5 Ways to Fill a Freelance Writing Schedule Gap

February 10, 2010

Let me start this post by saying I’m lucky enough right now to not have any writing schedule gaps. It’s not always easy to fill your time with writing gigs but when it’s a feast, it’s often mayhem. I tore myself away from a busy schedule (‘cuz I’m nice like that) to write to you today with suggestions for how to fill the time when you have gaps in your freelance writing schedule.

1. Marketing

The best way to ensure you’re feasting rather than scraping by is to keep marketing. Don’t wait until things are dead slow to do it, if at all possible. When you do have a lag or opening in your schedule, spend extra time on marketing yourself and you won’t likely be seeing too many droughts in the future. Always plan to market but pump up your marketing efforts when you have available cycles.

2. Passive Writing Income

There are some writers who pay their mortgage each month with a cheque from one of the revenue share programs. The great thing about these sites is that one article could earn you income indefinitely. When you have time to spare, take the time to write for sites like: eHow, HubPages, Askables, InfoBarrel, Bukisa, and others and you could afford to take time off more often because you could earn 3 or 4 figures monthly from a small amount of effort. (Note: It often takes time to build these up so it’s not realistic to expect huge success with them over night). If you don’t want to share your income in a rev share program, develop your own content sites or blogs. After all, people are often paying YOU to do this so why not do it for yourself and reap the rewards of residual income?

3. Job Hunting

Cruise job boards like Deb Ng’s Freelance Writing Jobs or Clint Osterholz’s Tuesday column with high-paying writing gigs to keep your eye out for future gigs. Want to write in a certain market? Send out some queries. Want to be on top of job postings? Set some Google Alerts to send you job links when new gigs get posted.

4. Networking

Networking is invaluable when you’re a freelance web writer. Networking with other writers can help you improve your skills and stay up to date on market conditions, tools, and trends. Networking with your existing and past customers can also bring about new gigs and referrals. Network by hopping onto social media tools, checking out online webinars and chats, or by touching base through e-mail or phone.

5. Chillaxing

When was the last time you took a day off? Regular working Joes and Janes have no idea how many hours freelancers actually put in. Most of us work every day and many of us put in more than ten hours a day. If you’re fresh out of writing work, give yourself a chance to relax. Maybe work a bit on that fiction novel you’ve been working on / planning / thinking about or spend some time with your family watching a movie with a smorgasbord of snacks and NO pressure to get back to the computer.

What do you do when you have a break in your freelance writing schedule?