Comments on: Between Gigs? 20 Things Freelance Writers Can Do to Keep Busy When There’s No Work

By: J Edwin

J Edwin — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 15:09:39 +0000

Owning a site and writing on your own site can help you to earn money. If not, you can make a lot of money as a freelancer. Read the article at http://www.everydayhomeincome.com/earn-money-writing-for-freelancer to learn more about making money as a freelancer.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:36:22 +0000

I have a horrible time writing when no one has given me an assignment. I used to be so creative, but that seems to have left me in my old age.

I keep a list of magazines I would like to submit articles to, and I SHOULD be working on those submissions when I’m between gigs. I’m the guilty dog who plays around instead. My current goal is become more focused and business-like.

By: Dana

Dana — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:15:58 +0000

I don’t get down time too often but sometimes I make some for myself and spend a few hours a week stumbling through stumbleupon.com. It’s very inspirational. I now only stumble blindly but also stumble through friends and colleagues sites and do social bookmarking on friends’ blogs and articles

By: Peggy

Peggy — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 08:04:00 +0000

#4 is good. I like to pick a bunch of mags and sit at the bookstore coffee shop and gently read them. They probably hate me since I buy maybe 1 of 15. : )

By: Amy Derby

Amy Derby — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:29:07 +0000

P.S., volunteermatch,org is a great suggestion. I’ve used their site a few times to find volunteer writing/blogging gigs for charities when I’ve been slow.

By: Amy Derby

Amy Derby — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:10:57 +0000

Great ideas, Deb.

After being out of commission with mono for a month, I’m so backed up with work that I’d LOVE to be in between gigs!! (Dr. Seuss sounds good to me, Matt!)

I was sad to read about the financial situation here (especially about Jodee). Jodee, if you’re out there, I hope you’ve got other steady work to keep you busy. If not, I might have a lead or two for you on lawfirm blogging gigs (for good clients I just don’t have time for at the moment). I can’t seem to find your email address.

By: Beth Morrissey

Beth Morrissey — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:23:45 +0000

I just wrote a post about lulls too! I included “talk about it with your writing friends” because misery loves company – sometimes it’s nice to hear that your not the only one a little light on deadlines.

By: John Platt

John Platt — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:40:36 +0000

14 – Volunteer. Visit volunteermatch.org. There are always charities and non-profits looking for writers for newsletters, ads, websites, blogs, etc. Good, fun work that can also help build up your clips if you need them.

By: Ann G.

Ann G. — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:06:46 +0000

I have had work lulls and use them to catch up on other things, mostly relating to my book review site. I’ll read, revamp things that need tweaking, etc. This is only after I’ve sent out more resumes though.

I also use the lulls to spend more time with my kids and husband. You can’t forget making extra time for them!

By: Terry Finley

Terry Finley — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:00:06 +0000

This could apply to all writers.

By: Russ Roberts

Russ Roberts — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:23:24 +0000

Hi Deb,

I don’t know why a freelance writer ever has nothing to do. When there’s not a paying gig to keep you occupied, you can always work on a short story, a poem, or a novel. On the non-fiction side, you can always draft book ideas, research a publisher, or work on a proposal.

I don’t care how much the publishing industry has evolved, those sorts of things are always going to be part of writing.

I think it goes back to something I’ve always felt, and that is: What do you want to accomplish out of a writing career? If you treat freelance writing as just another way to make money, and count success by the amount of gigs you have, you might as well have never quit your fulltime job: you’re doing the same thing here or there, and that is using your time to make money. However, if you burn to write a great novel, or write poetry, or just even write a book about gardening, then those are the things you should pursue, either when you have time or even when you have gigs out the wazoo.

The biggest mis-statement in history is: An unemployed freelance writer. A writer is always employed in writing. If others care to rate us by the amount of gigs/money we make, that’s their yardstick.

By: Samantha

Samantha — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:28:16 +0000

Great list – I’m glad to see I do many of those things already! And, ack, you’ve reminded me I need to update my writing samples.

By: Skippy

Skippy — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:03:12 +0000

I actually do a lot of the things on the list, but whenever a project ends, the first thing I do is try to catch up on cleaning, because inevitably that’s something that will slide during a huge project.

By: Phil

Phil — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:59:49 +0000

Though I like 22, I would say the most important to do every so often is No. 23: strategize: Analyze business historically and recently. Historically, most of my work has been from traditional journalism clients, but PR support has been where most growth has been recently. That’s where I concentrate my efforts now and business has been growing as a result.

It’s a cliche, but true, people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan. Now many of the other items on Deb’s list (looking for work, polishing personal info) are important in building business, too, but planning is an important initial step.

By: Jenn Hollowell

Jenn Hollowell — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:01:09 +0000

I do a lot of what you’ve listed here, particularly looking for more leads, visiting forums, and writing in my blog. I still consider it working [toward a goal] even if it doesn’t produce income that specific day.

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:53:04 +0000

On the rare occasions that I have some downtime, I do some writing for submission to writing contests. The style of writing required for them is usually totally different than what I normally do so it’s a challenge to me as a writer. Plus looking for them online gives me a chance to stumble across writing and literary sites that I didn’t know about yet. And sometimes I even win which is a nice feeling that completely differs from the satisfaction I get from my normal writing work.

By: Luke

Luke — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:57:55 +0000

21. Research. If you write on a topic then when not writing, you should be immersed in your subject matter. Since I write about science, gadgets and video games, I like this stage.

22. Drink. I find the ideas come thick and fast when I’ve loosened up a little, and carrying a notepad at all times means they don’t evaporate before the next day.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:58:58 +0000

My vote was for number 20. Nothing like some good ol’ Dr. Seuss! One fish, two fish, red fish blue fish! It’s either that or playing trucks.