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A day in the life of a freelance writer

A Day in the Life of a Freelance Writer: My Daily Routine

Michelle Christina

I think there’s a lot of mystery and intrigue around the life of a freelance remote writer. If you, yourself are a freelance writer, you’ll laugh at this. It isn’t exactly glamorous.

Regardless, I thought it might be fun to show you guys what my life actually looks like on any given weekday, from morning to night.

Here’s what it’s NOT:

I wake up and levitate to my nutribullet and a green smoothie inserts itself into my mouth.

I achieve inbox zero and spend the rest of the day strolling on the beach, checking payment notifications on my phone.

Then, my phone is ringing. It’s Oprah. She just wants to tell me I’m the coolest person on the internet. Thanks, O.

I just, of course. Here’s a snapshot of my routine this May:

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Why You Need A Writing Niche & How To Pick One (1)

Yes, You Need a Freelance Writing Niche! Here’s How to Pick One

Michelle Christina

Picture this. You’re making an epic dinner. The recipe calls for an obscure ingredient, so you slide into your shoes and head out to do some shopping.

There are general groceries all over, but as you turn the corner, you see a different kind of store.

It’s a specialty grocery—slightly more expensive, a little further from your apartment. But in the window, there’s a poster featuring the obscure ingredient you need.

Are you going to waltz into the local Key Food or are you hauling ass to that specialty store to get exactly what you need?

I think you see where I’m going with this. When we have a specific need or problem, price and other factors become less important than securing the solution.

This is true in virtually every industry, from home goods and clothing to medical services and hospitality.

This concept is the reason writers who specialize—or find a niche—end up making more money than those who offer broad writing services.

Today I’m going to break down this concept a little further and show you how to choose your own niche.

Because, yes, you need a writing niche.

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How To Deal With Overwhelm

How to Beat Overwhelm & Start Achieving Your Goals

Michelle Christina

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…

You’re creative. You’re driven. You’re passionate about writing. You have endless ideas, a blog, a novel in the works, a growing writing career.

With that kind of epic creative charge, you feel like you should have seen more projects through to fruition by now… right?

But instead, you keep finding yourself sighing at the end of each week, consumed by a sense of overwhelm rather than a sense of accomplishment.

You’re all over the place.

You feel frustrated—maybe even jealous when you see other writers who “have their shit together”.

Why can’t you seem to make things happen?

There are many reasons an idea doesn’t become a finished project, but I believe one of the most common is overwhelm.

To deal with overwhelm, you have to take a close look at the way you’re living.

Let’s examine this modern epidemic from all angles, so we can get off the inspiration hamster wheel and start making moves. Here’s our best advice on how to beat overwhelm and start achieving your goals.

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Andrea-Digital-Nomad-Writer-Day-Job-Optional-1

Drinking Coffee With Writers: Andrea Valeria of It’s A Travel O.D.

Krystal Raydo

Have you ever scrolled through a blogger’s Instagram profile or visited their blog and felt an instant we-would-totally-be-friends vibe?

I felt that way when I landed on Panama-born digital nomad Andrea Valeria’s page through a post she made in the Digital Nomad Girls community. She gave off such a warm, friendly feeling that I had to reach out and see what she was all about.

It turns out Andrea is a total boss babe abroad, travel vlogger and the founder of It’s A Travel O.D., where she reveals her secrets about the in’s and out’s of her journey as a full-time traveler.

She shares her own experiences to motivate others to break out of the mold and design their own lives.

Seriously, don’t you love her already?

Her vlogs include topics such as “How To Make Money While Traveling” and “Why You Should Travel Alone.” She’s been featured by Forbes Magazine in their article How These 6 Millennials Travel The World For A Living.

She currently lives in Playa del Carmen, Mexico—one of my favorite places to write, as it were! Read on for her interview, from her favorite caffeinated brew to what makes her tick as a writer.

