Should I go it alone?

nzmegs

I work in the house building sector in admin and have so far managed to keep my job, despite redundancies all around me. I work part time and during my time off i do freelance work as a writer. My writing work pays 3 or 4 times per hour what I make at work, but it is erratic.
This month i will earn around £400 from writing and £650 from work. My writing work is what I really enjoy, I feel excited by it and motivated to work, I can't say the same about admin....
Am I being really silly in thinking about doing the writing full time? I can't currently devote anough time to it to make enough to survive, but if I left my job I would have the time but can't guarantee the work will be there.
This is a real dilemma for me - however if i am made redundant then the decision may well be taken out of my hands.
Is anyone else out there a freelance writer? Can I realistically expect to make around £1000 a month working 5-7 hours a day?

wigglebeena

Can you just reduce your hours a bit, do it incrementally? Might help you evade redundancy, if you're not costing your employers as much...

ceridwen

Difficult one - I can certainly see the attraction of doing work you actually want to do. I can also see the attraction of being paid a decent income per hour.


Hmm........personally....I would keep the dayjob unless and until you get made redundant from it (which I estimate may not be that long in coming). Then you get the redundancy payoff. At that point - all being well that the writing work keeps coming in at the rate it has been - THEN you devote a lot more time to the writing work (whilst perhaps having a leetle part-time job on rather fewer hours than you do at present to have a bit of guaranteed basic income).

ravravrav

Freelance writing? Sounds really cool - where do you write and how have you got into it?

DCFC79

sorry to be nosey OP but what is it you write and who for,

naijapower

I am nosey as well. I am a writer as well and the income you stated interest me. Can you share you link/introduce me. I dont mind paying u a referral commssion.
You can PM me if you wish...
every little help...

Sazzyukrafc

Very similar boat to me, although I'm full time employed in an SEO (online editorial) role and do freelance writing in my spare time. I'd love to go full time freelancing, but I don't now is the right time, as I have a mortgage etc...I may consider it when we have children.

People above....I have contacts for regular work, however, I also use these for more work:

www.elance.com
www.getafreelancer.com

Remember, you'll be up against qualified and experienced journalists/writers like myself for jobs, so be realistic.

DKLS

Might be worth contacting web design/e learning companies direct to see if they need any copy writing services.

nzmegs

Thanks for all your replies. Unfortunately my boss is very inflexible regarding hours. The chances of me getting fewer hours are very slim indeed!
I have gotten my freelance work mostly throught Elance as stated above. The pay can be a bit on the low side but the experience is great.
As Sazzy said it is impotant to know that you have the right skills. I am not qualified as a journalist/writer but I do have a degree and a good level of knowledge in the subject. Plus plenty of experience. But I have to say that confidence in yourself is the most important skill to have.
My best option I think right now, is to stay as I am. I have enough work to cover my spare time at the moment. I guess it is a bad time to even think about self employment - but if I build up the work to a really decent level I will jump ship without hesitation.
Thanks again for the replies and good luck if you are thinking of doing it yourself - just don't steal my jobs!!