Reasons Why I Write

Reasons Why I Write

[This article is written by Nick Usborne. The archives of all previous ExcessVoice articles can be found here:

http://www.excessvoice.com/archive.htm]

In no particular order, here are the five reasons why I like to earn my

living as a freelance writer...



1. If I lose one job, I have others.



I hate the idea of putting my future in the hands of any one company or

employer. Having a ‘job’ may be fine. But that job can disappear at any

time, through changes in ‘market conditions’, or through the incompetence

or bad luck of a single manager or business owner. No thanks. I’d rather

be at the mercy of my own incompetence.



I like to have a few jobs on the go, and have one or two on the horizon as

well. If one ‘job’ disappears, it’s no big deal. I have others. In other

words, I never have all my eggs in one basket. (Although from time to time

I may find myself with rather too many eggs in just one or two baskets.

But no system is perfect.)



2. I can work from home or from anywhere else.



I’m sitting at the kitchen table right now. I could be on the couch. I

could be on a plane, in a hotel, on the beach, up a tree, in a meeting.

The main point being, I’m not stuck in some cubicle somewhere. Most of the

time I can be wherever I want.



3. I get to choose when I work and when I don’t.



This is kind of true. But don’t get too excited about the freedom to

choose one’s working hours when you work for yourself. More often than

not, what you get is the freedom to work twelve hours a day, six days a

week. But let’s not look on the gloomy side of things. At least I don’t

step out the front door at the same time each morning, rain or shine. I

don’t waste hours each week in traffic. And yes, if there is a bit of a

lull in my work, I’ll take some time off.



4. I’m always learning something new



For a couple of years I worked for a company on their e-commerce site. It

was a full-time job. And yes, I found it interesting to get to know and

understand that business in depth. But in the end, I became bored.



As a freelance writer I get to work with a huge variety of different

people, companies and organizations. Every week I am learning something

new. This may not work for everyone, but it certainly suits the way my

brain is wired.



5. I get paid well



Could I earn what I do now as an employee somewhere? I doubt it. And for

sure, I’m always complaining about having too much work or too little.

There’s no pleasing me. But at the end of the day, being a freelance

writer has done well for me.



Finally, I’ll just come back to that first reason again. Being my own boss

as a copywriter means I’ll never lose my job. (Anyone else out there smell

tough economic times on the way?)



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