Why are we scared of freelancers?

Some people just don’t get the freelancer business. If it’s not in an office, it’s not real.

When I tell people that I make money writing, there’s a variety of responses. Some are shocked, and enthusiastic. Some seem to think I’ll be the next JK Rowling.

Some just don’t get it.

This isn’t to attack anyone who doesn’t get what I now do for a living. I’m not saying that what I do is especially difficult but it does have at least some value. Just because I’m not working in an office, or shop, or ‘traditional’ workplace doesn’t mean that I don’t work hard.

For a lot of people, all they see of what I do is the recurrent social media posts and my website.

The people who I see on a weekly, or even daily basis, don’t see the depth of work I put in. On a surface level, it looks like I sit at my laptop and type away for maybe a couple of hours.

A large part of freelance writing is finding people to buy your work.

This requires pitching on a daily basis and receiving little to no response. That’s the nature of journalism and writing as a whole.

I will write and send pitches that summarise ideas I have. I will find calls for submissions, write practice work, negotiate with editors, research stories and articles, and at the same time keep track of my finances. On top of this, I will sometimes have to redraft essays and articles which are over 800 words long multiple times to ensure they make sense. I have to edit all of my own stuff before I send it out into the world.

The time I spend writing is still about 60% but the other 40% is administration, editing, finances, and communicating with (or finding) potential clients. I could imagine if I had even more work it would probably go down to a 50/50 split.

I even have to dedicate time to dealing with disputes or problem clients — like the time I was scammed by a client on Upwork. I don’t just get to drop clients. I have to decide what the best course of action is for me.

There’s an opinion out there (which I have faced) that freelancers are either successful nomadic creatures or just plain lazy. Because freelancers often do not have a business or an office, people can view us as something magical. We come and go as we like. We’re the hippies of the work world.

You might think that writers and freelancers in general are sitting at home twiddling their thumbs until they occasionally do some work. It’s not true.

Some weeks I will not have enough time to sort things for everyone else because I will have a lot of work to do.

When I get to that point, I will have to find a way to deal with that.

Most of the time, freelancers are working alone.

Sure, we’re emailing and phoning clients but it’s not the same as being around people on a daily basis. It’s the only thing I personally miss about working in an office.

I’m an extroverted person and I need to just talk to someone during the working week. Being alone for 6–8 hours a day, 5 days a week, is not good for me. I know there are people who thrive alone but again that’s not me.

Freelancers are working independently which comes with both benefits and negatives. We are in charge of our finances, pricing, client relationships, job proposals, organisation, project milestones, marketing and project outcomes.

Instead of a manager giving you a task, you would have to not only find a manager and try to convince them to give you this particular task but also check in and then ensure you got paid.

What they don’t realise is that even if they don’t get it, I’m going to still do it even though it is hard, and frustrating at times.

Just because you don’t value it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value.

Just because I should work in a normal job, doesn’t mean that I must.

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