SiteHow to Become a Super Confident Freelancer
I was taking a look at a book called The 12 Bad Habits That Hold Good People Back by James Waldroop and Timothy Butler, and one of the habits stood out to me: “Never feeling good enough.”
This is what holds students in my e-course back from reaching for their dream magazines (until I make them, of course!), what makes writers accept peanuts for pay, and what makes freelancers work with pay-on-pub contracts. “Who am I to ask for more? they ask. “Who am I to think I can write for Woman’s Day, or National Geographic, or Mother Jones?”
I’m here to tell you that if you have the basics down — you know how to write, you have good ideas, you’re persistent and professional — and you add value by being an expert in a certain topic, say, or having access to good sources — you have no reason not to be successful as a freelance writer.
So how do you beat this self-defeating behavior? According to the authors of The 12 Bad Habits That Hold Good People Back, “You need to become aware of feelings of insecurity and inferiority as you actually experience them.” Do you feel a pang of anxiety when you think about negotiating up from ten cents per word? Do you feel insecure when calling sources to get quotes for a pitch when you don’t have an assignment in hand? Be aware of these moments.
Then, write down the ways you sabotage yourself when you get these feelings of insecurity. For example, maybe you give up on ideas instead of following up because you fear you’ll annoy an editor. Or you blast off half-formed e-mails to potential sources, secretly crossing your fingers that they won’t respond because you’re afraid of interviewing. Or perhaps you politely accept assignments at low pay and with bad contracts, lowering your income because you think you’re not worth more.
Finally, for each item you wrote down, think up ways you’ll counter it in the future. For instance, you may write, “When an editor calls with an assignment, I’ll ask her if I can get back to her in an hour. Then I’ll have time to think over the offer and decide if and how to negotiate.” Or you could write, “I’m going to schedule follow-ups in my calendar for two weeks after I send in a pitch — and then I’m going to send a polite e-mail that I’ve run by a writer friend to check for typos.”
Then — do it! Make a conscious effort to put the kibosh on your saboteurs. As you take bold steps, you should feel your confidence grow. (And your income should grow, too!) [lf]
7 Responses to “How to Become a Super Confident Freelancer”
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Devon Ellington
Said this on March 30th, 2009 at 2:44pm:Great post. We all get assailed by the Doubt Demons. We succeed by taking specific actions that help us overcome them.
Thanks!
Rita Colorito
Said this on March 30th, 2009 at 3:03pm:Thanks for the helpful tips from that book.
I rowed crew in college (novice for two years, with a coach with a personality as bad as Bobby Knight) and our team motto was the Nietzche quote (as it is for many crew teams) “That which does not kill us makes us stronger”. So true of freelance rejections. I keep getting them and I keep plugging away. But I have my days when those rejections put me in a seriously bad mood (and I just wish I could row out my frustrations on the Potomac–but I no longer live in DC and no longer row). So I go for a walk around the block and try to give myself a pep talk. My strategy for quieting the demons: Tell them to shut up. I’ve got work to do.
LindaFormichelli
Said this on March 30th, 2009 at 4:11pm:Great advice, Rita!
Heiddi
Said this on March 30th, 2009 at 9:44pm:Hi Linda,
Thanks so much for writing this post. That is exactly what stops me. Am I good enough? I even walk around with the last page of my undergrad thesis with my professor’s comments on it. Nevermind that there’s a big fat A on there, I like reading his comments over and over again. I find them very uplifting. Another thing I like to do is to list my qualities, all the good stuff. After that I feel so much better.
Maricar
Said this on March 31st, 2009 at 12:04pm:It’s encouraging to know that I’m not the only one having doubts about being good enough. As a beginning freelancer, I don’t have magazine clips to bolster my confidence. Instead, I try to fall back on what I do have (a couple of full-blown thesis manuscripts, which are not ‘consumer mag’ material, but I invested blood, sweat and tears, all the same). And I tell myself, in the end, the only thing I’ll really regret is not trying. So, I stubbornly plow ahead.
Crissy
Said this on May 28th, 2009 at 8:04pm:This has always been my biggest problom with everything. Not feeling good enough. Part of my problom I got rid of, an emotionaly and mentaly abusive husband. But I still have to deal with this feeling even though he’s gone.
Izzy Ginzberg
Said this on October 8th, 2009 at 8:12pm:Great post, Linda!
People need to stop trying for perfection all the time- and be fine with “good enopugh”. this is especially true online, when you can always edit your reoort, blog post, or ebook later…
Izzy
(Also… your link “about renegade writer” gives a 404 error, just so you know.)