New Year, New Goals

It’s the first workweek of the New Year—a perfect time to stop and reflect on what you accomplished as a freelance writer in 2009 and to plan where you want to take your business in 2010.

I, for one, am grateful for the writing and editing opportunities I had in the past year—my first as a full-time freelance writer and editor.

Considering the state of the economy this year and its affect on publishers large and small, I was fortunate to land a number of steady writing gigs, to have the chance to write for a few publications I had never written for before, to launch my own online travel magazine, and to find copy editing and proofreading work to fill the rest of my time.

At the same time, I’m ramping up for an even stronger showing in 2010. I have been fortunate to have a graduate assistantship position to provide a bit of extra cushion to supplement my freelance writing since August. I’ll have that same cushion until May but, after that, it’s going to be all writing and editing all the time.

My goal, then, is to make the most of the next five months—to finish my master’s degree, of course, but also to position myself so that I have a full plate of freelance work, or as close to it, as I can once my assistantship is completed and I’m fully reliant on my freelance income once again.

That means I’m sending out queries like a madwoman this first couple of weeks before my graduate classes start up again.

I’ll also be working on freelance assignments I already have—this year, I want to sharpen my interviewing and writing skills even more, so I’m at the top of my game.

And I’ll be returning to some of the places I haven’t visited in a while—freelance job writing boards, old contacts in the publishing industry I’ve been out of touch with—to see what other work I can scrounge up.

What did you do right in 2009? What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them? What are your goals moving forward into 2010? I’d love to hear how you’re gearing up to make this year of freelancing your best yet.