If you’re a freelance writer or thinking of becoming one, there are several things you should never do at any time, and some of them involve your mindset. Writing for a living requires you to be focused, and sufficiently well organized to get the jobs done properly. You’re relying on yourself, and that’s where you need to make sure you’ve got the act together. You also need to know your market(s) from SEO to how to write press releases for specific publishers and how to work with multiple deadlines without going nuts.

The work principles

The big Don’ts about freelance work aren’t as obvious as they look:

  • Don’t take clients for granted: A good client is priceless, always consider their best interests when you’re creating material for them.
  • Don’t, ever, do anything at the last moment. This is a guarantee of mistakes, and it’s also likely to be a frustrating, grinding experience you’ll wish you’d never had.
  • Do not, ever, miss deadlines. Deadlines are a fact of life, and they’re also the working basis of your client’s opinions about you. Never get casual about them, and make sure you’ve got yourself organized to complete well within time.
  • Don’t get casual. Make sure you have good quality controls. It doesn’t matter if you’re the next Shakespeare or the previous one, keep an eye on your work quality. Crud is crud, and people won’t be too happy about paying for it.
  • Don’t guess about writing instructions. Read the briefs from clients, and make sure you know what’s required. About half of the work by freelancers is the real nuts and bolts work the client needs for basic content. This stuff isn’t negotiable, and has to be done on a reliable assembly line process. Get this wrong, and you’ll be looking for work. 

The work routine

The actual work process has to be managed well, particularly when you’re getting a lot of work.

The Don’ts in this area are all about keeping yourself on target:

  • Don’t do anything as a rush job. Time management is the key to efficiency. The surest way to make a whole stack of time wasting mistakes is to jump at a job without giving yourself a chance to do quality work. This can be embarrassing, as well as expensive.
  • Don’t turn the job into a grind. Worn down wrecks aren’t good writers, for some reason. Organize your work so you get plenty of rest. Just do it. You can work until you drop, and please believe you don’t want to know what that feels like. When you get a good work routine organized, you’ll be able to do a lot of work and barely notice it.
  • Don’t avoid learning new skills. The excuse is “I’m so busy”, and the result is you miss opportunities. If you get a chance to learn search engine optimization, get business qualifications, or how to write ads, grab it.

The biggest Don’t of all?

Don’t lose track of your goals. Whatever you want to do as a writer, the freelance work can help you achieve it. Stay focused, and get writing.

This was a guest post by Marcela Dias.

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