So I landed a decent freelance job a few weeks back, writing a piece for a $1/word trade magazine. The job ended up in my lap when the associate editor who had already started working on the feature was laid off.
Even though I didn’t know much about the industry this trade magazine covered, I said yes, because let’s face it, pickings for freelancers are pretty slim at the moment.
I feel horrible about staff editors losing their jobs. But it does present a unique opportunity for freelancers who are willing and able to step in and do the work that needs to be done.
Small problem: I realized soon after taking the job I was in so over my head.
With a reduced staff, the editor didn’t have the time to tutor me or even compose an actual assignment letter. She simply e-mailed me every press release, piece of correspondence and backup information for the piece.
She sent me 38 e-mails in all. Some of the correspondence was in German. Much of it contained trade jargon and technical specs that baffled me.
I was freaking out.
Being a freelance writer is kind of like reliving that common college nightmare that you’re sitting for an exam that you didn’t study for. It’s the anxiety of constantly being dropped into a new situation you know nothing about.
But you got through college (probably). You can get through this too.
Here’s what helps when you’re in over your head:
• Breathe. I know this may sound trite, but you’re not going to get anything accomplished if you’re freaking out. Go outside and take a walk. Clear your head. Breathe.
• Now that your head is clear—focus. Shut out all the distractions around you and focus like a laser on mastering your subject. Do this even if it means pulling one or more college style all-nighters. You passed that physics exam right? You can learn this too.
• Read as many back issues as you can. Writers pick up jargon very quickly. If you read an entire issue or more, and look up every term you don’t know, you’ll have it down by the time you’re finished.
• Be confident when you’re interviewing. Under no circumstances should you admit to an interviewee that you have no idea what he’s talking about. But you can ask for clarification. You can ask him to “Take you through the process.” You can ask him to “Describe in more detail.” Ask leading questions and let your subject do the talking. E-mail interviews work well in this situation if it’s permissible with your editor.
• Write like you know what you’re talking about. Come on, you’re a writer. You’re a quick study. You can do this.
• The good news: Now you’re an expert! If you have a published piece in a niche, you have reached “expert” status as a writer in that industry. Use it! Once you’ve gotten past the steep learning curve of writing for a new niche, you can leverage that knowledge to get more gigs.
Have you ever taken a freelance job only to realize you were in way over your head? How did you handle it?
-Maria Schneider
flickr photo by mike23
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This was a great article, I think it is relevant on many levels – at least it spoke to me in my current endeavors even though I am not facing a freelance assignment.
Good advice. I am a freelance translator (yes, German, let me know if you need help!) and writer, and I do panic occasionally. I successfully stay away from areas I am not an expert in, but sometimes projects pile up and one starts to freeze. I completely agree with you — going for a run for 30 minutes or taking a shower or even petting the dog makes me feel better and puts things in perspective. I recently discovered your blog and I liked it! Added it to my RSS.
This is great advice, Maria. “Read as many back issues as you can,” served me very well in my marketing days, too, not to mention more recent endeavors! I’ve also found blogs related to the topic in question are extremely helpful for picking up jargon and getting a solid foundation of knowledge to work from.
I am with Alegra that I do not face a freelance writing assignment however, I am putting on my 1st local event…a book fair. There have been a few times, I felt I was in a bit over my head, HOWEVER, I just had to take a moment and connect with my center. I knew that I was doing the best I could and knew I could do this project. And it is coming up in 3 more days and there are things I have learned and more things to learn (I am sure), which is always a plus. And like you mentioned, once I have done it once, I will know I can do it and move forward to plan other events.
It is great to be able to take on a challenge and conquer it. Keeping in mind our integrity and spirit.
Great post again Maria.
In gratitude,
Teresa Morrow
I’m a freelance garden writer as well as a struggling, unpublished fiction writer. It’s frustrating when after so many years of practically begging for work, now that I’d love more time to concentrate on fiction, I’m getting TONS of freelance work. Don’t get me wrong, I need the money — I’ve got one child who graduated from college a year ago, another still in college. The money is always nice, but there aren’t enough hours in the day to read, write my non-fiction assignments and work on revising my various fiction stories. I’m getting burned out after 16 years, five books and 1,000 articles plus, and the fiction makes a nice change. But I guess all the work I’m getting is just a sign that I’ve finally paid my dues.
Sorry, forgot to sympathize with Maria. I recently found out one of my regular editors has taken over the work for two totally unrelated trade magazines. While I’ve written on just about every landscape, garden and environmentally-related topic out there, I’m new to the industries related to these new magazines. The extra paychecks will be nice, but Maria’s experiences have now made me a little nervous. Oh well — work is work.
Great piece, Maria.
I’ve had this happen to me although the industry was biotech and the language Swedish (which I happen to speak).
Whenever I sense things going crazy I take a moment to call the editor and just talk things through. Many editors realise the profession is in trouble and find it just as stressful to leave it all to the hackwriter cut loose without an editor to guide them.
Talking on the phone is important because you get some of that important communicative stuff in that that doesn’t come with email. Whereas an email back can seem prickly or snooty, a quick call to explain that, well, yes this is a challenge but I’m giving it 100% may keep you in the loop next time freelance work is being handed out.
Gotta keep those editors happy !
