Treat Your Writing Like The Business It Can Be

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
I suspect many of you are like me. I started writing because I had some sort of a need to write. Somehow, maybe as early as sixth grade, I loved getting words on paper. It was probably around that time that the romance of being a writer began to creep in. Although I started reading Writer’s Digest magazine as soon as I discovered it, and buying Writer’s Market annually in college, I didn’t even submit anything over-the-transom until I was 32.

Of course, at any and every job I’d end up with the writing chores – never paid directly, but loving them none-the-less. Sometime in my 30s I also discovered that, if you were lucky, you could get writing jobs. My first were in the then new personal computer industry as a tech writer.

I sold my first freelance piece and began to sell other things, including a newspaper column that grew to a massive three-paper syndication. But even though my income from freelancing was gradually increasing, it took me a heck of a long time to begin to treat my freelance writing as a business. By that I mean more or less the following:

• I began to believe I could make a living from freelance writing
• I got a business bank account and deposited my writing income there.
• I got business cards.
• I started telling people I was a freelance writer.
• I began keeping track of my business expenses.
• I built my first website selling myself as a writer – with many changes it’s still AnneWayman.com.
• I began filing self-employment taxes.

These days I know for sure I’m in business for myself and my business is freelance writing. I treat my writing like a business. The result is a better income and increased confidence. I love being a writer in business for myself.

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing – a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision – for those who want to get a book written.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu