I hope you’re making plans for your freelance writing income in 2010 now.
We’re almost at the end of November, and in December you’ll be too stretched, what with shopping, festivities, and keeping up with current obligations, to bother about planning.
Before you start planning, consider:
* Your current clients, publications and project commitments, remembering that you should be getting most of your new projects from your current client list, once you’ve been writing for longer than six months;
* What forms of marketing you’ll need to do in 2010 (and yes, if you want to avoid the common freelancer’s feast and famine syndrome you MUST market);
* New projects and ventures you want to try;
* What you’ll need to learn to extend your skills (when you know more, you earn more);
* Scheduling some writing time to just play: if you want to avoid burnout, leave yourself some FUN time;
* Current challenges (what’s annoying you? what do you need to straighten out?);
* Setting goals for 2010 — income goals, as well as production goals;
* Scheduling housekeeping chores (schedule time each week for regular chores like sending invoices, paying bills, and staying in touch with clients).
Yes, you can be spontaneous — make plans so you can be
Creating goals and plans is a challenge for many writers who tend to want to avoid it, because they want to be flexible and fluid. They’re worried that too much planning will take all the spontaneity out of writing.
You’ll find however that once you get the planning habit, you’re more productive, and since you’re achieving your goals, you’re more confident and relaxed. You can be as spontaneous as you like: feel fee to change plans, adjust them, and revise them.
Planning can be a very creative activity. You’re thinking about what’s working, and what isn’t, and you can do more of what works, and stop doing activities which are non-productive.
Watch for next week’s issue of Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, in which our theme is “Mastering Freelancing FAST”; this should give you plenty of ideas for making 2010 an exciting and profitable writing year.
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