Write about what you know

As I explained in this post (scroll down to grumbling), your traumatic life experiences, grumbles, opinions and weird health issues are all freelance pitches in the making. Some people are nervous about the idea of letting it all hang out in print, which is fair enough. Trust me, anything you write WILL get back to your friends and family, so be prepared for your mum and dad to read it, whatever it is. And for their friends to come up to them in the supermarket to say they’ve read it.

That said, don’t let those nerves stop you. For starters, first-person pitches are often easier to sell in, because they’re something only you can write and a lot of publications love them (they often pay better, too). I often pitched ideas based around talking to a number of different people, only to be told they’d prefer a first-person piece on the subject.

Few publications will take anonymous pieces, though I sold anon first-person pieces to Sunday Times Style, Guardian Weekend and Guardian Family (though two of those were case study interviews, not about me, I should add), so for the most part you’ll need to be willing to put your name to it. But that’s the other point I want to make about first-person pieces: you’ll often find the response is far more positive than you might expect.

Some people talk about first-person pieces as ‘selling out’ or ‘selling your soul’. I’ve never understood this. How is sharing an experience with people who might learn from it and/or identify with you ‘selling out’? If your story is of interest to other people, it’s worth selling. If you have a moral issue with this, or anything that’s not long-form political journalism, stop and ask yourself why you became a journalist in the first place.

One last word about first-person pieces: don’t assume they’re piss-easy, especially when it’s someone else’s story. As anyone who’s ever tracked down an interviewee, persuaded them to tell their story, interviewed them and turned it into a publishable piece will know.

That said, don’t be afraid to write about what you don’t know

I have a few areas of particular expertise, but I’ve written or subbed material about plenty of others, from product descriptions to features. Here’s the thing: not everyone has the basic skills journalists need. Not everyone can chase down contacts, extract interesting quotes, write decent copy to brief and deadline, and so on. Some outlets will value a good journalist above the specific subject knowledge involved.

With some of my most regular clients, I started out being relatively clueless about the subject matter, having landed work through a word-of-mouth recommendation, or because I’d found some common ground I could cover for them only to be offered more commissions. The longer I freelanced, the bolder I got, pitching ideas to both existing contacts and new ones about subjects where I knew I’d have to do some research.

And you know what? That’s fine! Being a good journalist doesn’t mean knowing everything about everything, it means knowing who to ask, what questions to ask them, and how to ensure they give you all the right information. For example, a good journalist will ask follow-up questions and won’t ever say: “Oh, I don’t know, they didn’t say.” (Why? Because a good journalist knows it’s never a case of “they didn’t say”, it’s only ever a case of “I failed to ask them”.)

Chase your pitches

It takes a lot of guts to do this when you start out, especially if you encounter an editor who doesn’t like it and sends an irritated, scathing response. That will happen sometimes, however politely you chase.  But it’s worth doing anyway, because a lot of the time, silence doesn’t mean no, it means they haven’t seen your email or haven’t had a chance to read it.

I found I got more responses to emails with the subject line “Just chasing up a pitch…” than I ever did to my initial pitch emails, and I also found I got a surprising number of yeses after chasing. Remember: editors are busy, and they get a lot of emails. So it’s worth chasing a little.

Get clued up about your finances

I cannot stress this strongly enough. I’ve heard so many freelancers say: “Oh, I’m clueless about tax,” or “I don’t know about all of that.” Well, more fool you, because you’re probably paying too much tax. It’s not difficult to learn the basics. Go on a decent training course, pick the brain of another freelancer, get an accountant, whatever works. Just don’t stick your head in the sand and expect it all to sort itself out. That’s how you end up paying more tax than necessary or, worse, in hot water with HMRC.

So learn about what expenses you can claim and when, how to write down the value of assets, the pros and cons of being paid gross or on PAYE (including Class 1 NI and holiday pay), what records you need to keep, what you can save on (e.g. how to get a small earnings exemption form, what it’s for, and when to give it back) and what to save for (e.g. payments on account).

Learn what you will/won’t be entitled to in times of need, especially if you live with a partner (if one of you is unable to work for some reason, you may come in for a nasty shock if you haven’t already looked into what benefits self-employed people, and people with working partners, are and aren’t entitled to). Also, learn about the pros and cons of things like VAT registration, business banking and registering as a limited company.

