by Rachel Smith
09 August 2013
After running the List for so long, I’m often emailed by staffers toying with the idea of dipping a toe in the freelance world. Depending on the day I’m having, I might want to type back, ‘NOOOOO, DON’T DO IT!’ or ‘Yes, quit immediately, you’ll never go back to an office again’.
But, seriously, it’s a hard call to make. I think some people are born to freelance and crave that solitude and freedom. They couldn’t care less about watching daytime TV or missing Friday night drinks; for them, the thought of carving out a living, largely on their own terms, is a motivator and a thrill.
Others love the morning coffee run with colleagues, the hubbub of an office and the fact that there’s always someone two steps away to bounce ideas off. I’ve seen it countless times: people who go freelancing, end up hating it and start scouting for another in-house job.
In my case, I returned from working overseas in 2000 to take a content writing job on a big, new entertainment website in Sydney. A year later, I was made redundant along with a huge team of content writers, editors, producers and digital specialists. I was lucky enough to get another job as a web writer at a TV station, only to be made redundant again six months later, along with the entire digital department.
It was very far from choosing to go freelance with a burst of optimism and a bulging contacts book. On the contrary, I had few contacts, because I’d been living in London for several years. The freelance market at the time was also flooded with ousted journos like me. Not unlike the market now, as a matter of fact.
Scary? Just a bit. But, 12-odd years later, I’m pretty happy with my lot – even during the lean times (of which there have been a few).
If you also work for yourself, how did you end up there? Did you one day just take the leap? Were you pushed (by a crappy boss or redundancy)? I’d be really interested to hear your story in the comments.
I’ve freelanced on and off for over 30 years, in Hong Kong, London and mainly Sydney. I began as a travel and arts/culture/social science writer and am trying to build this up again alongside the design, sustainability and building and construction on which I latterly have concentrated. I enjoy the sense of achievement in running my own business (surviving!), of meeting and talking to (online and in person) a far wider range of people than workplace bosses ever allowed me to, and mixing writing, editing and managing editing. I could do without the sink or swim stress, but equally that is so integral to being freelance, adds the edge, the fun and stimulation.
All so true Deborah. And I too love the different directions you can take freelancing too … am in the process of making some changes in my own work right now and it’s really liberating making plans and putting things into action.
I began freelancing after an ‘understanding’ boss said I could have a job back in the nappy alley section of the newsroom after my second maternity leave. Problem was I was living in Melbourne and said newsroom was in Perth. Initially I hated it – too quiet and I missed the newsroom buzz – so I spent time at my coffice down the road everyday. Now I love it and would never go back. Great flexibility, scope to write about broad range of topics, ability to take time off whenever I want and no commuting to work. Downsides are the fact you have to sell yourself, and sometimes end up writing about really boring or technical stuff only because it pays so well and I need the money. Convincing some editors that freelance doesn’t mean I work for free can also be challenging but most of the time it is fun, rewarding and inspiring! Waiting for the day more freelancers work together to cover bigger stories/features as I love feeling part of a team.
I used to be the same – loved the buzz of an office and the first couple of years was really lonely. I think I knew one other freelancer; all the others were in-house. Now it’s the other way round 🙂
I started freelancing as a travel editor, because I really needed the flexibility to be able to take trips regularly. My magazine allowed me to work on that and another section from home. It was so exciting and scary. The first year was financially tough, but soon after that I was able to support myself and work on lots of different jobs. It’s sometimes tough not to have that buzzy office vibe and the collaboration, but freelancing has so many perks, including not having to deal with office politics and setting my own schedule.
Yeah – my first year was all about 2-minute noodles and cold-calling. Ah, the memories…
I’ve freelanced for about 15 years now – 10 years full time – and I don’t think I could go back in-house, I love it! The variety is fantastic, but the flood-famine hard to deal with sometimes. I started when working a three-days-a week job at a university, plus casual breakfast radio producer shifts. As a single mum with three kids, juggling the hour-long commute & childcare was a nightmare. An editor I’d worked for before asked me to write a few pieces and that slowly built up till I felt could get enough work to live on. Working part-time was a good way to start out.
Thanks for that Fran; interesting – we’re both long-timers. Definitely agree about the part-time thing and easing into freelancing that way. Also, although not always possible, going freelancing with 1-2 semi-regular clients can also ease stress a bit.
Freelancing had always been something in the back of my mind while I was working inhouse but I always thought that I needed more experience. In the end a chief of staff with whom I didn’t get on with very well decided that I should be made redundant. I took a month or two off and was just starting to look for another inhouse job when one of the editors from the publisher I’d just been made redundant from called me up and asked me if I could do a feature for him. I said yes, of course, mad scramble to get ABN etc. sorted out and then I was off. I started off writing for trade mags but it didn’t take me long to get up the confidence to start pitching my way up the food chain. Of course, it helped a huge amount that I already knew all the editors in the IT publishing industry and that a few of them liked my writing and actively sought me out when they heard I was freelancing. By the time I was regularly writing for The Bulletin and the SMH, I was well and truly hooked on the freelance life. If I could think of an idea and successfully pitch it to an editor, I could write it which is incredibly liberating. And it still is – as long as the publication has a freelance budget 🙂 There is a sense of pride in running my own business more or less successfully – I survive and some months I thrive – but when I look back at my career the most productive times have been when I have had a one or two day a week gig that covered my expenses. Something like that takes a lot of the stress out of running a freelance business which I find greatly increases creativity. To be honest, I don’t know if I could go back to working for someone else again. Maybe I could make the adjustment if it was for a magazine that I’d just love to work for. But as Rachel mentions, I do enjoy the solitude, the variety and the freedom to be able to just take a week off like I did at the beginning of August when there was a conference and a couple of field days held to coincide with Alan Savory’s visit.
Great story Darren, thanks for sharing that. So true about the regular gigs, I had several for over a decade which made freelancing a lot less stressful 🙂
Ah, those were the days.