Playing the Client Shuffle – Happy New Year!

Image via WikipediaWhile many view New Year’s as a time to make resolutions and make changes, in the life of a freelance writer, every month can be a time of making changes. Projects end, clients come and go, pay rates abruptly change, and work opportunities are like hot dates – they come in cycles of feast and famine. It can be difficult to formulate a concrete work plan when so much can be up in the air – especially considering the U.S. economy as of late.

Something I do while playing the client shuffle is reassess where I am at in my writing career and what I want to accomplish. I want to work fewer hours for more pay. For me, that plan has been in progress for the past year and while it has not progressed as quickly as I would have liked, it has indeed progressed.

Another aspect of my plan is to only take the work I want and enjoy. No more tedium and endless articles on b-o-r-i-n-g topics that numb my brain while my eyes glaze over and I begin to drool. (Seriously – it is not pretty!)

I have had some ‘lucky breaks’ along the way, but I have also worked hard to increase my skills, pad my resume, and learn from the masters. I no longer feel like I need to take low paying gigs or tedious work in order to pay the bills. I have my financial house in order and I have worked my way up to much better pay than what I got when I started. I still have plenty of room for growth and improvement, but I have the time and the drive to get there.

When it comes to your freelance plan for the new year, what do you hope to accomplish?