A Day in the Life: Mistakes Made, Lessons Learned and the Real Freelance Writer Arrives at Last

Part 4: A Present Day in the Life of a Freelance Writer

E.B. White the author of Charlotte’s Web said:“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.”

In this really, really late installment of "A Day in the Life", we join Mikey Freelancer at a time that parallels our present day. As our tiny dust mite bodies float on unnoticeable currents of air and dance in between streams of photons bursting into the modest house, our hero seems at ease, confident and totally in control for the first time in, well, forever. If looks are an indicator, he exudes far more success and confidence than when he first started a freelance writing business. 

Day in the Life: Selling Content, Hustlin’ and a Jivin’, Would the Real Freelance Writer Please Stand Up

Part 3: It's a Hard Knock Life for a Freelance Writer Like Mikey 

 

Here we are again, Part 3 in a Day in the Life of Mikey Freelancer. As we glide from our perch in the rafters of a tiny and hot living room, we come to rest on the corner of a couch that has seen better days. Mikey sits hunched over a blocky laptop. All we need is a quick glance at the screen to see that he’s still mired in bid hell on Freelancer.com.

Read Part 2 of a Day in the Life: Bid Blisters are Bad M'Kay?

Tweet #DayInTheLife

As we look over his shoulder, we see that he has managed to land a few projects here and there. But the glint of light from a crinkled Ramen package hits our eye to testify to the real truth of his supposed success. The handful of completed projects described on his profile page show that he did finally achieve that high star rating and those stellar reviews he was so convinced would guarantee him access to the big-time jobs. But upon deeper inspection, it’s clear that he’s still wallowing in the shallow end of the budget pool. There’s not one project with a budget over $100.

A Day in the Life: Bid Blisters Are Bad, M'Kay

A Day in the Life Part 2: Watch Out for Scumbags

Last time on a “Day in the Life”, we watched Mikey Freelancer try to make money as a freelance writer on Textbroker. Alas, an A-Hole client trapped our hero in a revolving revision door and put the ax to his efficiency for the day. Read it here to catch up and see what Mikey learned.

In Part 2, we go back even further in Mikey’s freelancewriting career, back to the time when all that existed for our hero were unending questions with too few answers. This episode will cover nearly a year so that the story can be told properly and provide you with the most benefit.

A Day in the Life: An A-Hole Attacks, a Process that Kills It and Avoiding A Freelance Writing Trap

Part 1: A Day on Textbroker

After writing the Prologue to "Day in the Life" and expressing the strange occurrence that led to my vision for a Freelancer's Community Co-Operative site, I was at a complete loss for how to follow up and actually start the series with something helpful and meaningful.

So I began to think back to my first few months as a freelance writer, and I remembered the struggles that I went through during those tough times. Struggles that every freelance writer deals with and continues facing throughout their career. The kind of struggles that make a person stronger, wiser and, ultimately, a better writer or designer or marketer, struggles that make a better person.

As I reminisced on the not-so-good old days, a blatantly obvious idea slapped me twice across the face and shook me once for good measure: Contentmills. The starting point for many a successful freelance writer and a great place to begin "A Day in the Life".

A Day in the Life: A Beginning, a Morning Vision and a Tree of Unity and of Strength

Prologue: The First Day of a New Life

The sun is up and bursting through the blinds of my office window. My third cup of coffee sits cold and half full to the right of my laptop I try to jot down notes on this new "A Day in the Life" post that had been rattling around my head for over a week now. Even longer than that, if one thinks back. The idea simply took different forms over the years, but never in such a cohesive state. This new variation that is beginning to form is tangible, usable, but very fragile. I'm clinging to it right now, white knuckled against the fear of losing my grip. 

I look down at the stained paper containing my chicken-scratch notes, and suddenly realize that I have written two dozen phrases with no memory of the task. Phrases like freelance writing jobs, help your neighbor, content marketing, teach your neighbor, social media marketing, love your neighbor, help your community, online community volunteering, writing career, freelance career help, freelance site review, website help forum, freelance blogging jobs,  and on and on and on. Essentially, nothing more than a string of keyword phrases and common moral values, but somehow they strangely hold an astounding amount of meaning for me and, through extension of my own hopes and dreams, my friends here at FWP and all over the Internet, as well.