Hat Trick: How to Start Your Freelance Writing the Right Way

I discovered in my freelance career that my biggest difficulty is writing. Or to be more specific starting to write. Research, editing, marketing, crafting query letters and all the other tasks that come with being a writer are a breeze compared to actually getting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. It got so bad that I wondered if I wanted to be a writer. Or was it that I wanted to call myself a writer, always having projects, always reading the books and magazines but never actually doing the work. Perhaps I wanted to reap the respect that those around me gave to the calling, or perhaps it was a way of boosting a self-image battered by a regular job that was below expectations. 

After a little introspection I decided that this was not the case. I enjoyed writing (once I got started), the craft of getting the words to do exactly what I wanted, the joy of seeing my words in print, and knowing that each time I wrote I was creating something unique. The problem was one of getting the ball rolling. The books and articles I read were focused primarily on finding the time and place to write. This wasn’t a problem for me. I had time and I had a place, just nothing to get me going. Finally I found something. Something to kick start my muse and help me be the writer I wanted to be. 

The answer? I put on a hat. Not any hat, but a Mickey Mouse hat, a typical demented gift from my vacationing mother. When the hat comes on, I know it’s time to put away other things mentally and physically. It’s time to write and create, not watch TV, look at magazines, or play games on the computer. Usually I put the hat on like a western hero going out for the big showdown puts on his 10-gallon, me against the blank screen. It signifies to myself and, equally important, those around me, that it’s time for work and that disturbances should be kept to a minimum. The hat is just awkward enough to be a constant reminder of why it’s there and the reasons why I would want to wear the silly thing, the reasons why I write. Over time it has become a thinking cap, a focus for getting into the creative mindset.