A Day in the Life

A Typical Day as a Freelance Editor & Writer

You’ve had this conversation before:

“Oh, you’re a writer? So cool! What do you write? Books? Anything I know?”

“No, probably not. But I do edit other people’s books that you might have read.”

“What are they about?”

(I list a few of the topics, both fiction and nonfiction.)

Next is a series of rabbit trails about something they’ve read recently or an author they wish hadn’t written a character a certain way.

That’s about it.

It takes less than three minutes for me to explain my day job at a dinner party.

But for you? I’ll go into more detail.

(Used with permission from Unsplash+)

Why Your Day Job Isn’t That Different Than Mine

I always chuckle at how “glamorous” people think a writer’s day job is. We really just like to read, find out new information, and put some framework around sharing that information.

For all you know, I could be a pharmacist researching the side effects of a drug and sharing that information with the customer on the other side of the counter.

That’s basically what I spend a lot of time doing.

But wait, there’s more!

What strikes me as hilarious is when people think that you’re writing a movie script or the book you’re editing is going to be a bestseller. (It might be, but that’s more often not the case.)

I share with friends that my actual day job isn’t that different from theirs, except that my co-workers don’t smack loudly next to me, and they couldn't care less whether or not I’m pulling my share of the proverbial weight.

If anything, my co-workers are children who think interruptions are absolutely okay because there’s no door on my office and that me staring at a screen with an actual person on the other side of it means I’m having a friendly chat, and it’s worth asking, “Where’s my charging cord?”

Oh, and a four-legged variety who rings the bell incessantly because in her mind, I don’t actually have a job save taking her out to play frisbee.

While I am grateful and I love doing this for an income, I also know that it’s just not as sparkly as some think. Occasionally, I’ll get to wear a crown and cute heels, but that’s mostly the paper crown from BK and a pair of heels I wore 8 years ago when I used to go into an office every day.

You Share Your 9-to-5 and I’ll Share Mine

So, in the spirit of having a little fun (it’s almost summer, right?), let’s share our day in the life of…

I’ll go first.

Today, for example, here is what I did:

9:00 - Look at my assignments and decide which one to write today; begin research and reheat my coffee twice.

9:45 - Get interrupted by the dog and an emergent need for a protractor that I was supposed to stop on the way home and get yesterday but forgot. (So, off to the store I went. I do have two teens, and one of them attends a school where students get to do much of her work at home.)

10:40 - Return from said store and start to pick up where I left off. What was I writing about again? Where was that email with my notes?

11:30 - Finish the story research and begin writing until a series of texts interrupts to the point that I can no longer consider where my words are in space and time.

12:15 - End phone conversation after figuring out a problem that needed solving and realizing that I was 15 minutes late for a training session.

12:15-12:50 - Attend online training session and realize that my 1 p.m. coaching call would not happen (cancelling while still on my training call)

1:15 - Finished the training call and got back to work on the original story.

2:00 - Complete story, edit, and re-read/save.

2:05 - Start research on the next assignment, get sidetracked by a delivery, and the dinner I need to make early because my husband and I are going out and the kids need something to eat while we’re gone.

3:30 - Meeting to discuss project progress with a client

4:45 - Finish my progress call and add a few links to my research document so I know where I’m pulling from for that other article I started, and then get interrupted by “something cool that happened at school today,” which I of course want to hear all about.

4:45 - Realize that my second article isn’t going to be finished, and I need to wrap up the dinner I started making a few hours earlier. Jot down a few story ideas that came to mind while I was on my training call earlier, and make a note to pursue them during my pitch windows next week.

5:15 - Set my calendar to include all the fun activities my children are doing as it is the new December (Maymember) and all the things go on in the same three weeks right as school finishes.

Now, you tell me what your day in the life is. I can’t wait to hear all about it!