If you’re confused by accounts and tax returns, consider getting an accountant. I’ve never seen this as a waste of money because my accountant is reasonably-priced, I could earn far more than her fee in the time it would have taken me, and I would have made a pig’s ear of it and ended up completely stressed and miserable in the process. The key is to find one who’ll provide ongoing advice and support, answer questions, and so on.

Oh, and I don’t just mean get clued up about your relationship with HMRC. Understand commercial debt legislation, too. Understand what terms you should and should not agree to, what the default terms are if nothing is discussed, how to chase late payment, what fees and interest you can add, and how to start small claims proceedings. Because even if you see writing as a hobby…

Freelancing is a business

So treat it like one!

There’s some more good tips and links over at The Renegade Writer and Diane Shipley.

Here are the things I think every freelancer should know. Some I wish I’d known at the start. Some I think are blindingly obvious, but experience tells me that isn’t the case.

Misplaced snobbery will do you no favours

There are two types of misguided snobbery that won’t help anyone’s freelance career.

1. Being snobby about niche titles. Take, for example, the wannabe columnist who told the Guardian she was going to “try to sell pieces to Parochial Weekly and Boring Things For You magazine” and anyone who has ever hooted with derision when I’ve mentioned writing for a magazine about some obscure subject or other.

Newsflash: very few people make a full-time living from writing; fewer still make theirs writing purely for big-name consumer publications; and niche publications often make very pleasant clients who pay well – and quickly. Yet too many people see trade and industry titles as nothing more than a stopgap. If you want to make a good living as a freelancer, don’t be one of them.

2. Being snobby about tabloids. I was hugely irritated by Wannabe Hacks’ post on being too proud to write for the Daily Mail, which basically says that writing for the Mail may sometimes be necessary, while perpetuating the snobbish view that it can only ever be necessary, not desirable. Sure, it recognises that you can’t just write for, say, the Guardian all the time, but it discusses the question of whether to write for the Mail as a debate between paying the rent and changing the world.

Right, because writing for an audience of millions is completely pointless. There’s no value in writing for a tabloid, ever. It’s much better to preach to the choir (and a comparitively small choir at that) all the time. What particularly pissed me off about the Wannabe Hacks post was the insinuation that there was very little good journalism to be found on the Daily Mail site. Which just isn’t true. Yes, there’s plenty of dross on there, but there’s some excellent writing, too. Whereas presumably we’re supposed to think everything in the Guardian is Pulitzer-worthy?

Writing for tabloids isn’t as easy as a lot of people think it looks. They are often far more demanding than broadsheets. It’s not easy to sell in and write a story for the Mail. It’s fo0lish and misguided to be snobby about writing for tabloids. And, oh yes, they often pay better (the best rates I ever got as a freelancer were around 65p a word, from News of the World’s Fabulous and the Daily Mail) and more promptly. I have never yet had a payment wrangle with a tabloid, as it happens.

Read adverts properly and tailor your CV accordingly

I picked up several high-profile gigs by responding to adverts on Gorkana (including a part-time job at a Sunday paper and production shifts at a weekly). A number of people told me I wrote good CVs and covering letters. Why? I kept them concise, and tailored them to each individual advert, contact or opportunity.

You wouldn’t believe how many people send long, rambling CVs stuffed with irrelevant details, and/or fail to re-nose them appropriately (e.g. sending a CV focused on writing experience to a production editor/chief sub, or failing to mention online experience when approaching a website).

Not only is sending out the same blanket CV just plain lazy, it’s also foolish. Big-name publications may scan for certain terms or phrases – if your CV doesn’t contain them, it may well get binned unread. How do you find them? Er, duh, they’ll be in the advert.

Personally, I made what I thought of as a master CV – one document that contained all my experience and skills – which I could edit and rejig as needed. I then put together a few tailored CVs for different areas (writing, online, production, copywriting). So whenever I needed a CV, I could just tweak one of these existing documents.

Keep in touch with clients – and treat them like human beings

You are more likely to get work from existing clients than new ones, so court repeat business – wisely, that is (so don’t beg for work, and don’t bug people). In other words, don’t let client relationships go off the boil.

I sometimes left it too long before checking in with people, only to end up regretting it. Because, if you want to build up a really good, ongoing relationship, and if you want that editor to start coming to you with commissions, or at least to always respond to your pitches, you shouldn’t just be talking to them when you want work.

