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Freelance Writers - How to Avoid a Major Melt Down in Your Freelance Writing Career

By: Suzanne Lieurance
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:43:26
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As a freelance writer do you can often live on the verge of a major melt down?

You know what I mean.

You have too many writing projects at the moment, you're also trying to care for your family, or even work a full time job.

Suddenly you feel overwhelmed and you don't know how you'll keep up with everything.

In an effort to regain some control over your life, you start dropping out of things, or letting go of some of your personal writing projects.

But most often, the things you start letting go of and dropping out of are the very things that bring you the most joy from your writing.

OR they are the very things that will help you establish a name for yourself as a writer.

If this is happening to you right now, try these steps to avoid a major melt down and get back on track with your writing career.

Step 1: Realize you are not alone. All writers get overwhelmed from time to time. The more experienced and successful ones learn to develop an overall plan for their writing careers and take on projects that ONLY relate to their overall plan.

Step 2: If you don't have an overall plan for your freelance writing career, now is the time to create one.

Step 3. Once you have an overall plan for your writing career, make a list of all the writing projects you are doing right now.

How many of these projects relate to your overall plan?

How many of them are simply writing jobs to keep a little income coming in until you finally get to make a living from the type of writing that you love?

If you find that your list of projects does not include one single thing that you LOVE to write, then get back on track with your plan.

Don't eliminate the activities that are part of your overall plan.

Eliminate some of those activities that are just short-term writing projects to earn a little extra income.

I know this may be difficult to do.

But, if you weed out some of those activities that don't relate to your overall plan, and stick to those writing activities that DO relate to the plan, you'll create the writing career of your dreams much sooner than you will if you're constantly overwhelmed and unfocused.

Plus, you'll avoid a major melt down that could stall your writing career for quite a while.

Suzanne Lieurance is a fulltime freelance writer, children's author, and The Working Writer's Coach. Visit her website at http://www.workingwriterscoach.com to find out more about her coaching program designed to help people who like to write become "working" freelance writers. Visit her blog at http://www.the-working-writers-coach.blogspot.com for more helpful tips for writers. Join her mailing list at her blog, and every weekday morning you'll receive The Morning Nudge, a few words to motivate and inspire you to get a little writing done. For free weekly networking teleconferences for writers, visit The Lieurance Group blog at http://www.lieurancegroup.blogspot.com

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