Write Your Freelance Story
Image from teenstuffonline.com
As I sit here on the cusp of two years worth of freelance writing, I’m thinking there sure are a lot of things I’d do different if I had known better. First, I think I would have Googled “smart, funny, take no prisoners, laser wit” so I could have gotten Mark Pepper’s email addy sooner. And that’s just the beginning, folks.
The genesis for this post is from reviewing an ebook for a good friend on some blogging strategies. I thought, “Man, I wish I’d known this stuff way back when.” Upon further reflection it occurred to me that time hasn’t passed me by. Why couldn’t I rewrite history? I could not come up with a good reason why.
In order to rewrite history, it seems to me I needed to know what my history was. Sure, I had an ethereal, gossamer notion of where I had been, but the history was contained in a lot of different places, a little bit here, a tad there. I had to put it all together in one place, for my own sanity if nothing else.
I started my story with a close examination of the decisions that led me to get into freelance writing. From there, I looked at my early decisions regarding the site name, my hosting provider and what I had envisioned for my brand. I looked at early documents and dates. I reviewed the files for my early clients and some of the companies I wrote for. I went back and found some of my first affiliate programs I joined. Finally, I reviewed my archived posts to try and get a feel for my development as a blogger and a writer.
When I had all of the pieces in one spot (well, sort of), I was able to put together my freelance writing story. As I went through, I highlighted the turning points where I made certain decisions. These were the points that I wanted to rewrite based on what I know now.
The reality is that you cannot change history. What happened, happened. The important thing is that that does not have to be the end of the story. I found plenty of things that I could do differently and while they may have been more effective if I had done them early on, they still had the ability to be effective if I took the time to implement them now.
So in front of me are two documents: My history and a list of things that I could do to help re-write my freelance writing history. It’s going to take a little time, but now I have a roadmap.
This little exercise of writing my history has been great. It was interesting to see what I had gathered in two short little years. It has also motivated me to make the necessary changes to stay fresh and to correct the mistakes of the past where ever I could.
Spend a weekend and write your freelance story. I’ll bet you’ll be glad you did.
About the Author: A writer living in Alaska. A simple man with few passions: My daughter, writing, soccer and now and then a good cigar.
Mark | Jul 6, 2010 | Reply
Well, I guess it’s cheaper than a shrink. Ooh, self-analysis, George, dangerous territory. Almost as dangerous as calling Steven Seagal a lard-ass – unless done from the security of a different continent.
I think I did a bit of what you’re referring to in my first blogs about where it all went wrong with the third novel. Gawd, would I change some career decisions if I had my time over.
You have to admit your mistakes and own them, even if that causes Mr Ego to wince a little. Only then can you stop doing something wrong and start doing something you hope may be closer to right. Without that honest overhaul, you can’t expect very much to change.
I’ve used this quote before, but Einstein is said to have defined insanity in the following way: “To continue to do what you’ve always done and somehow expect different results.”
George Einstein, Albert Angus – perfectly interchangeable.
Mark | Jul 6, 2010 | Reply
BTW, you flatterer, you. What are you after?
George Angus | Jul 7, 2010 | Reply
Mark,
Ha! You know what I’m after, ya big lug.
I’m getting the admitting mistakes thing down to a science. I’m big enough to feel okay about those past boo-boos and use them to help straighten my act out.
Thanks for the wise words, oh sage of sages.
G
Christopher Anderson | Jul 8, 2010 | Reply
Ah yes, learning from your mistakes. Good idea. I did something somewhat similar to this recently. Sort of.
I was going through all my posts and fixing the categories and whatnot. The reasonable place to start was at the very beginning. Boy I sure had some doozies back then. What the hell was I thinking when I wrote that post? lol.
But I’m not going to take it down. My blog is a bit of written history in itself. It’s been central in everything I’ve done since I started it.
So I’m not going to cover anything up. Even if it is pretty embarrassing. It’s a written history in a roundabout way.
Jael Strong | Jul 12, 2010 | Reply
Very encouraging post! Self-examination is a must and it is wonderful to be reminded that it is never too late to do things better.