Why did I decide to create three businesses and then combine them into one?
I felt more complete when I was able to work each day on my writing, which I consider my art; my calligraphy, which I consider my craft; and my proofreading, which I consider my skill. Each aspect of my “holy trinity” drains me in different ways, but they help produce multiple revenue streams as a freelancer as well as allow me to spend time engaged with words throughout the day differently.
I can typically only write for one to two hours at a time before I am drained. My art is what I hold closest to my heart and it takes the most effort. But that is not a full workday nor does it bring much revenue, especially not before I have published the next novel. Then, I tend to devote at least half an hour to calligraphy just to maintain and improve my muscle memory and script consistency. This typically does not make me money unless I am working on a client project. But I also get to look at the shape that words form and their physical beauty on the page. Finally, my bread-and-butter currently is proofreading. I spend an average of five hours a day on this and make the majority of my money here. This is a skill that I was trained to do since my schooldays. I always have style and citation manuals close by in case I forget one of the many hundreds of technical rules. But this skill brings me the joy of cleaning up writing that could run more smoothly and be clearer for the reader. When done all together, I end up with a pretty full eight-hour workday from home.
I decided to call my new business “American Wordsmith” because I realized that all day, every day, I was spending with American English words in a variety of forms: reading them, writing them, fixing them. But the constant shifting between tasks keeps me from burning out (though, I admit I’m still trying to find that work-life balance).
The idea of becoming a freelancer really began when I first joined the workforce full-time and saw for myself the office politics and the jack-of-all-trades tasks I was made to do. I knew that I had enough drive and determination to be my own boss and that I could do what I really wanted to if I only had the time and money.
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I truly believe that routines are essential to a person’s productivity and ultimate success in business. So, I have a very full “dream” schedule right now that I have been following closely for almost a year. I do not plan for my days to be this full in the future, but this is my schedule to create as much as possible within a relatively short period of time. I would like to keep this up for another two years and see where my business takes me from there.
5:00 AM (Usually Ends Up Being 6:00 AM): Wake Up
5/6:00-8:00 AM: Gym/Shower/Dress
8:00-8:30 AM: Breakfast
8:30-9:00 AM: Calligraphy (Craft; Time May Vary Based On Project)
9:00-10:00 AM: Read (Hobby)
10:00-11:00 AM: Write Novels (Art; Or Edit/Proofread/Narrate/Publish)
11:00-12:00 PM: Lunch
12:00-5:00 PM: Proofreading (Skill; My Bread-and-Butter Currently)
5:00-6:00 PM: Dinner
6:00-9:00 PM: Ballet/Social (Hobby)
9:00 PM: Bedtime
* Right now my schedule remains about the same for every day of the week, with rest days from the gym on the weekend.
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Views Expressed Disclaimer: The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent the postings, strategies, or opinions of American Wordsmith, LLC. Please also know that while I consider myself an Objectivist and my work is inspired by Objectivism, it is not nor should it be considered Objectivist since I am not the creator of the philosophy. For more information about Ayn Rand’s philosophy visit: aynrand.org.