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Writers Q&A - How to change your niche! - Day Job Optional Digital Nomad Writers Blog

Q&A Video: How To Change Your Niche & Hit The Ground Running

Krystal Raydo

Do you know what your writing niche is?

Having a definitive niche is one of the first steps to growing your career as a writer. A narrow specialization will let you can target higher-paying clients and quit your habit of trying to please everyone.

Sounds pretty sweet, right? But a well-defined niche takes time to develop. It can take months and even years of trial and error and honing your skills to arrive at a niche that’s perfectly suited for you. And then, when you least expect it, you could wake up one day inspired to change it!

Yup, it’s allowed. Hopefully this wave of inspiration is backed by some thorough market research, buuut that’s a story for another day.

You should go ahead and expect changes along the way as you evolve in your independent writing career. Be ready to make bold moves, call the shots and adapt when it feels right! Deal?

So anyway, when Erica, one of our facebook group members, asked us how to smoothly handle the transition of changing her niche, we whipped up this video to break down the process.

Click through and check it out. We had a blast making this one, and there are more of ’em loaded up in the queue. *wink wink*
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How To Fall In Love With Writing Again - Day Job Optional - Michelle Christina Larsen

How to Fall in Love With Writing Again (Even if It Feels Impossible)

Michelle Christina

Don’t judge me, but… my laptop is totally going to be my Valentine this year. *slow jam plays*

Yep, I’ll be spending February 14th writing about New York Fashion Week and sipping an endless supply of coffee while snow pummels the ground outside.

The countdown to the most romantic day of the year had me thinking about the ups and downs of love this week. I started to see some vivid parallels between a love for writing and love for human-folk.

That said, let me ask you something: Is being a writer really what you thought it would be?

Are your visions of scrawling cutting-edge articles, breathtaking travel stories, exciting fiction or the wittiest copy on the planet panning out?

If you’re knee-deep in writing career bliss right now, I am sending you a giant high-five through the screen.  That is awesome. But for those who’ve begun to feel a little lukewarm about our writing work, just know that you’re not alone.

Writers of all levels sometimes groan at the thought of hitting their word count. Even the pros sometimes feel tempted to reschedule a client call they just don’t feel like having.

So the question is, how can we get the magic back? How can we fall in love with writing again?

After almost a decade of falling in and out of love with my writing career, I’ve put together some tried-and-true tips on rekindling the flame.

Pour yourself a glass of wine, put on those sexy tunes, and read on.

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Drinking Coffee with Writers - Katarina Hybenova - 2

Drinking Coffee with Writers: Editor & Powerhouse Katarina Hybenova

Michelle Christina

Photo by Maya Harsaniova

One day, while I was walking down the street in Bushwick, Brooklyn, I witnessed a building go up in flames.

I was close to the fire, and my millennial brain propelled me to whip out my camera and snap away. I didn’t just want to post them on social media, though, so I emailed them to a local news website called Bushwick Daily.

Editor-in-chief Katarina Hybenova responded, publishing my photos within minutes.

No one was hurt in the fire, so I felt slightly less guilty about the process of witnessing and reporting on something. In the end, I thought, “why not give local journalism a try?”

I submitted myself as a contributor, and a week later I was sipping cocktails on a sun-soaked patio with 10 other writers and Katarina herself.

Immediately, I knew she’d be a blast to work with. She’s was a platinum blonde boss babe with an amazing sense of humor, and she called me Mishka, which I appreciated—it’s one of my nicknames, yanno.

I soon learned that she’s also a stellar content manager, thoughtful editor, and natural leader.

Her resume includes positions as digital editor at massive local news website QNS, as well as founder and editorial director of Bushwick Daily. She was also a 2014 fellow at Tow Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism.

…oh, and she used to be a lawyer. How badass is this gal?

I thought she would be the perfect person to interview for the launch of our brand new series, Drinking Coffee with Writers.

Below, check out her top tips for writers and discover how she spends a typical day (hint: it involves getting up at 5:30AM to write).

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