Thanks to the internet, it’s easy to keep in touch. Which could just mean checking in by email once in a while or, if they use social media, adding them on Facebook or Twitter (if, and only if, they use those to chat to writers and work contacts). Try to meet up in person if possible, e.g. for coffee.

Don’t be a stalker, obviously, or ignore their personal boundaries. You should be able to take your cues from them, e.g. if they clearly hate people phoning them for a chat, or don’t have time to write long emails. If you can’t read their signals, well, you kind of need tips on more than just freelancing.

One last note on this subject: if an editor is made redundant, don’t be a dick. Stay in touch with them. Offer help, advice about freelancing, contacts, whatever. People have long memories, and if you stop talking to your contacts when they stop being useful, they’re probably not going to forget it. That, and freelancing is one big circle of karma and word of mouth. Which brings me to…

Don’t be afraid to help other freelancers

I’m not saying you should hand over all your contacts or spoonfeed new freelancers. But remember that other freelancers aren’t just your competitors. They’re also your colleagues, and they can recommend you for jobs they can’t do.

I once passed a gig that paid around £600 for a day’s work to someone who’d helped me out loads. I started freelancing for the magazine that now employs me full-time after another freelancer passed on some shifts she couldn’t do. And round and round it goes.

Some people think recommending someone else may do them out of future work. Well, perhaps, especially if you fail to maintain that client relationship. But here’s a story for you. A new client once rang and asked me to do an interview at very short notice. I just couldn’t do it. Rather than just say no, I asked them to give me half an hour and I’d find them someone else. The client was delighted because I’d helped them out of a hole and taken away the stress of finding a freelancer at short notice – and went on to give me around £7k of work.

You’ll find part 2 here.

The links and comments on the LiveJournal post have it covered, so I won’t rehash the info all over again. But I will say this. In a world where people bang on about how “information wants to be free” and “the internet has made copyright redundant” it is abso-bloody-lutely lovely to see the web world sticking it to someone who stole something that wasn’t theirs. It is amazing to see the internet shouting about how putting something on the internet doesn’t mean other people have an automatic right to swipe it.

Now, if everyone could just apply the same principles to music and film, that would be grand.

Let’s start with the reason for contacting Apple. She’s a journalism student. She needs help with her homework. That is not why Apple’s press office (or anyone else’s) exists – and if you read the comments on some of the articles about this, you’ll see a lot of PR people weighing in to point out that student journalists can sometimes be, well, a pain. Take this comment:

I work in public relations myself and have run various press offices over the years. The fact is that student journalists are a pain in the backside. Many of them basically ask you to do their work for them… When you consider that the organisation concerned has NO STAKE WHATSOEVER in the student’s essay/dissertation/article, it’s hardly surprising they give them short shrift… And the whine of “don’t you realise you are threatening my grade” is quite common. Perhaps if the students made sure the work they have chosen to pursue is practical first much of this grief could be avoided.

Well, quite. Not only that, but press offices do not, in fact, exist to serve journalists – although serving journalists is a means to an end. Press offices exist to serve the companies for whom they do press. They have no obligation to anyone but their company/client. They don’t have to talk to journalists if they choose not to, never mind student ones.

Not that all student journalists are a nuisance. As with anything, there are good and bad ones. Although, for the record, I doubt I’m the only one who’s had several experiences of being asked to answer questions by email, saying no but they’re welcome to call me (to save time and effort my end and avoid doing their work for them) only to be met with absolute silence. Which is polite.

And so to Ms Isaacs’ email, which contains a load of waffle about her use of Apple products and a moan about how she needs a response because it is “vital to my academic grade”.

“For my journalism course, I am writing an article about the implementation of an iPad program at my school, the CW Post Campus of Long Island University.” Which suggests the grade shouldn’t just hang on a response from Apple. Presumably there are people right there at Long Island U who can talk about the program.

“The completion of this article is crucial to my grade in the class” – not Apple’s problem – “and it may potentially get published in our university’s newspaper” – um, why on earth is Apple supposed to care? She also asks why Apple’s media relations team has ignored her needs “as a student journalist who is just trying to get a good grade?” Because that is not what Apple’s media relations team is for. Her grade is not their problem. She even accuses the PR dept of “hypocrisy” for “ignoring student needs when they represent a company that does so much for our schools”. Is it the Student Relations department? Precisely.

