How I Became a Freelance Writer
By obPrimr in Careers | 5 comments
I’d wanted to be a writer since I was just a kid, but when I graduated college in fall 2004 I had no idea that I was headed down that path.
I’d been casually looking for writing jobs for quite a while, but in my last semester of school I was also looking quite seriously at becoming a full-time nanny for a family I was babysitting for at the time. Then I applied for an entry level technical writer position, and got it. I started the week after graduation.
The company I worked for was actually based out of Boston, but they took large projects all over the country. Their clients were huge financial businesses that could well afford to foot the bill for their weekly plane tickets and hotel stays.
In general, the owner and a few employees flew out to the client site and stayed three nights in a nearby Denver Tech Center hotel. Their hotel was located in the business park, so that they were only 5 minutes from the client site. Because they were such frequent travelers, I think that the owner was able to often get hotel deals from the chains at which he stayed most frequently, but it wasn’t a huge deal because the client picked up the tab.
That job was an important stepping stone to my current career as a freelance writer. It was actually a miserable job, which is why I didn’t stay beyond the completion of the Denver project — there was no way I wanted to travel with the owner and spend my evenings with him as well as my work hours. But it provided me with important work experience to help me launch my career as a self-employed writer.
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Dave | Jul 9, 2009 | Reply
Boy, can I identify with this blog. I had to go on a couple of trips with a supervisor who was just clueless about being considerate to co-workers. It got so bad, everybody on the tech writing team filed a complaint with his supervisor.
Garza | Jul 9, 2009 | Reply
Being a tech writer is a tough racket. Tech writers are rarely appreciated by management. At software companies, the managers usually want to fire the tech writers and have the engineers write the manuals, which is why they’re usually so lousy.
Connie | Jul 9, 2009 | Reply
Traveling with co-workers is always a test of how tolerant you are. I’ve noticed that traveling usually brings out the worst in most people. Glad this writer was able to use this experience and move on to a good career.
James T. | Jul 9, 2009 | Reply
Being a tech writer is a good job, especially if you can make enough money freelancing to support yourself. Freelancing can be dicey at times when there’s not enough work, but it’s nice to work at home away from office politics.
James T. | Jul 9, 2009 | Reply
Unlike this writer, I actually like to travel for work. I had a job with a foreign software firm that sent me to Sweden twice, and Scotland once. When I wasn’t working I got to explore a foreign country.