If you’re currently working a job that you hate, there are lots of benefits that you could take advantage of by switching to freelance writing instead. But there are some downsides that you should be aware of too!

What are the benefits of being a freelance writer? Being a freelancer means that you get to be your own boss. You set your schedule and work from home, and the only limit on your income is how much time and effort you want to put into it. It can be an excellent choice for introverts. But you’re also 100% responsible for your own success or failure.

In this article, I’ll go over some pros and cons of being a freelance writer. I think you should take some time to weigh out these options if you’re thinking of becoming a freelancer.

That’s true whether you’re just out of school and considering it as a career, or if you already have a full-time job but you’re thinking about switching careers.

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What Are Some Benefits of Being A Freelance Writer?

There are a number of fantastic pros to becoming a freelance writer. Many of these helped me to make the decision to quit my accounting job that I hated to pursue my dream of becoming a writer.

PRO: You Get To Be Your Own Boss

Getting to be your own boss is probably the thing that I love most about being a freelance writer and working for myself. Now that I’ve done it for a few years, I’m not sure if I could go back to having a boss or manager.

When I used to work in an office, I feel like half of my time was spent working. And the other half of my time was spent just trying to “look busy.”

The truth is that I feel like most people are horribly unproductive at their job. If I had to guess, I’d say that most people probably do 3 hours of work during an actual 8 hour day. I know that was the case for me. And judging by how many times I walked by the desks of my coworkers and saw them quickly swap from their fantasy football or Facebook feed back to their spreadsheets, I’d guess that’s the case for most people.

I absolutely hated that feeling of someone watching over my shoulder. And having to constantly have a sixth sense for knowing who was around me.

I could have always asked for more work I suppose. But I figure that if none of my coworkers were stepping up, why should I volunteer to put in 300% more effort when we were all getting paid the same?

When you’re working for yourself, that’s not an issue. There’s no playing games and having to pretend that you’re productive all the time.

Now I don’t procrastinate or have to find things to do to waste time. I just sit down with complete focus and remove all distractions, and bang out all of my writing assignments as efficiently as I can while still maintaining a high level of quality. Then any extra time that I have is mine to use however I want, guilt-free.

Imagine if your employer actually rewarded you for being efficient, instead of having all of the high-performing staff stoop to the level of the worst workers. When you’re your own boss, the only one you’re comparing against is yourself!

Maybe you just want to be a blogger. Read my article Should You Start A Blog? to learn more!

PRO: You Make Your Own Schedule

I mentioned in a previous blog that I find I’m most productive first thing in the morning. I work best if I get up at 5 or 6 am and work straight through until noon. And I can get about the same amount of work done in those 6 hours as it would take most people to do in 8.

So being forced to work from 9 am to 5 pm really sucked for me. I lost a good 3 or 4 hours of my most productive hours of the day. And I was forced to work well into the afternoon when I knew I was no longer operating at my full potential.

After a big lunch, I was pretty much ready for a nap most days. And I’m sure most of my coworkers were the same way.

Working for yourself also means you can work as much or as little as you want. Sure, I could build up a six-figure freelance writing empire if I really wanted to. But right now I’m comfortable working about four hours a day and then having the rest of my time to pursue other projects or whatever I want.

When my wife and I have a kid, I’m planning to be the stay-at-home dad. So I should hopefully be able to pretty much slot in my current writing workload during naps and after my kid has gone to sleep. Being a freelancer is an ideal career for parents who want work to fit around time with their kids, and not the other way around.

PRO: You Can Work From Home (In Your Pajamas!)

Having to travel to your workplace wastes an insane amount of time.

Personally, I started off having to drive an hour or more to get to work, and then the same distance back. But even if your commute to work is just 15 minutes, that’s still half an hour that you’re wasting in traffic each day.

After I worked at my job for a while, I decided to move closer and start taking the city bus to work each day. This came with its own set of problems.

Having to worry if there would be a seat available for me, showing up 15 minutes early in case the bus was early or late, standing in the snow or rain when weather was bad, and dealing with some seriously sketchy fellow travelers.

Now I just roll out of bed and walk down the hall to my office. And when my day is done, I walk downstairs and can start making dinner right away!

I can also go a week at a time without having to put real pants on.

PRO: No Salary Cap (Unlimited Potential)

Maybe you can negotiate a raise with your employer at your job. But usually you can only get away with doing this once or twice a year.

It’s also a really stressful thing to go through, and there’s always a good chance that your boss could just tell you no.

Plus there’s a cap. It’s pretty unlikely that you’re going to get a raise of more than 10 or 15%, especially for several years in a row.

When you’re a freelance writer, or really anybody who’s self-employed, your income is really only limited to how much time and effort you want to put in. Of course, you’ll need to find paying clients. But if you get a system in place where you’re constantly bringing on more work, you’re really only limited by how much effort you want to put in.

