Have I experienced creativity burnouts? Yes, I’ve been there a few times myself. I’m a business owner and a freelance writer one of the main reasons I did choose them because of the freedom it has given me. Yes, definitely can understand getting bored with a particular subject at times I look for a different approach and if that doesn’t help I step away focus on something else. At times, I do find taking a break helps. Additionally, interacting with others who are knowledgeable about the topic has been helpful.

I really enjoyed your post, thanks again.

I think many people don’t understand why I wrote that post. I wanted to write something that would provoke some thought in people, have them sit back and say, “Yeah, wow… I never thought of that.” It would have been the coolest thing to have people discuss the drawbacks of being a blogger, creativity burnout or hazards of freelance writing.

I wasn’t deliberately attempting to malign anything about the contest or Deb’s requirement. But as a blogger, if I didn’t make anyone think beyond the face value, then I’d be remiss in my job.

(I’m going to post this comment over on the vote’s comment section as well.)

Thanks Deb, for your support.

The specs didn’t say that the specific topic had to be the same with each blog post or that the blog posts must always be on that specific topic. That’s where I balk. Say I chose “salaries for writers” – how long before I’d covered everything I could on salaries? Then what?

That may include pay rates, copyright laws, freedom in business, how to research well, creative writing and fiction, does craigslist suck, writing proposals, how to keep friends from dropping over while you’re working, coping with kids and clients at once, selling ebooks, writing web copy, sales copy techniques, what to do when you can’t get work, what to do when you have too much work…

While yes, Deb and Jodee do just fine in general, they’re hiring someone for one reason: so they can blog less. Why? Because blogging all the time for months and years is hard.

Why make that job harder?

(Keep the questions coming, they’re fun, heh)

Actually we’re up to about 3500 – 4000 visitors a day and hopefully still growin.

I did want a niche within a niche. I want someone who can cover a particular topic each week whether it’s content writing, copy writing, tech writing, blogging, rates, hiring practices. It’s exactly what I meant by specifics and why I mentioned niches more than once.

You see, Jodee and both write about anything we want – and that is working fine. Now I’m trying to turn FWJ into a network and community for freelance writers. (Again – Sparkplugging is the closest I can come to a comparison). So each blogger here will have their own blog page to talk about a particular topic. Our visitors will be able subscribe to each particular blog or see links to different blogs on the FWJ main page, rather than everyone’s posts in the same place.

jodee’s niche will be markets and leads, I also hope to hire someone to blog from a client’s point of view and someone to write about writing for the web. This is why I’m looking for focus from each of the writers. It doesn’t make sense to have that kind of format if everyone is writing about anything they want.

And really talking about…say blogging…isn’t such a narrow focus. Neither is talking about freelancing. Or grammar. There are so many ways we can go here.

So yes, I was looking for specifics from each writer. Believe it or not, there’s a method to my madness.

Now, it’s going to take some time and money to build all that up, and to be honest, we’re only breaking even right now, but that’s the plan for the future and why I was specific about niches – or “specific topics.”

Good luck to you both and congratulations on making it thus far.

I’m only questioning you because I want to vote for you. But I still want to know what your topic is before I do.

I am adamant that I don’t want to write on a specific niche within a niche – at 2,100 readers here at FWJ, there’s no way that by doing so, my posts would touch most readers (no one can ever please all readers). I’d rather reach more writers than a specific handful.

And if that means readers feel I shouldn’t be here? That’s fine; I understand that view too and have no issues with it – which is why there is a vote potential that allows readers to decide

(Thanks for the compliments!)

One thing that bugs me that you said is the end of the post: “But I don’t want a gig that ends up being something different than what I signed up to be, which is a freelance blogger writing on freelance writing.”

It seems you are adamant that you don’t want to write about a specific niche – which is exactly what you signed up for in the Idol contest. Deb has been pretty clear about that. So, are you saying if you get the job that you won’t be writing about a certain niche? Because if not, I don’t understand why you are still in contest, because that’s not what Deb wants.

The reason I wrote this post is that I’ve been blogging steadily and daily for a few years now. I know full well the risks of blogging as a job, and as a freelancer, there are only certain risks I’m willing to take. This is the joy of freelancing, after all, and this blog is Freelance Writing Jobs. One would suspect Deb knows what I’m talking about.

As to what I can bring to the community, my sales pitch, my areas of expertise, etc… I suppose I could easily have written all that in.

However, I’ve been doing that since day one, and I think that consistently writing the same pitch over and over only makes it that much more likely that some readers recognize me, which I feel is unfair to others in this competition. This is one reason we’re using pseudonyms, I believe.

Secondly, I would think that people want to read something different than 16 weeks of the same message, which is why I wanted to make this post different, as I’ve done with all my posts.

Lastly, niche is niche, and there is a big difference between “niche” and “what you might write about.” Niche is, by definition, targeted and honed. Which means binding and restrictive.

To those who wondered if I really did want the gig – yes, of course. Or I wouldn’t be writing. But I don’t want a gig that ends up being something different than what I signed up to be, which is a freelance blogger writing on freelance writing.

Thanks for all your thoughts!

Take Ugur. While I enjoyed his posts, I would have been much more engaged (and inclined to read his posts) had it been 8 posts per month each featuring an aspect of a different type of writing. The fact that the chosen niche was technical writing and thus the subject of all of his posts did not compel me to read it on the days he posted (and therefore engage in the community aspect of it.)

Instead, I decided to use them as a reference archive to refer to as needed (and yes obviously something happened that he is no longer here and his content is removed, but that is another matter entirely.)

As far as this post, again the honesty aspect of it wins points and to me it’s even fine that you want to have a broader focus (despite the original parameters.) What I would have liked for you to address however (and make a solid commitment to) is exactly what you ARE going to offer the community. You broach some topics and then hedge by saying “maybe” you’ll write on this or that. Can’t speak for the others, but I want some solid information before we make a decision. Maybe if you monitor the comments you can address our concerns in this forum, and kill two birds with one proverbial stone by also demonstrating the level of interactiveness you plan to offer.

Overall though, I do like the post and your voice, and wish you success in this final vote.