How should a freelance writer approach his work

Fiction

Bob Walker woke up from his bed. He looked at his watch. He was surprised to find that it is 10’O clock in the morning. He slept very late. He was awake the whole night, browsing online, as he looked for new freelancing jobs. He had been following this routine for the last 5 days, ever since, he lost his clients. 

He couldn’t find any reason to understand the present drought.  All his clients have refused to renew the contract. They didn’t give any reason for it. This is perhaps, the first time Bob faced this kind of situation. He doesn’t remember he passed a day, without any work, since he began writing professionally. That was some 5 years back, and now, it has been 5 straight days, with no work in his kitty. ‘What could be the reason?’ he pondered. 

Bob had thought about it the whole day, and he has still not been able to find any clue. It was tough for him to digest the fact that clients left him. He doesn’t remember he has done anything differently in the recent past to lose his clients. He decided to spend the next morning in a quiet and calm place. No work for the last few days has made him idle. 

The best thing about Bob is he never gets depressed so easily. He is an optimistic guy, who always comes out with new ideas to handle the crisis. Bob was confident that he will find the solution to overcome this new episode in his life. ‘Writers don’t always have work in their hand’, he said to himself. ‘The best writers always make the most when the opportunities come their way’, he thought.  

He woke up the next morning. He got ready, and had a simple breakfast. Bob was very particular about what he ate. He believed that writers should always have ready food in the kitchen cabinet. A writer doesn’t really know, when the next freelancing jobs are ready to knock at his door, and he can’t waste his precious time preparing breakfast, when he needs to pay attention to complete urgent assignments online. He went to a park. The gatekeeper was pleasantly surprised to find him at 10 in the morning. Though, it was the weekend, still, it was too early for visitors to check inside the park. 

Bob chose a quiet corner. He didn’t want to be disturbed. He was not really concerned with what’s happening around. His mind was focused on finding the cause, the cause why his clients choose to leave him, and what he needs to do now to come out of the hole. 

The question that troubled Bob was - did he make a mistake somewhere? In the hindsight, Bob knew he found difficult to pay attention to all his clients over a period of time. The growing number of clients meant that he did not spent enough time on revision, before sending the finished assignment to the client. He may have committed grammatical mistakes in a hurry, he thought. And that’s what clients never like to see. Grammatical errors show writers in a poor light. Clients can never risk spoiling the content by having grammatical errors in it. It not just spoils the content, but it also creates bad reputation in the minds of the readers. Though, Bob was not really prepared to accept that he may have committed grammatical errors in his work, yet, he decided to give a look in.

He came back home, and checked all his recent files to go through the content again. His fears had come true. He was incredibly surprised to find that he had committed few errors, which he normally never commits out of practice. Too many projects and packed schedules led to mistakes. Writers sometimes act as hungry lions, he thought, as he continued his search. They don’t want to let any project go away from their grasp. A writer’s insecurity makes a writer behave in a strange manner. However, one should also consider the quality of the content. What Bob did was purely a mistake, committed instinctively. Such mistakes don’t make Bob a bad writer overnight, but it does leave a bad reputation in the market.

Bob was not particularly satisfied with his findings. He was sure that something else had also played a part in robbing clients away from him. He decided to take the whole week off, and completely focus on how to perk up his career. He was prepared to spend some more time. 

He eventually found that he has become more arrogant. He was too confident that his clients will stick with him, no matter what happens. He never had a plan B, if in case, his clients go away. It was this mistake, which was the root of all the existing problems. The overconfidence started it all. 

“Success over a period of time makes writers arrogant”, he said to himself. He knew why his clients had ditched him. Writers must act professionally. That is the most important lesson he understands now. An unprofessional approach has no place in the writing world. Those who stick with amateurish behavior will lose what they have gained. Writers should learn to be responsible, and act responsibly, even in the most trying circumstances. 

Bob has found his answers. He learnt that his irresponsible conduct has played a part in creating a lull, which he is facing now. That night Bob went to sleep with a peaceful mind. It was something, which he has not experienced for the last one week. He slept early, as he knew there would be lots of work to do the following morning. He has to get ready to write query letters, for various magazines, and also start getting in touch with his older clients. Bob was confident that he will achieve triumph over the present adversity. Confidence is the most important factor, which helps writers to get new assignments online. The positive intent plays an important part for writers. 

He began the next day, as he decided to push himself to limits, to get his professional writing career back to track.