Do you ever have those days where your mind just won't co-operate with what needs to be written? I'm having an extraordinarily busy November, with so many orders and assignments that I should be insanely happy. I should be writing merrily all day, every day, getting through them all.
But today my mind won't co-operate.
Inspiration for ideas on those assignments and orders just isn't there. I've been staring at the keywords and job specifications, knowing what needs to be done and it's just....
Not happening.
In more than six years of doing this freelancing thing full time, I've never had a day like this before. Sure, I've taken days off where I just need a break. I've taken time off to recharge batteries.
But I've never seen a day where my mind refuses to come up with any logical sentence order to get even a part of an assignment started. Until now.
Have I burned out on writing about random topics and obscure niches that only my clients seem to find? Have I written one too many SEO articles about the same topic over and over and over until it feels like Groundhog Day?
Have I just hit a wall today and need to go do something else?
Those are probably all good questions - and I really did ask myself all of them this morning - until I actually figured out what the problem is.
You see, I really love my job. I love being a freelance writer and I love being self-employed. I love the freedom it gives me and I love earning money by doing what I love.
What I DON'T like is writing about things that don't inspire me. It's a grind and it's a chore. Sure, it pays the bills and it's what freelance writers do. I have no problem with that, but when it gets to the point that I'm writing nothing else except the things clients want done, it becomes tedious and boring.
This is my own fault.
I've said it before on this blog that freelance writers all have the freedom to create and shape their businesses however they want. It's my own fault that I let paid freelance work get in the way of my own creative writing pursuits and fun writing endeavors.
So...
Today I'm going to take my daughter to the beach. I'm not going to sit at the computer another minute longer while inspiration has deserted me anyway. When we get back from our adventures at the beach, I will work on something creative (maybe even get that pesky novel finished, edited and submitted - finally).
The assignments can wait until tomorrow.
:)
