Since starting my freelance writing journey, my desire to write for pay has slowly taken over my desire to write for pleasure. This is especially true when I wait to hear back about my pitches. Here's what I'm telling myself to maintain peace within myself.
I’m 6 months into my freelance writing journey and one of the changes I’ve experienced is the motivation to write.
In addition to client work, I’ve been pitching regularly to websites and my acceptance rate is around 50%. For instance, if I submit 10 pitches, 5 usually get commissioned.
I don’t know if that’s good or bad but I’m not here to compare myself to the world. Nor should you compare yourself to me.
All I know is that something will usually stick and I will get paid to write the article I want.
But what about in the meantime?
What do I do while I wait for the editors to get back to me?
The most common and basic rule about being a successful writer is to keep writing. But since starting my freelance writing journey, my desire to write for pay has slowly taken over my desire to write for pleasure.
Before freelancing, I would sit in front of my laptop and write and write until I ran out of time. Like my son would wake up or I would need to get dinner started. Time would fly by because my writing was merely a hobby.
I wasn’t being asked to write an article because I wanted money for it. I was writing for the sake of writing, putting thoughts and feelings down so that I had an outlet to express myself. I was pumping articles out left, right and centre. I didn’t care about how much time I was spending on writing because I wasn’t worried about the dollar amount tied to it.
Now, since I started making some money doing this, I feel like I only want to write when I’m getting paid to do it.
So when the editor responds and agrees to my pitch, I start writing furiously. My days become a mission to complete those articles and submit them. Then it’s combing through my journal to discover topics that would be interesting to write about and starting the pitch cycle again.
It’s during that lull that I feel stuck in.
My mind is telling me it doesn’t matter whether a pitch gets accepted because no matter what you’re writing, it’s about practicing my craft and refining my skills.
But a huge part of me wants to twiddle my thumbs, scroll through social media, read fluff on the interwebs and wait until their response. I feel like a lazy bum.
I think this is the transition that many folks struggle with when converting a hobby into a business. So here’s what I’m telling myself:
Writing for pleasure is meaningful
There is no dollar amount that can be tied to the feeling I get when I am able to articulate exactly how what’s going on in my crowded mind. Reading that sentence puts so much sense in chaotic scribbles, emotional dribs and drabs and messy thoughts.
To write for pleasure is an investment in my business as it has indirect potential to make money. Continue tapping those fingers because with each letter and word you put down, your skills are sharpened; you have more ideas to grow from, more sentences to pick from and to form paragraphs. It generates ideas for pitches, content for my blog, traffic to my site and so forth.
Lulls need not be productive
As a recovering perfectionist with overachieving behaviours, I want to do as much as possible with every minute of every day. This is especially true since I became a mom. I have very little time to myself and when I’m working, I feel like I need to optimize those hours like there’s no tomorrow.
Because of this, I’ve basically created an efficiency fetish where the more productive I am, the more fulfilled I feel. And that isn’t healthy for me. It’s actually setting me up for burnout and failure. I need time to rest, replenish, and recover. Just because I have the time doesn’t mean I need to occupy it.
Hustle culture has made me believe that taking breaks and doing nothing means I’m not progressing, that my business won’t grow and everything will start to unravel the moment I stop. It’s okay to embrace the lulls, to lean into the quiet times and savour the much-needed rest. I trust the world won’t end if I slow down for a day or two.
Both have value
Ultimately, the process is writing is what I enjoy. But if I enjoy something doesn’t mean I need to overdo it. Writing for pay has value. Writing for pleasure has value. And during those lulls, if it’s not pleasurable to write, then I’m not writing for pleasure. It’s better to take a break.
So Readers, have you turned your hobby into a business? What are some tips that you have to balance the pleasure versus the pay?
