I’ve never met a writer who wasn’t riddled with self-doubt. Pouring your blood, sweat and tears (oh, the tears) into each word and wondering with every syllable if you’re good enough. Word to the wise: don’t become a writer if you can’t face mental gymnastics each time you face a blank page. Continue reading “How to cope with self-doubt when you’re freelance”
This week I wanted to don my Oprah hat and write about something I think we all experience: negative thoughts and self-doubt. I’m told that self-doubt is as much a part of a writer’s DNA as coffee dependency, narcissism and nosiness. To be honest, that doesn’t really give me much comfort when I’m hunched over my laptop, paralysed with fear and self-loathing, as though the assignment I’m working on is the first thing I’ve ever written and wondering why the editor gave it to me of all people. So how do you stop that niggling negativity from completely taking over? Continue reading “How to deal with negative self-talk”
What’s the key to freelance success? Being productive when you work for yourself requires good old-fashioned discipline and ninja time management skills. At the risk of sounding like a 1980s business bible, time management is absolutely essential for freelance success. Of course there are other factors – being tenacious, pursuing all leads and just blind fate. But in my experience once you’ve mastered managing your time, you’ll hit your productivity stride, your clients will be happy enough to give you more work and the mythical work-life balance we hear so much about can actually happen. Continue reading “Productivity tips and tricks for freelance writers”
I have a lot of opinions on being a freelance writer in Ireland in 2017. Although it’s offered me opportunities to work at companies I used to dream about while growing up in a small town, I still feel like the whole house of cards could collapse at any time, that every publication I write for could go the way of the dodo and we’ll all be replaced by ‘influencers’. Welcome to the Freelance Fear.
It’s an interesting but challenging time to be a journalist. Each week I hear that a journalist I thought was killin’ it has become a press officer or joined a tech company and there’s a strong sensation of ‘don’t wanna be the last one on this sinking ship’ when I meet other journalists, even editors. While it’s admittedly tough out there, at the same time it seems like everyone is a freelancer and there are few staff jobs anymore. In the US alone, more than a fourth of the workforce is now part of the freelance ‘gig economy’ so this way of working isn’t going away any time soon. Continue reading “Freelance writing tips: 5 lessons I’ve learnt”
Lisa Hughes 