Let’s get real—what are the struggles freelance writers have to face?

Freelance Writing & Loneliness

Working on your own (and from your home, if you’re like me) means dealing with loneliness. Switching from an office environment where people would pop in and out of my office all day long to a quiet room in my house turned out to make for a much more efficient workday, but there’s no interaction with other humans. Sorry dog and cat, you don’t count.



There are some days where I don’t say a word out loud until around 5:00 at night. I’ve also found that spending so much time alone means that your social skills aren’t as sharp when you need them. It gets more difficult to make small talk and actively engage in listening when you don’t practice doing that.



That means you have to be deliberate about getting out of your sweatpants and back in the real world. I’ve been doing this by going to a yoga class twice a week, regularly visiting friends for coffee, and keeping communication open with fellow freelancers online.

The Uncertainty of Freelance Writing

Being a freelance writer also means dealing with the ups and downs of client work on a monthly basis—which means varied income. I’ve been lucky to have several clients on retainer, which helped ensure I made at least a regular amount each month—but everything else depends on how much work I get (and how hard I work to find new projects.)



I’ve found this uncertainty can actually be a benefit rather than a struggle, as it’s a great motivator for me to beat past months. However, it certainly means taking on more risk—which takes some getting used to.

Explaining What You Do as a Freelance Writer

For me, using the term ‘freelancer’ or ‘copywriter’ can be confusing (I wrote about this in depth on Medium.)

There are a lot of misconceptions about working from home and freelancing—and I’ve found that people tend to give a metaphorical head pat to those who have a job description that includes “write blogs.”



It’s taken me a long time to figure out how to explain what I do to others, and unfortunately, I’ve found that people really only seem to express understanding and an interest when I can touch on something they already know—like writing for a publication or for a business they’ve heard of. It's a work in progress.