If You Want To Do More Than Just Dream About Being a Freelance Writer…

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If you want to indulge in the “fantasy” of becoming a freelance writer, go for it!! 

No one is stopping you. 

Dream away my friend.

And the nice thing about dreams is – they’re FREE! (Can’t say that about too many things these days.)

But if what you want is to build an actual freelance writing career – you know, one that generates actual income – you need to stop “dreaming.” 

Dreams are too close to “fantasies.”

Dreams happen in our sleep, when our brains wander freely where they want to, without regard for reality, or gravity, or bank accounts, or bills… 

Dreams have a fantastic amorphous quality, and while we can feel that we know exactly what we are trying to achieve, there is almost always a fuzzyness around the edges – a vagueness. 

And this vagueness allows them to shape-shift and morph ever so slightly. 

Building an actual freelance writing career requires an actual plan. 

And the very first step to creating that plan is defining your dream. What do you mean when you say you want to be a freelance writer?

Maybe you are thinking that it is fairly self explanatory. 

I promise you, it is not. 

You are going to need to put it down in words. 

I know… you KNOW your plan, your goals.

You don’t have to write them down. 

No, you do.

You really, really do. 

Why?

Because we have a tendency to “know” things vaguely.

And when we are actually asked to explain ourselves and articulate our thoughts, it is VERY common that the actual words elude us. 

Without absolute clarity about where you are headed, the chances of getting there are pretty darn slim.

It’s like heading off on a driving trip with only a vague idea of where you are going, and hoping that you might stumble onto it one day. 

When I was 27 (just a tadpole, basically), a therapist asked me about my goals. (Yes, I was in therapy – obviously… I want to be a writer – I’ve got lots of issues.)

I responded, “I want to be a writer.” Pretty self-explanatory, right? 

“Aren’t you a writer, now?” she asked. 

“Uh… “

“You write every day, isn’t that what you said?” 

“Right… yes, I do. I guess, what I meant was that I want to be a published author,” I clarified. 

“Ah, ok. Do you specifically need to publish a book, or will you achieve your goal if you publish anything – an article, for example?”

“Um…”

“Do you just need to publish something to know that you have, or is publishing also about making money?”

“Well…”“Does it need to generate a sustainable income? Or are you anticipating that it will supplemental?”“

Hmm…” 

“Are you planning to self-publish? Or is it your goal to secure a publishing deal?”

“Right, yeah… I’m going to need to get back to you about all of that…”

I realized in that moment that actually, I had no f**cking idea what I wanted. 

If we aren’t absolutely sure where we are headed, we can’t create a path of define-able, actionable steps to get there. 

Don’t feel foolish if this is you.

It is one of the most common human mistakes – we assume things. 

Our brains have a nifty way of filling in gaps.

In fact, our brains do this SO effectively that we often don’t even see the gaps anymore.  

Also, truthfully, sometimes we avoid the exercise of defining our dreams because we have an uncomfortable suspicion that our dreams won’t hold up under closer scrutiny. 

But consider… the surest way to fail at this dream is to stay in the comfortable gray cloud of hope.

The dream career you are building has to shift out of that comfortable, amorphous, gray cloud of hope and move into solid definable reality.

That’s not always easy.

It is much more comfortable (not to mention easier) to keep our dreams in a vague place. 

And, while it is harder (impossible) to reach our vague dreams, it is also much harder to fail at vague dreams. 

Vague dreams are safer. No doubt about it. 

BUT… if you’re serious about creating a freelance writing career, get out of the clouds and mist. 

The odds of accidentally stumbling into the success you were hoping for are mighty slim. 

Your dreams deserve to have a tangible plan to help you achieve them. 

And just think… if you don’t know where you are going… how will you know if you get there?

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