I suppose the moral of this story is that you have to take a few chances every now and then. I took a chance when I stopped looking for work and saved up my money. I took another chance when I started working part time and the ultimate chance when I quit altogether. I took a chance by approaching established professionals with my work and eventually I took a chance by advertising my own. In the end, I found the job I was looking for completely on accident, by responding to a series of oddball postings on Craigslist. You can spend months looking for what you think you want, but eventually, if you’re suited for the role, the world of freelance writing will just pop up on you.
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