I mentioned previously that I had some unexpected success in freelancing this past year. Ultimately, the company I was doing most of my work for wasn’t one that I wanted to continue working with, for a few reasons – but I learned a LOT.
One thing that particularly surprised me about the whole experience: navigating work-related issues is considerably more challenging when you’re doing it by remote. (I really didn’t think it would be.) I never met any of the people I was dealing with in person. I talked to a couple of them on the phone a handful of times, but every other interaction was done via email or text.
Now, there was no problem at all with this when it came to the “what is required of me on this project” sort of interaction. I’m a pretty independent sort of worker – and people were pretty accessible for questions anyway. The managing editor particularly, who was my primary contact person, was really wonderful. That made things easy.
But the things that come up that aren’t part of the routine?
This was a company that was growing a lot – and having some growing pains. There were a few other issues as well. And, green as I was, I had no perspective on what was normal and what wasn’t – which made everything difficult.
If this was a job I drove to and worked onsite for, I would have likely handled the issues as they came up informally (at least at first) – over coffee in the breakroom, say…or by poking my head into my superior’s office. But how does one diplomatically handle things in a similarly informal way when operating by remote?? And how do you gauge when it’s appropriate to go from informal to formal…especially when there is no mentor-type person on the scene to help expand your knowledge-base, and when you don’t even know anybody else who does this sort of work? I often felt like I was flying blind – which was frustrating.
I think maybe the answer to such questions lies in just plugging away and gaining personal experience. I mean, I already know so much more than I did a year ago! I think it’s important to ask a lot of questions…read as much as I can of others’ experiences as I come across them online or wherever…keep my eyes and ears open for information and insight I can file away for future reference. I’m actively doing all of those things.
But it occurred to me recently that it might be beneficial to talk more too – like, on this blog. To participate in (or try to initiate) some dialog on some of this stuff. I didn’t do that at all before – mainly because I didn’t want to cross the line into un-professionalism (and I wasn’t quite confident that I knew where that line was.)
I think maybe I have a better sense of that now. I really think there’s a way to talk about issues without being overly specific, to partake in or initiate discourse that is informational (for myself and for anybody else with similar questions) without lapsing into anything professionally unseemly.
I think, bottom line, that it’s worth it to try. Best case, somebody might chime in with that perspective I’m lacking!
So, I think once a week (maybe Mondays, I’m thinking), I’m going to use this space to talk about something work-related. Not just problems I’m having, but also things I’m actively doing, ideas I’ve come up with, etc.
This isn’t Monday, but I’ll start it today anyway!:
A few people expressed interest in the links I noted in my last post – and particularly the writing-job-related links. So I thought I’d list a few more.
Here are some other job boards I check occasionally. I found the company I was working for this past year through one of these three (I can’t remember which now):
FreelanceWritingGigs
FreelanceJobOpenings
Here also are a couple of contests I’m attempting to finish entries to. (Deadlines to these aren’t until next month, so you have time if you’re interested!):
The Boiler: 500-word ficton challenge
Valhalla Press: 1000-word flash memoir contest
I’ve also realized that I really enjoy writing essays – and that there are actually a considerable number of places out there to submit essays to (many of which pay!)
This month, I’m aiming particularly at Skirt Magazine. They have monthly topics that they take submissions for. The one I’m working on (the current one) is “Advice.”
I have my whole 2013 earmarked (actually notated on my calendar) with monthly writing project goals. Some are personal projects (short stories and other fiction I hope to complete by year’s end), some are essays (like the one I’m preparing to submit to Skirt.) I have contests of varying sorts I want to try – mainly as a means to try to garner some feedback on my work, or make some contacts. I am also, at various times, planning to make freelancing pushes, via some of these job boards and a few other places. I really did enjoy the ghostwriting I was doing this year…and I think I was fairly good at it. It came very naturally to me. I’d like to do more of that. I’d also like to start doing some regular writing-type-work of some sort on a volunteer basis for some nonprofit organizations (I have a few in mind.)
Basically, my personal situation is such that I don’t NEED to be bringing in an income from writing through the end of this year. 2014, however, is a big question mark for me on many levels – so what that means is that THIS is my year to build my resume, build my contacts, and otherwise get some solid work to my name. I want to position myself for next year.
I’ll be talking about any and all things pertaining to that on Mondays. (That’s the plan, anyway!)
