What Being a Problogger Really Means
Posted by Mariella
“As a writer you are free. You are about the freest person that ever was. Your freedom is what you have bought with your solitude, your loneliness.”
- Ursula K. Le Guin
There might be a lot of you thinking of getting into the profession. In fact, there might be those who already moonlight as probloggers despite their nine to five office jobs. There are some things, however, that you need to know before you commit yourselves entirely to be able to deal with them in due time. True, being a problogger could most of the time be a fun profession - you get to earn while doing what you really love. But as About.com’s Weblogs Guide, Deborah Ng, says in her blog, working as a full-time problogger (or freelance writer) is “not all jammies and bon-bons.”
To those who are yet to leave their jobs in favor of working at home, I’ve done you a favor of debunking a couple of myths I’ve heard about freelancing over the course of my career:
1. A professional freelance writer or blogger enjoys four day weekends.
I was terribly shocked when someone I knew hinted how easy life is for me because I work at home and hence “can take some days off whenever I wanted”. Yes, it’s true, you CAN do four day weekends if you want to, but should you? The answer, of course, is NO. Professionals who are earning their living from writing should not take that risk. We could work without having to wear office clothes or in a woman’s case, make-up and high-heels, but to be able to be successful in this career, strict self-discipline is needed. There is no one who’d monitor your work, no supervisor, no nosy co-worker - just you and your client who’s probably thousands of miles away, waiting contentedly for the order to be delivered.
Working at home is a double-edged sword - you get to make your own time, true, but you also have to be able to properly schedule. Working hours should be set and deadlines, strictly followed. You ARE in control of your own life, but the keyword there is “control”. Control yourself from being sidetracked, control your thoughts to think only of work when it’s time for it, control yourself from watching you favorite show on TV…
2. Freelance writers / bloggers have all the time in the world.
Definitely false. Whatever gave people the idea that we’re slackers? We have deadlines to beat which are, sometimes, too soon for our own preferences. We don’t dilly-dally while other people are working their double-shifts. In fact, many of us work through the night just to be able to deliver. Our job is like everyone else’s - yes, we work.
Here are some TRUTHS which you should be aware of:
1. Sometimes, it gets lonely working at home on your own.
Ergo, the penguin pic above. When you have no one else to talk to, it can get agonizingly lonely at times. You get used to it as time goes by - the feeling of solitude is the worst during the first few months.
2. Self-descipline is a must.
If you haven’t had much self-descipline from the start, then it’s better to slowly start acquiring the trait until you’re a master of yourself. A tip I got from someone in the Freelance Writing Jobs blog is to set a timer or to compete with yourself in finishing work ahead of time.
3. Marketing skills are desired.
Even if the reason that you want to work at home is because you’re a loner, people skills are still necessary. You need to be able to promote and market yourself effectively. As such, more than just a modicum of interest in communication is required if you wish to be successful. Bring a problogger means interacting with other bloggers or readers of your blog. So don’t close your doors in meeting new people, take things lightly and have fun.
There are many pearls and pitfalls in problogging or freelance writing. It also takes a while for your career to take off but once it does and you do sufficient and constant marketing, then you’re going to do just fine.
MariellaAbout the Author:
