by Catherine L. Tully
Everyone has their own freelance writing fears. Let me tell you my big one. I hate the query process, but when I get a gig, initially I am on top of the world–for about five minutes. I get really excited that I connected, did everything right, and convinced the editor that I could write the piece.
Then I realize that I have to write it.
The period of time between getting the assignment and starting the assignment is a bad one for me. If I can’t get to it right away, I start to get nervous. Granted, things always turn out fine, but the fact that I have basically promised an editor that I can deliver something and haven’t yet started it freaks me out. Once I have something down on paper–I’m fine.
So let’s have it folks…what are your freelance fears? What gets your mind churning and gives you butterflies in the pit of your stomach? Do tell…after all…I put mine out there!
I have two big fears, though both are pretty irrational.
I have a bad case of impostor syndrome – I have a deep, irrational worry that I’m not as talented or experienced or smart as everyone thinks I am and that someone will find out and make a fool of me. Even though I’ve been working in my industry for over 4 years and have a lot of depth to my experience, some little part of my brain is convinced that there’s some secret handshake that everyone else in my industry knows and some day people will realize I don’t know it. Totally crazy, I know.
My other big fear is that there are no clients out there with money and I’ll have to choose between having no projects, or having projects that aren’t even worth my time. Somewhat rooted in reality, because I do come across a lot of potential clients who have almost no budget and no concept of what this kind of work should cost. But at the same time, I’ve dealt with lots of clients who are willing to pay well for a good outcome, so it’s just paranoia and anxiety.
My own writing issue has much to do with not being able to close the deal on enough work to pay all the bills on time. I never have trouble FINDING the work, but I hate paying late and always try to stack the deck with more work to insure next month is paid up on time.
Call me…anal retentive. Of course, when you’re freelancing on a long-term project there’s no worry on that front, but when you’re hitting a string of short-term projects it’s another story.
Hey Anlina, I don’t think you’re paranoid at all! I know that feeling well–like you missed the day they taught what the secret handshakes are! Yes…it’s one of those nagging things that I find comes when there’s a bit of trouble landing another gig right away after the last one winds down…
Thanks for sharing that–for me, one of the best remedies for these feelings is knowing other people share your experience 🙂