I mentioned previously that I had some unexpected success in freelancing this past year. Ultimately, the company I was doing most of my work for wasn’t one that I wanted to continue working with, for a few reasons – but I learned a LOT.
One thing that particularly surprised me about the whole experience: navigating work-related issues is considerably more challenging when you’re doing it by remote. (I really didn’t think it would be.) I never met any of the people I was dealing with in person. I talked to a couple of them on the phone a handful of times, but every other interaction was done via email or text.
Now, there was no problem at all with this when it came to the “what is required of me on this project” sort of interaction. I’m a pretty independent sort of worker – and people were pretty accessible for questions anyway. The managing editor particularly, who was my primary contact person, was really wonderful. That made things easy.
But the things that come up that aren’t part of the routine?
This was a company that was growing a lot – and having some growing pains. There were a few other issues as well. And, green as I was, I had no perspective on what was normal and what wasn’t – which made everything difficult.
If this was a job I drove to and worked onsite for, I would have likely handled the issues as they came up informally (at least at first) – over coffee in the breakroom, say…or by poking my head into my superior’s office. But how does one diplomatically handle things in a similarly informal way when operating by remote?? And how do you gauge when it’s appropriate to go from informal to formal…especially when there is no mentor-type person on the scene to help expand your knowledge-base, and when you don’t even know anybody else who does this sort of work? I often felt like I was flying blind – which was frustrating.
I think maybe the answer to such questions lies in just plugging away and gaining personal experience. I mean, I already know so much more than I did a year ago! I think it’s important to ask a lot of questions…read as much as I can of others’ experiences as I come across them online or wherever…keep my eyes and ears open for information and insight I can file away for future reference. I’m actively doing all of those things.
But it occurred to me recently that it might be beneficial to talk more too – like, on this blog. To participate in (or try to initiate) some dialog on some of this stuff. I didn’t do that at all before – mainly because I didn’t want to cross the line into un-professionalism (and I wasn’t quite confident that I knew where that line was.)
I think maybe I have a better sense of that now. I really think there’s a way to talk about issues without being overly specific, to partake in or initiate discourse that is informational (for myself and for anybody else with similar questions) without lapsing into anything professionally unseemly.
I think, bottom line, that it’s worth it to try. Best case, somebody might chime in with that perspective I’m lacking!
So, I think once a week (maybe Mondays, I’m thinking), I’m going to use this space to talk about something work-related. Not just problems I’m having, but also things I’m actively doing, ideas I’ve come up with, etc.
This isn’t Monday, but I’ll start it today anyway!:
A few people expressed interest in the links I noted in my last post – and particularly the writing-job-related links. So I thought I’d list a few more.
Here are some other job boards I check occasionally. I found the company I was working for this past year through one of these three (I can’t remember which now):
FreelanceWritingGigs
FreelanceJobOpenings
Here also are a couple of contests I’m attempting to finish entries to. (Deadlines to these aren’t until next month, so you have time if you’re interested!):
The Boiler: 500-word ficton challenge
Valhalla Press: 1000-word flash memoir contest
I’ve also realized that I really enjoy writing essays – and that there are actually a considerable number of places out there to submit essays to (many of which pay!)
This month, I’m aiming particularly at Skirt Magazine. They have monthly topics that they take submissions for. The one I’m working on (the current one) is “Advice.”
I have my whole 2013 earmarked (actually notated on my calendar) with monthly writing project goals. Some are personal projects (short stories and other fiction I hope to complete by year’s end), some are essays (like the one I’m preparing to submit to Skirt.) I have contests of varying sorts I want to try – mainly as a means to try to garner some feedback on my work, or make some contacts. I am also, at various times, planning to make freelancing pushes, via some of these job boards and a few other places. I really did enjoy the ghostwriting I was doing this year…and I think I was fairly good at it. It came very naturally to me. I’d like to do more of that. I’d also like to start doing some regular writing-type-work of some sort on a volunteer basis for some nonprofit organizations (I have a few in mind.)
Basically, my personal situation is such that I don’t NEED to be bringing in an income from writing through the end of this year. 2014, however, is a big question mark for me on many levels – so what that means is that THIS is my year to build my resume, build my contacts, and otherwise get some solid work to my name. I want to position myself for next year.
I’ll be talking about any and all things pertaining to that on Mondays. (That’s the plan, anyway!)
