It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer.
-Gerald Brenan

We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason why they write so little.

- Anne Lamott

It is perfectly okay to write garbage–as long as you edit brilliantly.

- C. J. Cherryh

Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.

- Orson Scott Card

The reason 99% of all stories written are not bought by editors is very simple. Editors never buy manuscripts that are left on the closet shelf at home.

- John Campbell

Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must be cantankerous and objectionable in order to be bright; that ego is paramount over skill; that one can rise to a level from which one can tell the reader to go to hell. These myths, if believed, can ruin you.

If you believe you can make a living as a writer, you already have enough ego.

- David Brin

For those of you who’ve been freelancing for quite some time you’ve likely gone through the stages - much like a teenager growing into adulthood.

Here they are as I see them:

Stage 1 - Elementary school - completely thrilled with any client that comes your way and willing to do whatever it takes to please them.

Stage 2 - Junior high - my clients are stupid, they don’t know what they’re talking about and while I still REALLY want to please them, I”m not going to be happy about it.

Stage 3 - High school - maybe I don’t need to please everyone.  Perhaps it’s better to please the clients whom I work well with and let the other ones find a more compatible service provider.  Though - I’m still likely to make some mistakes and work with clients who make me react like I’m in Junior High.

Stage 4 - Adulthood - You can’t please everyone every time and though I’m going to put 100% of myself into my work, I’m not going to let the difficult clients get to me.  I’m doing my very best, I’m professional and reasonable and ‘this too will pass.’

I’ve been at stage 4 for years and thought I was handling my business in a very ‘adult’ manner.  I have a wonderful client list and a fantastic support team.  However, I realized last night after a week of tremendous ups and downs that I’m tired of the seesaw.  The difficult projects still get to me though only for a few minutes however, the ups are just as exhausting.

Stage 5…In order to achieve a sense of inner calm and contentment in our daily lives, the good has to have the same limited effect on you as the bad.  You can’t stay on a high for three days becasue a client loves your  work just like you can’t stay on a down for any lenght of time becasue you missed the mark with a project.  The final stage in freelancing is - enlightenment.

It’s the stage where you’re happy to be working, loving what you do for a living and at the same time not letting the ups and downs that the freelancing life has to offer affect you or how you do your job.  It’s a tough stage, each day offers new challenges.  Each day presents opportunities to pat yourself on the back and each day offers the potential for a dissatisfied client.  The key to remember is that each day offers us the opportunity to control our reactions to both situations - to remain calm and to not let others affect our disposition, our level of contentment.

Of all the stages this one, I’m assuming it’s the final stage, offers the most challenge and the most reward.

What freelancing stage are you in?  How do you remain unaffected by both the ups and downs of not just freelancing but owning a business?

I got to thinking about the point in every freelancer’s life where he has to decide whether he wants to A, have a social life, and do art in his spare time, or B, do art, and have a social life in his spare time. It has always seemed to me that if you have any hope of making a living as an artist – writer, musician, whatever – you absolutely must learn to tell people to leave you alone, and to mean it, and to eject them from your life if they don’t respect that. This is necessary not because your job is more important than anyone else’s – it isn’t – but because a great many people will think of you as not having a job. ‘Oh, how wonderful – you can work whenever you want to!’ Well, yes, to a point, but generally ‘whenever you want to’ had better be most of the time, or else you won’t have a roof over your head.

Poppy Z. Brite

The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.

-Agatha Christie

Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don’t start sentences with a conjunction.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

-William Safire, “Great Rules of Writing“