So I Guess I’m a Freelance Writer Now?

I’ve always had a passion for writing.

When I was younger, I used to sit on the swing outside for hours and makeup stories in my head that I was going to write down once I was back inside.

I wrote in my diary every day and produced a very amateur written magazine at the age of seven, to raise money for the local animal shelter.

So it was no surprise that as I made my way through school and into college, I decided that I quite fancied studying journalism.

I took up English at A-Level but soon realised that it wasn’t my best subject. I was excelling in Law, Sociology and Media Studies, but my English grades weren’t quite up to the same standard, so I made the difficult decision to drop it.

The technicalities were killing my writing, and so I stopped completely. There’s nothing like stringent grammar rules to kill your creativity and joy for a particular subject.

I ended up going on to study Law at University, which was still heavily full of writing, but just in a different manner. I became analytical and adept at forming strong arguments, which was just as well, as that’s what the law is all about.

But there was always something missing.

Finding my flow

I think we all need a creative outlet of some form, and for years I wasn’t getting any. I don’t think I realised that your life doesn’t have to be set to one particular path and you don’t have to choose between one thing or another.

You can do both.

So, last year, as I was spending my days at work writing witness statements for upcoming criminal trials, I spent my spare time applying to freelance blog writing contracts via Upwork.

And soon enough, I was accepted by an online travel blog to contribute to their site. Sure, the pay wasn’t great, but it was more than the usual $5 an hour, and it was good practice.

I wrote a few articles for them and then I was picked up by another online travel magazine and began writing articles for them too.

But like many freelance contracts, my little side hustle dried up quite quickly when the first site I was working for picked up a lot of other contributors who they were probably paying a lot less, and the second website disappeared from the radar without a word.

But it showed me that work was out there, and that freelancing was a life that whilst unpredictable and scary, was something I wanted to pursue.

Finding my flow, again…

As someone with over four years experience of providing personal assistance support to C-Suite Executives, becoming a Virtual Assistant was a no-brainer. But I didn’t realise that it wasn’t just about providing diary management and travel booking support, I could also put my writing back into play again.

And so, whilst I’m still taking on the duties of a traditional PA, I’m also writing blog articles for three separate clients on a weekly basis.

At the start of lockdown, I decided I was going to pursue my life-long dream of writing my first novel, and at the same time, I began my blogging journey here on Medium.

But for some reason, I found it difficult to say that I’m a writer. I felt like until my book gets published, or until I have some unprecedented success, I can’t use that word.

Making it official

Last week is when it all changed.

I received a Facebook recommendation, and not long after, a message inquiring about my blog writing services. All of a sudden, I felt legit.

I was asked about my experience and to provide some examples of my work. I found that I had tons I could show him — but obviously had to narrow it down to a select few. I have quite a hefty writing portfolio I couldn’t have dreamed of a few months ago.

And so that was it. I made it LinkedIn official. You can now call me a Virtual Assistant and Freelance Writer. Hurrah.

But why do I struggle so much to call myself a writer? After all, the Cambridge Dictionary defines a writer as “a person who writes books or articles to be published” and isn’t that exactly what we’re all doing here?

It all comes down to self-belief.

Stop getting tripped up by the title, enjoy the process, and own it.

If you’re a writer, you have to act like a writer, and what do writer’s do? They write. Simple as that.

“Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.” — William Faulkner