Happy New Year writers! I hope we all have a happy, healthy productive year in which many of our freelance writing dreams come true!
I was thinking of what New Year’s Writing Resolutions I should make this year and decided to take a look at last year’s resolutions to get some insight. In short, this is what I resolved:
- To keep my freelancing fears in perspective
- To stare my technophobia in the far
- To invest in my business as needed
- To network more
- To firmly believe that I will meet every goal on my New Year’s list.
Overall, I think I did pretty well. I was very good about confronting my fears, and I definitely didn’t hesitate to invest in my business. I was okay about networking, though I’d have done more if I had more time. And even though I didn’t meet every goal on my New Year’s list, I remained confident that I could had I tried. Sadly, I am as technophobic and illiterate as ever, but, well, you can’t do everything in one year. It’s definitely on the list again for this year.
In terms of resolutions, all of these are keepers (though perhaps I should be more selective about how I invest in my business - some investments were worth it, but a few I should have skipped.) But there’s certainly new resolutions I should make. And so here’s what I resolve this year:
1. To specialize. Last year, as part of my investments, I hired a copywriting coach, Chris Marlow, who has convinced me of the need to specialize. As she points out, just because you specialize doesn’t mean that you only have to do that one kind of work -- or that you can’t change your specialty later.
But specializing makes sense: it establishes you as an expert in particular area and, when you do it right, makes it easier for your target audience to find you
This year, I will work on developing a specialty in copywriting for law firms, lawyers and the legal industry.
2. To be a faster writer. Since I’ve become a freelancer, it’s never been more clear to me that time is money. I don’t dither and sweat over my writing nearly as much as I used to (it’s embarrassing to admit but early in my freelance career, I was such a perfectionist freak it sometimes took 2-3 hours to write a simple 100-word piece), but I know can still do better.
This year, I will not let perfectionism or, more accurately, fear, slow down production.
3. To write every single day. How often have you spent the entire day working, only to realize, as you step away from the computer, that you haven’t actually written a thing, save an email or three? Happens to me far too often.
Naturally we freelance writers must do all those non-writing activities that it takes to sustain our business, but we mustn’t let these things overshadow our true passion.
Only writing (and reading) improves our writing. From good writing comes more interesting gigs, better pay, and greater self-confidence and pride. There’s really no excuse for not making this, career-wise, a number one priority.
This year, I will write every single day, even if it’s a short blog post or private journal entry.
What freelancing resolutions did you make this year? How’d you do last year?
** (Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net)