I’ve taken a two-month contract job and my head, she is spinning. At 8 a.m. Monday I had my first conference with the editor and by 9 a.m. I had four assignments, all due within one week.
The articles are all based on insurance, a topic about which I know as much as any other freelance personal finance writer. Translation: I’ve spent a lot of time researching this week.
By the end of the first day I was utterly wrung out and wondering just what I’d done. The only thing that kept me going was the memories of my first day at The Chicago Tribune and the first few weeks at MSN Money. In both cases I felt completely at sea but I managed to survive, and to thrive.
Turning in my third piece tomorrow and I’m bumping-into-things tired. Yet I’m starting to feel a certain rhythm to my days, a sense of beginning to hit my stride. While I won’t say “I’ve got this, no sweat, ask me anything,” I will say that the training wheels are about to come off.
After all, I spent 17 years in the Features department at a newspaper, where our motto was, “What am I an expert in today?” It was necessary to research quickly and efficiently, to absorb the basics and figure out what questions a reader might want answered – and then to do it all over again a few days later when a new story idea came up.
I used to call it The Curse of the Autodidact – I knew an awful little about an awful lot. Eventually we all developed specialties – homebuilding, education, moose – and were allowed first pick at certain stories.
I’m looking forward to developing my expertise in insurance. It’s already becoming more intriguing than I thought it would. That’s probably because I’m geeky enough to be fascinated by facts like compulsory liability auto insurance is required in every state except New Hampshire.
Once the articles start running I’ll be including them in my “read me somewhere else” roundups. I’d appreciate the traffic and I’d really appreciate comments on those pieces. It would be great to show my temporary employer that I can get some virtual butts in the seats.
In other news
A few random topics:
It’s been a year since my daughter’s cat died. That rescue kitty, who may have been a reincarnated dog, helped Abby immensely during a dark time in her life. She wrote a moving post about Sandy, “In purr-moriam.” Better have a box of tissues handy.
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Good luck with and congratulations on the two-month job. I always give myself four months to settle in when I start a new job, to let myself feel lost, overwhelmed, asking tons of questions, etc. until I get my sea legs.
Not an option for you. But it sounds like you have hit the ground running and found your stride. Huzzah!
Excellent work jumping in deep! It’s always easier with an end-date. “I can do anything for two months.” I research for a living and I know so many random niches that are completely useless in any context! I love the “Curse of the Autodidact.” Well put! 🙂
Wow, good luck! Amazing that you are already on #3. Do let us know the venues so we can read and comment.
Oh, I’ll be posting them in my roundups, you betcha. I’m all about spreading the word.
Thanks for your good wishes.
I was blessed with a contracting job last summer, and at this time I’m teaching 3 classes at 2 different schools, plus writing 20 hours a week for a small non-profit. It’s a lot of running around, but I’ve lost 5 lbs. since Labor Day and the family coffers are looking a LOT better than they were for a couple of months there. TO top it of, daughter only needs 9 credits to graduate in the spring!! Yay!! Donna, hang in there — you are a role model for so many of us.
Your schedule makes me feel vicarious exhaustion. Go you! And how nice that your daughter is almost finished with school.
Watching my own savings build back up will be great fun. It was such a nice summer that I slacked on freelancing and as a result didn’t pay myself for one quarter. Oh, well, that’s one reason I maintain savings: to use when I feel it’s necessary.
Losing five pounds — or 25 — would be a nice plus. Here’s hoping.
Great links thank you!
How exciting. You were looking forward to this assignment when we chatted in Jersey. Knowing about insurance is cool and the more areas of expertise you have the better your frugal synthesis will be. Like your garbage soup, you will be able to pull from all the different bits of frugal knowledge.
Freelance brain = garbage soup. I like it!
Glad we had a chance to meet up. Let’s do it again next year, if I go see my dad again.
Let’s. That would be great.
Donna, I know you love summer and you were worried about the savings. Yes, it takes work to have our cake and eat it too. Never mind, it seems to be working out. I too was a journalist in another life, thinking vaguely about going back to it. My older daughter wants to be a writer and can be found on all kinds of millenial sites, alas, for free so far. She is good. You are my role model as well, sometimes we survive by watching someone else do it. Keep on keeping on. (ha! showing my age!)
Thanks for your kind words. If you start writing, send some links to SurvivingAndThriving (at) live (dot) com.
I’ll be interested to see if you can make the topic of insurance more interesting! I need tips on how to find a reputable company with good whole life insurance plan options.