5 Signs You’re Meant to be a Freelance Writer

I’ve been a freelance writer now for over 25 years, and I’ve discovered a couple things:

1. this life is definitely not for everyone, but
2. it’s a great life if you’re the right kind of person.

I’ve talked to some writers who went freelance for a while and then went back to working at a regular job, and they were happier in the end. Freelancing can seem really romantic from a distance, but there are definite drawbacks to the life.

If you have certain personality characteristics, though, it may be ideal for you.

If You’re Considering the Freelance Lifestyle

Trouble is, it’s hard to tell if you’d be perfect for it or not until you try it, and for most people, leaving a job to go freelance is pretty risky.

What if you don’t like it? What if you don’t thrive at this sort of career? You could be stuck without a job in a situation you don’t like, and scrambling to find a new job before the money runs out.

If you’re considering this decision, check out the list below. These are five signs that show up in your daily life that tell you that yes, the freelance life may be perfect for you. If you find yourself nodding at all five, you may want to think more seriously about this career.

1. You find yourself complaining to your partner/friend about how your manager or boss at work doesn’t know what he’s doing, and if only he’d listen to you, things would go better.

This is a classic sign that you like to be in control. You know how things should be done, and it frustrates you when they’re not done right.

You try to keep your mouth shut and get along at the workplace, but it grates against your sensitivities every time something goes wrong that you know you could have prevented.

As a freelancer, you are in total control of your career. If you like that idea, that’s a good sign, but realize it also means you’ll have no one to blame but yourself if things go wrong.

That’s okay—we can all learn from our mistakes, and I made plenty when I was starting out. Still, I like running my own ship so to speak. If you do too, freelancing may be the career for you.

Freelance Writer Sign 2. When you think about leaving your job and going freelance, it makes you feel a little bit excited and a little bit frightened.

Going freelance involves risk. If you’re someone who’s risk-averse, you may find that a bit too uncomfortable to deal with.

It’s important to know that the risk never goes away. When you leave a job with an employer, you leave security behind.

Yes, you can put some things into place that will help, like a good six months’ worth of savings and a strong online presence to help you get new clients. But in the end, there’s nothing saying that somewhere along the way, you could end up with not enough work to pay your bills.

Writers who make good freelancers are writers who are not afraid of risk, but nor are they impulsive or thoughtless about it. They’re right in the middle—willing to consider taking a risk and courageous enough to do it, but careful enough to consider all the potential outcomes and put safeguards in place.

In other words, a smart freelancer will stay at her job until she’s built up at least:

• 6 months’ worth of savings
• a few good clients (landed on the side while still working)
• a strong online presence (website, blog, social media)

3. You keep a running “to-do” list and a calendar and you set goals every year.

In other words, you’re organized.

You keep track of what needs to get done, and there’s rarely anything that falls through the cracks. You’re the one planning family vacations, taking care of the bills, and making sure that your kids or elderly parents get where they need to go when they need to get there.

As a freelance writer, you must be super organized. You have to keep track of everything. Not only your projects and deadlines, but your clients, too. You need to “manage up” as they say, to make sure you get your client what he needs when he needs it.

If you need information or resources from him to do the project, you must remind him as needed until you get them, rather than relying on him to follow through.

You also have to keep track of all your income and expenses. Your taxes are your responsibility as a self-employed person.

The organizational tasks are many in the freelance life. If you struggle in this area, you will probably struggle as a freelancer. If you’re a consummate list-maker, though, and take a calendar with you wherever you go, you’ll be just fine.

Freelance Writer Sign 4. When someone says something rude or impolite to you, you find a civil way to handle the issue.

As a freelancer, there will be times when clients are rude, thoughtless, neglectful, and flat out unreasonable, and it will be up to you to handle it well.

This is where pure professionalism is required. If you are someone who tends to “respond in kind” when someone is rude to you, you’ll either have to squelch that impulse, or choose another line of work.

Conflicts are bound to arise. Yes, if you have a troublesome client, you can always find a way to take them of your list, but you’ll never win if you allow yourself to be unkind, rude, or unprofessional.

I’ve had experiences where I was in the middle of a big project and a client started demanding unreasonable outcomes, and I had to find a way to work with that client so that I could make her happy.

I’ve found it’s always possible to do that, but it can take a lot of patience and careful negotiation. It’s always worth it, though, and never a good idea to do something that will leave any client with a bad taste in their mouth.

Freelance Writer Sign 5. When you’re not working, you’re writing.

Okay, this may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. As a freelance writer, you’ll be writing a lot. I’m talking 8-10 hours a day at first.

After you establish yourself, you can usually find a way to cut those hours back to a more reasonable amount, but in the beginning, you really have to work hard to get your business off the ground.

It’s also important that you’ve put in your dues to become a good writer. Of course, you’ll get better as you learn and grow, but you’ll need strong writing skills from the beginning. Your clients are coming to you for that skill, so you need to be sure they’re up to speed.

If you’ve already been writing articles for online or print magazines, you were an ace at your research papers in college, you’ve published a short story or two, or you’ve had some other experience in writing, you’re probably in good shape to get started.

It also helps if you educate yourself further in whatever type of writing you’re pursuing. When I got my first job as a copywriter, for example, I quickly immersed myself in every book about copywriting I could find so I could learn more about it. Doing the same will help you make your clients extra happy, which is what freelancers always want.

Is the Freelance Writing Life for You?

There are more traits you’ll need to be a successful freelance writer, but these are some of the most important. Ask yourself if these five things come easy to you. If so, you may find that going freelance is just what you need to create the perfect writing life for you.

Have you thought about becoming a freelance writer?