Even if you start to get too much work to handle yourself, you can always start to hire your own staff. But not everybody wants to take things that far.

Having trouble getting started? You should read my article How To Overcome Fear and Self-Doubt As A Freelance Writer

PRO: As Much Vacation Time As You Want

Aside from having to pretend to be busy, the next thing that I hated most about working for someone else was having to ask for time off.

It felt almost embarrassing to have to grovel and practically beg for time off, even when I had vacation time to take. I had to check and make sure I had a backup to cover me while I was gone. And I couldn’t take vacation at the same time as someone else, or we would have too many people off in our department at one time.

So there was always a lot of anxiety for me around taking time off. Whether I was asking in person, or even just sending an email to my manager and crossing my fingers until it came back approved.

Plus most employers give you peanuts when it comes to time off.

When I started, I had no vacation time at all. After one year at my company, I think I got one week of paid vacation. After three years that went up to two weeks. And if I had stayed at the company for ten years, I would have maxed out at three weeks of vacation per year.

And some people would actually say I was pretty lucky! There are lots of places where people don’t get any paid vacation at all. And in many parts of the US, people aren’t even entitled to paid sick days!

As a freelance writer, there are definitely some times where I just want to earn as much money as possible. Like in January of 2019, I was on a roll and writing full-time 6 days a week and I managed to make over $10,000 that month. I felt like I had unlimited energy and just wanted to write as much as possible.

But then there’s also times that I really don’t want to write for extended periods of time. When we got a pug puppy last summer (shoutout to Mister Pickles) I decided to take off two months of “pug maternity” to look after him and get him potty trained.

I can’t imagine any job that would just let you take off two months of unpaid leave on a whim and then come back and pick up right where you left off.

PRO: It’s An Ideal Job For Introverts

If it wasn’t clear from my previous comments about the stress I felt just asking for vacation time off or worrying about people watching over my shoulder at work, I suffer from a fair amount of anxiety.

Another thing about working in an office that really stressed me out was phone calls. I hated the idea that anyone could just call me up at any time. I’d have to answer the phone in just a couple of rings, and there was always a very good chance that I wouldn’t be able to immediately answer the question of whoever was calling.

This stressed me the heck out. I’m way more of an email guy. I can take my time getting an answer, write it out in an email, and check it over a bazillion times before I send it.

Plus I swear those old Nortel office phones had their ringtone specifically designed in a way to strike fear in the hearts of whoever heard them. Even with my ringer turned all the way down, I used to feel a spike of adrenaline whenever that thing rang.

Okay yeah, I’m a bit crazy. But I also hear it’s a bit of a millennial thing and I’m not alone in my hatred of talking on the phone.

But guess what? Now I work for myself, and there’s no more phone calls! In the past 3 years or so, I haven’t had a single phone call with a client. And I think I’ve only had one video call on Skype. Absolutely everything in my business is done via email, and I love that. After all, writing is my ideal medium.

If you’re a super introvert like me, this could be a downside too though. Right now I’m literally at a point where I’d never need to leave the house if I didn’t need to. All of my money and banking stuff can be done online, and I can even get groceries delivered to my house if I wanted to.

So if you’re introverted and have anxiety and you’re starting off your work-from-home career, you may want to add some things to your week that force yourself to get out of the house, so you don’t develop agoraphobia.

What Are Some Downsides To Being A Freelance Writer?

Choosing to become a freelance writer isn’t without its cons, despite all of the great benefits that it has. You’ll need to weigh these downsides against the benefits to decide if freelance writing is a good fit for you. If not, you may want to look into other options instead.

CON: The Work Can Be Inconsistent

Like with any kind of self-employment and running your own business, being a freelance writer can be risky and unreliable when it comes to the amount of work that you get.

If you work for an employer, then you probably receive a salary every day. It doesn’t matter how productive or unproductive you are in a particular day. If you show up, you earn the same amount of money.

Even if you’re working at a retail job for hourly pay, you’re still probably guaranteed a certain number of hours or shifts per week.

But if you’re self-employed, it’s completely possible to go a whole month or more without being able to find any paid work for yourself.

CON: 100% Your Responsibility

Being a freelancer gives you complete control over how much work you do and what kind of work you do. But that complete control also means you have complete responsibility.

There’s no backup if you can’t find work. The success or failure of your business is completely on you.

You’re also responsible for dealing with your taxes, getting your own insurance, and other things that your employer probably dealt with that you previously didn’t need to worry about.

Conclusion – Is Being A Freelance Writer Worth It?

In my opinion, yes! Being a freelancer or self-employed is totally worth it.

But it does require a certain kind of person.

If you aren’t able to motivate yourself or be disciplined, then you’ll likely have trouble meeting deadlines or forcing yourself to do the work. There’s a constant temptation to just do nothing since you’re in charge and nobody is holding you accountable.

But if you want to be your own boss and not have to answer to anyone, then being a freelancer can be a great way to have your own business and work for yourself.