My discoveries: If I’m loving the work, time doesn’t matter. This was an important discovery, because I’m normally a “in bed by nine” kind of gal. So, I decided I would specialize in the area I enjoy the most (I also believe I am better at this kind of writing).

And like Mike said, I need to eat well, rest well and live well (Minus the negative folks. So Mike you hit the nail SQUARE on its head with that one).

I also found that I really can’t get going until I read and respond to a few blogs. If I have nothing important to share with my regular blogs, I will LOOK for one. Now, This was a TOTAL surprise to me! But I guess it makes sense, since you are reading thought provoking material, thinking about your take on it, and then writing out your response.

One thing I have yet to conquer: Saying “no.” I tend to volunteer too much as well–not writing projects–but just about everything else. I have a very supportive husband who can take a “no” very easily, but I still suffer from the “I need to be everything to everybody” disease. But I’m working on it and am sure I’ll get over that soon enough.

If a deadline is looming and constant e-mail and phone interruptions threaten my ability to complete a project on time, I will occasionally turn off those distractions. But I prefer not to leave the convenience of my home office to avoid interruptions.

I wouldn’t say that my process provides the ideal environment for optimal writing productivity, but it has allowed me to build longstanding relationships with a core group of clients that give me regular work and always pay on time!

Check it out at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/groupcoaching.shtml.

PB

Luddites unite! Yet another vote for pen-and-paper first drafts. In fact, I’ll go you one better: I do it with fountain pens! (For those who care about such things, my favorite pen is a 1949 Parker “51″ first year aerometric filler).

I’ve “written” with computers since my high school days. I returned to writing out my drafts longhand when I was still a cubicle dweller because I felt my writing was becoming too formulaic, and frankly because I was getting bored with what I was writing. It worked – my then-boss complimented me on how much better my sales letters had become.

It’s remarkable how less stifled I feel when I’m looking at a blank page vs. a blank screen. And it forces me to rewrite those pieces, which is a good thing. As good as an idea can seem when I draft it, it will inevitably become better after I’ve reviewed it as I type it in.

Mark

Obviously being a cube monkey by day, I’m limited to night work when working on a project. I’ll have a little grub, fire up the laptop, never turning on the evil teevee machine, and get to. I usually listen to jazz or classical, usually streaming. I studied jazz guitar in college, so it’s a great distraction for the left (overthinking, overediting) side of my brain while my right side takes over. I’ll go for it until I think I have a first draft, then I hit send and see if the client is still awake. If we need revisions, I’ll longhand it in the Cube (shhhhh), always using a legal pad. As a part-timer, it’s work whenever and wherever you can.

My 40th birthday is 9/12/12 (1,058 days to go, not that I’m counting), and I plan on making that the first day of the rest of my life as a FLCW. I would imagine that I’ll try to keep normal business hours for a while, as I get used to the discipline of self-scheduling. Once I get that down, world’s my Pemaquid oyster…

Great to see how you all are doing it! Another great thread as usual.

I’m just getting started (or, actually, overthinking it too much to get started) in FLCW, and–I don’t want to hijack the thread–but this one’s brought to mind one of my most persistent questions about this particular line of work, and one that seems to rarely, if ever, get addressed directly. I wonder if you can all explain a bit about what a work week tends to look like. I know there’s no such thing as a “typical” week, but are you all consistently early morning and/or late night people? Obviously flexibility is one of the hallmarks of the business, but does that flexibility mean you’re all consistently pulling 12…14…16 hour days, including weekends? I’m just trying to get a realistic feel for what it’s really like making a living this way. I can handle hard work, but I’d like to hope that it is possible to set fairly consistent boundaries for when it gets done.

Thanks,

Susana

Mike – Good points about volunteering. I had been writing/editing a monthly newsletter for a non-profit for a while, in addition to other writing tasks for the group’s marketing committee. Nice folks, but the environment became increasingly “corporate” with its meetings, personality conflicts, demands, etc. (again reminding me of my old job!) and I finally had to give it up as it was taking time away from my business…and earning a living!

Peter – I’m a relic as well – I always use pen and paper…gotta love those legal pads! I rarely “write” on the computer

John Paul