This is a perfect example of someone failing to grasp that rather than banging on about why they need something and why it will benefit them, they need to consider what’s in it for the other person and why they would (or indeed wouldn’t) care. And don’t get me started on all the gushing about Apple products. It’s supposed to be a media request, not a fan letter.

She also says: “Unfortunately, for a journalist in the professional world, lacking the answers they need on deadline day won’t just cost them a grade; it could cost them their job.”

Hmm. A journalist in the professional world wouldn’t rely on one source to make or break a whole piece without making sure said source was willing to talk. They wouldn’t sit around whingeing, they would get the information they needed from, you know, other sources. And that’s the rub. These emails to Apple imply that the person sending them has done nothing wrong whatsoever and only Apple is at fault. You know what? Having a company flat out refuse to comment probably isn’t going to lose a hack their job. Behaving like this just might – the arse-licking, the guilt-tripping, the whining that it’s someone else’s fault the piece hasn’t come together, the complaining that she “just wanted a good grade” without figuring out any other way to get it.

The JC reports that Ms Isaacs has carried right on whingeing. “Ms Isaacs, who hopes to work in journalism, said she would think twice about buying Apple products in future… Apple didn’t really want to help and they didn’t really care.” Yes, love. That’s what happens in journalism. People don’t want to help and they don’t really care. Throwing a strop and blaming them for the quality of your work will do you no professional favours.

“Her coursework has been marked with a B+, rather than the A she had hoped for.” You know what? That is really, really not Steve Jobs’ fault.

This happened to me when I uninstalled a program. A system restore fixed things, but that wasn’t ideal because I hadn’t actually identified or fixed the problem. After it happened for a third time (triggered by uninstalling the exact same program, which makes little sense because it was something I’d added and shouldn’t have affected my fonts or system display) I finally figured out the issue and actually fixed it.

There’s a lot of advice online, some of it useful and some of it not. The most irritating, unhelpful tip is to go into your Firefox settings and reset the default font – hardly helpful if your entire operating system is rendering text incorrectly, not just Firefox. A lot of websites and help forums suggest that you need to download a registry fix or reinstall all your Windows fonts from an installation disc or flash drive. But the fix I found doesn’t require any extra files or programs.

All you need to do is reinstall your Windows fonts. To do this, you need to figure out where your fonts folder is – mine is at c:\Windows\Fonts. Don’t bother going to the actual folder – the Windows 7 interface won’t let you reinstall the fonts from there. Instead, what you need to do is hit the Windows icon (bottom left-hand corner of the screen or the Windows symbol button on your keyboard) and type in c:\Windows\Fonts\Arial.ttf (you may need to change part of that if your Fonts folder is in a different place).

A window will pop up for Arial OpenType with two buttons at the top: Print and Install. Hit Install. It may say: “The ‘Arial’ font is already installed, do you want to replace it?” This means it wasn’t missing in the first place (but you may as well reinstall it all the same). Or it may just do it, which means it was missing. This is what you’re trying to find and fix – the ones that are missing.

Repeat the process of hitting Windows, going to c:Windows\Fonts\[fontname].ttf and reinstalling for all the basic fonts – somewhere along the line you’ll discover one or more where the regular version was missing, leaving your operating system with only bold and italic versions of the font, which is why it will have been rendering your browser in random bold and italics. For example, if a webpage tells it to use Verdana, and it only has bold and italic versions of Verdana installed, those are the ones it’s going to use.

Windows has a list of font filenames but start with Arial.ttf, Georgia.ttf, Times.ttf and Verdana.ttf as they’re the most likely culprits – in my case the regular iterations of Arial, Georgia and Verdana had all gone walkies. I don’t know why, but at least I know how to fix it now. For Windows whizzes this explanation may seem patronising and pointless, but I spent a lot of time trying to find a simple fix online, so I thought the least I could do is post it for other people.

When Google decided its new social network, Buzz, was such a great idea it would helpfully switch it on automatically and broadcast the contents of people’s email address books to the world, it did not go down well. Buzz no longer does this, but Gmail is still driving people up the wall by refusing to stop adding contacts automatically – sure, a story went round in 2008 that it had, in fact, stopped doing this. But to read past the headlines is to realise that, no, it hasn’t stopped auto-adding contacts at all, it just auto-adds them to a different list (“Other Contacts”, in my Gmail account) instead of the main one. You’re still left with a list of everyone you’ve ever emailed, or sent an auto-reply. You can’t actually turn it off.

