Don’t Hate Yourself In the Morning

When I first started freelance writing, I took on jobs that were absolutely dispicable. They were boring. They didn’t pay enough. They were quite demanding considering the pay. They required me to insert keywords that didn’t make sense. They made me question writing as a profession. I’d dread putting my fingers to the keyboard, something I otherwise couldn’t tear myself away from. I had some writing jobs that threatened to keep me from being a writer.

Since then, I’ve promised myself that I would never take on writing gigs that I would not enjoy. Part of me thinks, “You have to take the good with the bad.” Sometimes I wonder if it’s a bad idea to turn down a writing gig in my first year as a full-time writer when there’s a recession and thousands of people are losing their jobs everyday. It’s kind of like when your parents tell you not to throw away food because people in other countries are starving. But, I just can’t bring myself to say “yes” to a job, when all good sense is telling me to say no.

So, before I take on a writing job, I find out as much information as possible so I can imagine myself doing the work. Is it something I’d look forward to doing? Or something I’d put off until the last possible moment? Is it something I’d be proud of? Or something I’d hate myself for doing? Choose your freelance writing jobs carefully and watch out for those that threaten the passion you have for writing.