I’ve been thinking a lot about blogging and writing for myself vs freelancing over the last few months. What I’ve come to discover is that I really enjoy blogging here, writing how I like and about what I like.
When I’m dipping into freelance work, it’s work. You’re writing in line with a publications style and against a set of rules. It’s much more difficult that you may imagine if you’re used to writing for yourself like me. The initial pitches often go ignored and need chasing, your work is edited to fit in and you often have to chase to get feedback or payment. It’s a career choice you need to go into (for me anyway) with no expectations of being able to make a living straight away and is taking a lot of time to build up any sort of contacts or regular work.
For me, freelancing and blogging has let me discover why I enjoy the freedom of writing for myself and why I started doing it in the first place. My site is now getting support from the community to pay for hosting and anything else is a bonus. It won’t pay the bills but let’s me have some creative freedom and I know that there are some of you out there that like reading my stuff and supporting independent creators – that means a lot to me (and thank you to those that have supported me).