Now iTunes is weighing in with Ping. Aside from the fact that there are already plenty of social networks for music (like Last.fm for starters), my issue with Ping is simpler than that: there are plenty of social networks, full stop. We don’t need another one.

Currently, it seems there’s a drive to turn every aspect of our lives into a social network and/or an app. You know what? Sometimes I want to do things – update my iPod, say – without actually having to build yet another profile and add everyone I know as a friend in yet another social network so I can tell everyone everything I’m doing. I don’t think this is social media fatigue. I still see the value of Facebook (good for keeping in touch with family, friends and old workmates), Twitter (good for keeping up with journalists, PRs and editors and, um, posting links to blog entries) and LinkedIn (handy as an online CV). But that doesn’t mean I need a social network for everything – nor does it mean I want to join a new one every week.

Still, it can only be a matter of time before the following social networks come our way:

PLOPIFY: A WORLD OF LOO ROLL
Follow your friends to see how many times they’ve been to the toilet this week. Rate and review different types of loo roll, compare toilet reading and find out which of your favourite celebrities have run out of loo roll.

MING: A SOCIAL NETWORK FOR ODOUR
How do you smell today? Let your friends know! Tell them what kind of BO you have and what deodorant you’re using. Share details of whose BO you can smell and who’s too stinky to leave the house.

BASTE.FM: FIND AND BROWSE SPERM DONORS
Actually, this one sounds like it could probably catch on.

Here’s the thing about pitching as a freelancer: you are not a one-person features agency. An agency can get away with sending out lists of content they have on offer, or putting this information in a database, although it’s worth noting that we used an agency for some interviews in one of my staff jobs, and we had a named contact who would talk to us about content that might be particularly of interest for certain slots, so we still got an individual approach. You are also not a credit card or insurance company. They can get away with being listed on comparison sites and sending out faceless direct mail – you can’t. And you are not a shop, either. They can get away with displaying their wares and waiting for customers to come along – you can’t.

Sure, freelance writing is a business, but what are you selling? Yourself. Not just your writing and research skills, but your personal qualities. If a freelancer can’t be bothered to write a pitch that’s tailored to an individual publication, or talk to individual editors about what they’re currently after, are they going to bother writing to house style? If I was an editor, I’d be wondering that. After all, agencies never send copy in house style, but that’s not what they’re selling. They just pump out content. You, as a freelancer, are supposed to be providing something more. If you shovel your pitches (or details of copy you’re inexplicably writing on-spec) into a database it looks desperate, risks the same editors seeing the same ideas and, above all else, it’s hugely short-sighted.

I have, before now, built up relationships with editors through pitching and writing for them, then been asked to come in-house to cover someone’s holiday or help out with a one-off project. When I calculated statistics for my freelance work, I realised what a huge chunk of my work comes from personal recommendations and from building relationships with individual editors. Relationships with clients are everything and you shouldn’t be looking for lazy shortcuts to avoid having to establish them. Editors like good freelancers because they make their lives easier and give them less to do. If you sit there and wait for them to come shopping, you may be waiting a long time.

I’ve gone through my accounts for the year so far and produced some statistics on my freelance work from April to now, some of which have taken me completely by surprise. I’d find it interesting if someone else did it so I figure some people might be interested in mine, plus from my point of view it’s been really useful to see what’s actually working.

Types of work
Writing: 87%
Subbing: 13% (this would have been higher had I not taken a month off)

Print vs. online
Print: 56%
Online: 44%

Types of print work:
Consumer magazines: 55%
Staff and membership magazines: 26%
Trade magazines: 10%
National newspapers: 9%

Writing – subjects covered:
Film: 29%
Music: 22%
Design: 22%
Health/real life: 15%
Social/political issues: 5%
Media: 5%
Food: 2%

This was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t relise I’d got more income from film than anything else.

How I got the work:
Word-of-mouth recommendations: 51%
Regular clients where I made the initial approach: 21%
Pitches to editors who already knew me: 10%
Clients who approached me with work: 9%
Work I got by answering ads on Gorkana: 9%

This one blew me away. I knew I’d picked up quite a bit of work from word of mouth recommendations, but I hadn’t stopped to count up just how much – so I’m amazed to see it’s more than half. To break it down further, 43% of my work came from editors recommending me to colleagues on other sections or other publications in the same company and 8% via recommendations from fellow freelancers. Reputation really is everything.

