FOONG LI MEI
BACHELOR OF ARTS (HONS) ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Alumni August 2009
President's List, May 2008 Semester

I hardly get a day off these days. My working period may start from wee hours in the morning to unearthly hours at night. On certain weekends, one could always find me slaving to meet a deadline.

Being a workaholic does not benefit me much in my career as a freelance writer. However, the passion I have for my job definitely helps a lot. My main writings include youth-related feature articles for newspapers, as well as press releases and other corporate writings for a public relation company. For the uninitiated, freelance writing means I am paid per writing project I undertake, without being tied to any particular organization.

I deal with my clients and editors of newspapers mostly through email and telephone calls. We discuss about their expectations and requirements for the articles as well as my take on the articles. When I am done with an article, I would send it to my client or editor for approval. If my work is up to their expectations, the paycheck will come in. If not, I will have to work on it some more time, until it meets their requirements.

My three years experience in freelance writing is relatively not very long. This career is more like a hobby, rather than a business to me. The only difference is that, this hobby comes with an added incentive of being paid whenever I venture my time into it. As a freelance worker, I can work anywhere, anytime as long as there is power supply, a computer with internet connection and on top of all, an absence of writer's block.

The advantages of working from home are; I do not have to race in heavy traffic, no bosses would eye behind me to check whether I?m working or "facebook-ing" and no colleagues would care what I am wearing for the day. For your information, my working outfits now consist of oversized T-shirts and faded shorts. Stylish costumes seem to have the ability to cramp my writing styles. Thus, I literally wear whatever I am wearing when I just get up from bed to my working desk every day. I could also log in to my Facebook while I am working and would sometimes fire on computer games while I am in the midst of writing articles - all at ease.

What I am trying to say is no one really cares how I look like or how I appear to be as long as I could produce a high quality and intelligent product at the end of the day. Productivity matters more than packaging - this is what I appreciate most being a freelancer.

So, is freelancing all about the assurance of calling your own shots while watching the dough rolls in? Close, but not exactly. The fact that I can work anytime and anywhere from home has demolished the boundary of home and workplace. However, at the same time, I have also overthrown the balance between work and rest. I tend to lose track of my working time and my resting time. The fact that I am a perfectionist when it comes to writing does not help at all too. I would write and re-write the article repeatedly just to get a satisfactory piece to an extent that my meal time and sleeping hours are all messed up. To top off, the whole work-and-rest dilemma would work in an opposite direction as well. At times, I found myself could not concentrate at homes at all due to numerous of distractions; cozy bed tempting me to lay on it, blaring TV calling for my companion, gossiping with parents etc. Besides, with no supervision from a superior, I have all the excuses to procrastinate. As a consequent, I burn out easily and have to stretch my time in order to accompany my loved ones.

In reality, a lot of freelancers are facing the same problem with mine. Some recommended that we should have a specific working room at home so that the boundary between work and play can be established. Due to the fact that we have too much freedom, we in fact need a stricter self-discipline to meet the deadlines with a well-researched and error-free work. By missing deadlines or sending in shoddily done pieces, I am shoving my customers? trust to me, which is a big no-no for any businessmen.

Another downside of being a freelancer is that my income fluctuates with the amount of projects I get each month. Undoubtedly, this job cannot secure me financially. Thus, upon graduation, I took up another part time job teaching Creative Writing to primary students so I would have a steady stream of income to foot the bills each month. The income that I get from my writing will pay for the rest of my expenditure then. Though not much, it is more than enough for me.

The sum that you get from freelance writing depends a lot on the company you are writing for and your experience in the field. Please be aware that there are some companies who would take up to three months or more just to pay you for a project you have accomplished. In view of this, wise finance management skills is much required so that you will not spend every single cent you have in one go and end up starving till the next paycheck. Budgeting and saving are other skills you need to master to ensure you could cover for any emergency cases since freelancers do not have the privilege of enjoying employee benefits like medical claims.

Freelance writing, like any other job, has its pros and cons. However, I believe that if you truly love what you do, life hands you a bouquet of roses and not a bunch of thorns.

My advice for anyone wanting to venture into the freelancing line, be it in any field, is to never stop upgrading your knowledge and skills. To be your own boss, you also need to be able to make wise decisions, and nurture a creative and mature mindset ? all of which I learned during my three years study in UTAR. Yes, a university education is crucial for freelancers as it disciplines one to be independent and dependable at the same time. Most of all, you need to believe in what you are selling. Believe that your skills are good enough, and that the industry will not be the same without you. Cliché, but true ? be passionate of what you are doing, then you will do fine. After all, work never feels like work when it is this much fun.