Ever wondered how a writer spends the day? What’s the writing life like?
Many people ask me how I spend my days. I find that non-writers are curious about what it is exactly that writers do.
Morning: I wander over to my office and sit with my morning coffee or tea and check my e-mail. I’m subscribed to writing how-to/writing job newsletters so I check to see what’s come in. I often answer e-mails from other writers or respond to comments about my articles.
Next, I check Suite 101 and Triond to see how my page views and earnings are doing.
I’ll swing by HubPages and look over my Hubs. I’ve created nearly 150 Hubs and these earn in multiple ways.
Afternoon: Once I’ve woken up (I’m not a morning person), I get down to the actual writing end. Usually, I work on multiple projects, so I may work on a Suite 101 article for a while, checking word counts, adding photos, etc. then leave it to sit so that I can come back at it with fresh eyes. I’ll take a break and have a cup of tea–then I might create a Hub or start an article for Triond.
I usually spend some time bookmarking–especially if I’ve published something the day before. And I always have my Google Adwords Keyword tool handy. I might type in a keyword phrase and check to see if it’s being searched for. I always have pen and paper nearby so that I can jot down keywords and ideas for articles.
Because I have three blogs, I may work on these.
Evening: I find that usually I do editing in the latter part of the day. Whatever I’ve written gets proofread. This is my “tweaking” time, where whatever I’m working on gets read through, edited, rewritten, etc.
At times, if I”m not too tired, I may go back to an article I’m working on and add more to it.
The freelance writing life is fluid. Writers can switch back and forth between projects. I believe that’s the aspect of writing that I enjoy the most. Freelance writing rarely gets boring because there’s always something different on the horizon.
The writing year is always an adventure–and each year is different! One year I won numerous prizes for my poetry; another year I wrote keyword articles, with a boss in New York and another boss in India; another year I worked writing reviews.
Writing has taken me in so many different directions: writing, editing, blogging, programming . . .
A freelance writer has to embrace multiple skills to keep on top of the game. This means knowing how to work with HTML and templates, knowing how to write keyword articles, web copy, SPOV, being skilled with Word, knowing how to write query/cover letters . . . ultimately, being a self-starter.
A writer mavericks it, going it alone, self-directing and staying the course.
There’s no life like it and there’s nothing else I’d rather do.
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