For me, this was worth doing because I currently spend more of my time and energy writing and researching pitches than I do on networking and relationship-building – I’ll be rethinking this now I’ve seen these stats.

Then there’s this one: “Eat something.” That’s not inspiration. That’s distraction. And that’s the problem – so many of the people who write these things are confusing distraction, positive thinking and wellbeing with actually getting inspired. The kind of inspiration you need as a freelancer is the kind that helps you think of new ideas that you can actually sell and new markets to which you can sell them.

One more, because that’s all I can stand: “Write yourself a letter. Write a letter to your older, wiser self, asking for advice on your current predicament. Then write a letter back, pretending you are your older, wiser self. Take a few minutes to read the solutions you proposed. And do them.” Guess what. I am not my older, wiser self yet, so I don’t know what my older, wiser self would think. If I did, they wouldn’t BE wiser, would they? They would just be older.

So here are some ways to find inspiration that actually work (for me, anyway) and don’t confuse “getting unstuck” with “finding new and ever more pointless ways to distract yourself while convincing yourself that what you are doing is even vaguely useful”.

1. Read internet forums (not ones you frequent yourself – that’s still distraction). This is a great way to get a feel for issues that are currently bugging people, whether you’re looking on a forum devoted to financial issues, parenting or university life. I recently wrote a feature inspired by the title of a discussion thread. For a national paper. For quite a lot of money.

2. Read American magazines (or British ones – whatever isn’t your home country). You’ll find ideas for stories that might not have been covered here yet, either because they’re new or they just haven’t been done. I’m still kicking myself for not pitching on an issue covered in US Elle that showed up in the UK papers six or seven months later.

3. Read trade magazines. The more random and obscure the better. Don’t just read the trade magazines pertaining to areas you cover, grab some random ones (try big newsagents or ones in commuter train stations – they usually have a decent selection). These are a good source for both ideas and markets – you’re on the lookout for news snippets that could make mainstream features and, on the flipside, news and features sections with a more specialised take on mainstream topics.

4. Make a list of everything that has pissed you off lately, however trivial. Problems with customer service, random people in the street, friends, family. Now ask yourself if these issues affect anyone else. Chances are you will be able to get pitches for at least one opinion piece, one consumer story and one relationship or social trends feature out of your list. (Next stop: Facebook, for everybody else’s grumbles.)

5. Check up on the government and the public sector. Check out What Do They Know and keep an eye on Hansard for anything that could inspire a newsy or political piece. (For example, I just wrote a piece for a magazine’s politics section after noticing a comment in Hansard which directly contradicted a policy briefing paper and wondered if the politician was lying or just didn’t know their own party policies.)

6. Go in search of free magazines – there are loads floating around. Look in pubs, music venues, shops and cinemas for starters. Some of them may have freelance budgets. Also, you may find articles about local issues that you can re-nose for a different market, from new local businesses and events to contentious issues.

7. Head to your newsagent of choice and buy five magazines you have never read before, let alone pitched. The further out of your comfort zone you think they are, the better. Because once you open them, you may find slots you could write for, or ideas to sell to other markets.

Anyone else have any constructive tips to share?

Postscript: look at blogs, too. Shortly after writing this post, I went to WordPress.com and saw the heading “City to tax bloggers?” in the Freshly Pressed section, which links to recent items posted on WP blogs. Intrigued, I clicked, read, did some research, smelled a rat, did some more research – and then sold a story to the Guardian.

I’ve found ways around this and thought I’d share. Partly for anyone concerned about selling themselves to future employers, and partly because I always like busting myths about freelancing.

Personally, I think the best way to deal with misconceptions about freelancing is to tackle them head on. If you’re writing a covering letter, or going to a job interview, tell them why being freelance makes you more employable. Don’t leave potential employers to fill in these blanks themselves. You can and should paint freelancing in a very positive light. Here’s how.

Misconception #1: Freelancers are fickle.

The myth… A recruitment consultant once told me an editor was wary of freelancers. The editor believed hiring someone who’d been freelancing was a risk. They’d be off the second something better came up. A lot of people seem to hold this view – they think freelancing means you can’t stick at anything.