Great blog, Maria. Could you think about installing the Subscribe To Comments plugin. This plugin automatically inserts a ‘Notify me of follow-up comments via e-mail’ check box, so that people can elect to receive
an email when someone posts a comment after they’ve posted theirs.
Cheers.
I’ve been in over my head many of times…the need for money is greater than my fear of the unknown. As anxious as I always feel at the outset, I find I always triumph in the end by having opened my mind to a topic I otherwise wouldn’t have tackled; improved my research, interview, and writing skills, and gained a sense of pride from having divided and conquered to produce a respectable piece. It’s like author Anaïs Nin said, “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
It recently happened to me, too, where I had to attempt to write about an industry I knew nothing of–it didn’t go as swimmingly as I’d hoped, but the magazine has been kind to me and suggests that there’s a “long learning curve” when getting started.
Thanks for the comments all!
@Jon, I added the followup comments plugin. Thanks for the suggestion!
@Jordan, Why do I have the feeling we’re talking about the very same magazine?!
Maria -
Terrific post. Hope you’ll post more for freelancers (as opposed to authors/aspiring authors) in the future, as I’m particularly interested in your perspective on issues like this as a former magazine editor.
Amen to “interview with confidence.” My favorite question in that regard: “OK, tell me about it like I don’t know a single thing about the field.” BTW, there was a great “Office” episode the other night that included a riff on that theme.
Thanks Maria. Good advice. I’m trying to breathe because I was told yesterday by an editor who is six weeks late in paying me for a piece that she isn’t getting paid by her advertisers, so… I hope this isn’t one of the new industry trends.
I just got a contract for a piece in a trade magazine today, and am not too familiar with the subject, but the editor responded to the odd angle in my query, so it will be fun to pursue it. And since it’s about home-brewed spirits (the hard stuff, not beer or wine), I’ll probably enjoy the research.
Thanks for the consistently good stuff on the blog, and in the forum. I’m sorry I haven’t been participating—since I quit full-time copywriting, I’m scrambling to send out queries, and trying to figure out how to parse all of my social media dabblings. But your stuff is always helpful and fun.
Ummm…can you subcontract the work?
Great post, Maria – It’s happened to all of us who have freelanced for a long time. One other way I elicit information from sources without, I think, sounding ignorant — I ask them to tell me about the subject “for my readers who may not be familiar with it.” I use this technique a lot in radio as well — I’m a public radio reporter. In that venue, I say, “hey, my listeners are not experts in this subject, and also they’re washing dishes, driving, whatever — they’re not focusing completely on this story. Can you describe this process for them?” Focusing on readers and listeners takes the burden off of you, the writer. Also (as a long-time technology writer) if a source is stuck talking in jargon, I ask them to explain their subject to me as if they’re at breakfast with their mother or their long-lost cousin. It almost always works. FYI, I teach tips like these in my Magazine Writing Basics class, (www.therenegadewriter.com) which starts in a week.
Maria,
This is a great post! I’ve definitely been there more than a few times, but I think it’s OK to admit to a source when you don’t understand something. I’ll sometimes say at the beginning, “thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. My background is in writing, so please bare with me if I ask you to clarify or rephrase something.” Usually I will start to understand what they’re saying based on context (and a google search for an obscure term), but this also reminds them to minimize the jargon for a more general audience. I think being upfront about this lets me relax for the rest of the interview because I feel like I don’t have to maintain a false facade that I’m an expert on widgets/investments/whatever.
Susan
Good post Maria. I’m a contributing editor at a trade magazine and often am called on to cover technical topics that I’m unfamiliar with. In addition to some of the techniques you use I’ll also:
1. Ask the company’s PR dept/firm to send me background materials in advance of an interview.
2. Find market research and/or white papers on the company and/or industry, or interview industry analysts – I have no qualms about asking “dumb” questions to analysts, they’re used to dealing with people who aren’t familiar with the topic. Then once I interview the primary sources for my story I sound like I know what I’m talking about.
3. Ask my source questions like “If you were giving a talk at an industry convention, what advice would you give on XYZ” – it’s a great way to get them to open up on a subject & if you’re looking for bullet point items for a sidebar you’re set!
Michelle Rafter
WordCount – Freelancing in the Digital Age
http://michellerafter.wordpress.com
Ha ha, totally going through this, too. Great post, Maria.
Freelancing recently became my way to continue writing while staying home with my son. He’s now 18 months old and I often feel lost with each assignment because there’s only an hour or two a day that I can work on reporting and writing. It’s difficult to bone up on a subject in bits and pieces.
Great tips!
@Elaine: I love your specific tips to use with interviewees.
@Melanthia: The book Writer Mama might be a good resource. The author is doing a blog tour and giving away one copy each day to a commenter. Find out more at http://thewritermama.wordpress.com/
This is an excellent piece. I had a similar experience recently after being unemployed for months and starting to panic. Somone who worked for me years ago and who I mentored is now a VP in a company and contacted to do some work. At that point, I’d have taken a job butchering armadillos, so I agreed to take it on. In lean times, I’m sure we’ve all faced this at least once.
Once I got into it I realized that my background in the technology was at grade 6 and they needed grad level. I shoved everything off my desk, put on my headphones with work music (for me, Philip Glass) and started at the beginning. It has horrid for a day or two, but I emerged with new skills and survived the experience. Unlike college, however, I didn’t order pizza at 4:00 a.m. for fear of needing to call the paramedics a couple hours later.