Starting a freelance career

How does one start a freelance career? Do you just wake up one day and decide to become a freelancer? Or does a lot of thought go into it and you plan to the last detail before making the jump? For me it was more circumstances and a lot of thought before I started out. Recently married, moved to a new country, and without a driver’s license. The options available to me were limited.

I also wanted to get my Masters degree but a thorough search of the country’s universities made me decide to opt for a distance learning program. Soon I was bored out of my head staying at home and becoming paranoid that my brain was rotting. Blogging only took so much time and hardly challenged the mind. Adjusting in a new country where I had no family or friends was also taking its toll.

Having done freelance writing and volunteer blogging work back home I soon started thinking of doing it here. But contacts back home had assignment for the entertainment industry which is what I wrote for there and being geographically inaccessible meant I had to find work elsewhere. That’s when I started wondering what was there in terms of online work. I couldn’t work for a newspaper or a magazine here because I did not have a driving license and getting one here is a major hassle and takes a lot of time. Barely anyone passes on the first try and the waiting period was five months!

I knew in the given circumstances my laptop was my best friend and also the tool of my chosen trade. Unlike the majority of people, I did not start freelancing to earn a full time income. I started to keep myself busy and productive. Why did I choose freelancing? Because I’ve been writing ever since I discovered blogging at BlogSpot some four years ago. And because I’m good at it.

Being a good writer isn’t enough to succeed though. The amount of effort and work that happens before you actually land a writing job is another post for another time.