The reality… First off, it takes a hell of a lot more staying power to stick with freelancing. Unlike staffers, we have no job security and no guaranteed income. Some of us have regular clients, but we’re still very easy to get rid of. We have to keep at it during the highs and the lows. And we do keep at it, because freelancing is a business, not some airy-fairy hobby, and running a business requires commitment and dedication – or you won’t be able to pay the bills.

The important thing is to realise freelance journalism is a job like any other. You work for multiple clients but it is still a job – ONE job. You would be flaky if you worked as a freelance journalist and editor one week and a circus entertainer the next, then opened a sweet shop before training as a piano teacher and starting your own homeware business. It is not flaky to do one job and keep doing it.

Misconception #2: Freelancers can’t take orders.

The myth… Being self-employed means you are using to doing what you like, when you like, how you like. You are used to being your own boss and are incapable of taking orders or direction. You are not a team player. You may have become freelance to avoid having to listen to other people or do what they tell you.

The reality… Anyone fitting the above description wouldn’t get much repeat business. Freelancers do follow instructions and take direction – from our clients, that is, e.g. writing to briefs, amending/adding to copy, following style/tone guidelines and working in particular ways or using specific software. There simply isn’t room for screw-ups – while a staffer probably won’t get sacked for one not-great piece of work, freelancers can and do get dropped very easily. An unhappy customer probably won’t come back.

Staffers can grumble to line managers or HR if they’re feeling hard done by. Freelancers can’t. So we also learn to discuss things diplomatically and bite our tongues when needed. Some of us do shifts, e.g. subbing/production, and have to fit into new teams and offices very quickly without any hand-holding. We don’t get sent on induction days or given staff handbooks, so we just have to get on with it. And if we don’t do what we’re told, well, we won’t be invited back, will we?

Misconception #3: Freelancers have no motivation or self-discipline.

The myth… Freelancers do nothing all day. We’re not at all self-motivated, which is why we can’t cope with working for other people, and we just sit around all day in our pants watching daytime telly.

The reality… If we did that, we would starve. We have to be self-motivated – not only do we have to do the work, we have to generate it in the first place through pitching, relationship-building and so on. Contrary to what some books and TV shows may have you believe, freelance commissions don’t just come flooding in, and you also have to do all the admin, marketing and accounts yourself, or (earn the money to) pay someone else to do it.

Sometimes, people tell me they’d get nothing done if they worked from home, perhaps based on their own experiences of full-time work (or university). During the snow days in 2009 (I think), the Guardian put up a section for people working at home due to the snow. The header on the website landing page said: “To-duvet list,” which pretty much summed things up. Real home-workers looked on in a mixture of bemusement, irritation and fury as what we do all the time – working, at home, and actually getting work done – was treated as being synonymous with “skiving off”.

During those snow days, I was doing some freelance production shifts at a magazine company. Being freelance, I wasn’t going to get paid if I didn’t turn up. Loads and loads of staff were apparently snowed in, or unable to get to work due to the weather, yet along with several other freelancers, I managed to catch a bus and walk through town just fine. Funny, that.

Misconception #4: Freelancing doesn’t teach you useful skills.

The myth… Freelancing won’t help you learn new skills or improve on existing ones. Should you get a full-time job, you will take nothing of value into your new workplace. You’re not on the career ladder. You’re not learning anything. You’re probably just a flaky Jeremy Kyle addict.

The reality… Freelancing requires skills and qualities that are essential in the workplace. You need to be productive, self-motivated and able to work with minimal guidance, manage your own workload and meet deadlines. You need good communication and client liaison skills. You need to be creative, diplomatic, focused and able to take criticism. Being a successful freelancer shows you have these skills and qualities, and many more besides, so point this out to potential employers.

Freelancing is also an opportunity to gain a really good mix of skills and experience because you can do different things concurrently. It’s not a case of applying for and getting a new job, working out your notice at the old one, then going through induction and a probation period and staying put for at least six months or whatever the CV-friendly minimum is now. You can work for lots of people at once – if you fancy branching out into a new kind of writing work, you don’t have to stop doing all the old ones, you can just add more. I for one have gained a wealth of experience and skills I’d never have got working full-time in just one job.

Misconception #5: You can’t sell freelance experience to employers.

After reading this post, you should know that actually, you really can.