If there’s one thing I’ve learnt or, more accurately, been slapped in the face with, is that being a freelance writer is about much more than writing. In terms of experience I’m still somewhat wet behind the ears but since trying to make it on my own I’ve learnt some valuable lessons both about myself and my approach to freelancing. Maybe I was naive to think that being able to write (in my opinion quite well) would be enough to ensure I could have a career in writing. Unsurprisingly, this assumption was quickly shown to be inaccurate because no matter how many ideas, discarded pages of writing and optimistic thoughts I had, no one was beating down my door with offers of work. To be a successful freelance writer you need to be a strong business mind first and (in some cases) a semi-competent writer second. This, unfortunately, is where I have been severely lacking and it has taken a lot of missed opportunities and struggles to realise this. I will freely admit that I don’t have a great deal of business acumen or knowledge, I certainly don’t have any trouble thinking up ideas for websites, different avenues of work etc but when it comes down to the execution I begin to flounder like a fish out of water. My self-promotion skills are pretty poor and as for networking, well if I were a telecommunications company I’d have been cutoff a long time ago.

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Thankfully, I’m able to take critical look at myself and I now realise that if I’m going to survive in the jungles of the freelance world then I’m going to have to dive head first into enemy territory and seize any and every opportunity I can. People = opportunities and opportunities = work and over the next few weeks I’m going to be working hard on putting my name in the thoughts of as many people I can; to coin a somewhat clichéd expression: it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Indeed, another recent family tragedy has given me another glimpse into the fragility of life and shown me that while death may be necessary it’s what you do preceding it that makes living worthwhile. This means taking risks and pushing hard for something you believe in, are passionate about and want to succeed in.

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Phew, that was starting to get a bit heavy there.

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But in all seriousness, if you’re not doing something you love then what’s the point? And if you’re trying to do something you love and you’re not doing everything in your power to make it a success then that’s just as much of a failure as not reaching for your dream in the first place.

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That’s about all I’ve got for today but I thought I’d continue the theme of pushing for your dreams and leave you with the theme tune to the 1988 Olympics:

Whitney Houston – One Moment in Time

(I know, I know, cheesy isn’t it )

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-Daniel