"You have SUCH a hard life!" Is a cry I hear from my friends often, usually accompanied by an eye roll and a hefty dose of sarcasm. To them, my job entails playing on Facebook*, talking to interesting people and "just" writing about a diverse range of subjects. OK, so they aren't totally wrong, but the catch is that I have to show clients positive results from my work in order for them to keep paying me. Facebook campaigns have to translate into website traffic; blog posts have to encourage interaction with visitors; articles have to be interesting enough to hold readers' attention. If creating that kind of content was easy, then I would be out of a job as all of my clients could do it for themselves.
What they don't see are the hours that I spend at my laptop - often long in the night. They don't see the struggle between meeting a brief and expressing my creativity. (What do you mean I have to cut 250 words out of my beautifully crafted essay Ms Editor?!) They certainly don't see the time that I put into researching ideas and markets, pitching editors, applying for projects, putting together proposals or the hundred other activities I do while not on the clock. The only people who see how many hours I actually put in are my parents, who are often lamenting that I work too hard.
That said, I am willing to admit that I feel I have an easy life. I love writing. I love meeting and talking to amazingly interesting people both virtually and in real life. I even love coming up with strategies to help businesses strengthen their presence online. But by far the most important thing that helps me enjoy my life is that I have (almost) complete control over who I work with and what topics I write about. (I say almost because sometimes beggars can't be choosers, and a girls has to eat...or afford that designer sweater she saw in the shop last week.) When I am looking for work, I rarely look at the dollar signs. Sure, I need to get paid for my time, and I have a minimum hourly rate, but once that criteria is met I also need to be able to get fired up about a project in order for me to take it on. I rarely take on writing purely as a means to an end, the end being to collect a paycheck. If I wanted that kind of work there are much easier and better paying careers than being a full time writer!
The beauty of this, is that when I am researching and writing I don't even feel like I am working! I have always said that if I won the lottery I would go back to University, learn languages, go to museums and visit historical sites around the world. I am a knowledge junky and my writing career feeds my habit.
So when people talk about finding a work-life balance, whether they believe I work too much or too little, I can't help but feel a little smug, that as long as I have a good work-write balance I am pretty happy.
Now, I must go and grab my coffee, muffin and watch Fashion TV... and guess, what? I write for a wedding fashion blog, so I am still working!
*Speaking of Facebook, why not head over and Become a Fan of Writers Remorse?

