Whenever I meet someone new they invariably ask me what I do.  I still get a huge buzz out of saying "I'm a writer."  However, lately their follow up question has somewhat tarnished my initial glee.  "Oh yeah, what do you write about?"  Each time I hear it, it sounds more like a challenge than a question, and I realize this is because of the growing self-defensive feelings I have towards my answer.  You see if I am totally honest, I am no longer writing about what I want to write about.  Like so many other writers, I have followed the money trail and wandered so far from my original writing path that I sometimes wonder if I could ever find my way back.

I used to write long, rambling, descriptive pieces about the differences between culture in Spain and the US; poems about love lost and lessons learned; opinionated essays on the state of small business in Scotland and once, even, an emotive piece about what winning the Euro Cup meant to an underdog nation.   Now I write mostly corporate marketing materials, promotional blog posts and optimized website copy.

My weeks used to be filled with scribbling notes while traveling, submitting poems and essays to magazines, newspapers and websites, interviewing anyone interesting that I came across and sending out numerous pitches to a huge range of magazines.  Now, each day is carefully planned and client assignments, blog posts and articles are all scheduled into neat slots with pre-assigned topics and keywords outlined to guide (or stem) my creative flow.

Of course the other big difference is that as an altruistic writer I never knew when my next paycheck would arrive, whereas now I have the peace of mind that I can pay rent and bills each month without scrabbling about at the last minute to transfer money orharass editors (for the fifth time) to please send my check.

There has to be a balance somewhere.  A happy middle ground where my money worries can be abated while my muse happily mulls over ideas and cute turns of phrase.

Being a successful freelance writer isn't easy.  It requires not just writing talent but an ability to manage time, self motivate, organize workflow and calculate financial gains for each project. 

I have always prided myself on my drive to take action to fix something in my life that I feel is broken, rather than just accept the defeatist attitude that "that's life".  So lately I have been working out how I can make time in my workweek to squeeze in some more travel writing, find new markets to submit to, and strike a new balance between money and the muse.  Perhaps I will even finally get around to finishing my book.

Do you love your job?  What could you change to allow yourself more time to write about the things you love?