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Focus on the Rocks, Not the Pebbles
By Laura Gater
At a recent writers' conference, the analogy of rocks and
pebbles in a vase attracted my attention for a particular
reason. You’ve heard that analogy, I’m sure. The rocks fill
up the vase while the pebbles fill the crevices and spaces
between the rocks. This analogy urges us to spend our time
on the big things in life, or in writing, the big assignments
– the rocks, rather than on the tiny pebbles, or the least-
paying assignments.
As a freelance writer, I have learned over the past 15 years
that it is more efficient for my business to focus on the
larger assignments, the ones that pay more, the ones that are
more crucial to building my file of clips and establishing my
expertise in various subjects. The pebbles take up room that
might otherwise have been available for more rocks. When times
are slow, I find myself reaching out for pebbles to fill my
time, when I should be looking for the rocks, or the more
prolific new markets to query. The pebbles I refer to here
are low-cost assignments (which I define as those paying less
than 20 cents a word). Often these low-paying assignments are
for writing website content. I find myself thinking “It won’t
take more than an hour or so to write up that story, so it
will be an easy $30” Or $50. Either way, I have to spend that
time online, reading what’s already on the website on that
topic, locating sources, checking and double-checking that my
style matches theirs. Before I know it, two or three hours
have elapsed on a (very) low-paying 500-word story. I could
have sent out several queries to higher-paying publications
or websites instead. Once I realized this, after many “quick”
low-paying assignments, I dropped those as quickly as I could
in order to spend more time on the better-paying markets.
It’s tempting to write those pebbles, especially if you have
no pressing deadlines at the time or if you simply need more
work. I’m not saying we shouldn’t reach for the pebbles. I’m
saying that we should first make sure that our time is filled
with rocks, which are the bread-and-butter of our income, and
then consider the pebbles, if there’s any time left or a need
for additional income. Make sure the pebbles don’t overtake
your vase of freelance work. They can slowly creep in, like
poison ivy, to overtake all of your valuable time and crowd
out those more prolific assignments or time spent querying
better markets. A more efficient use of your time might be to
search for reprint markets for current and past articles that
you have written.
If you are writing freelance in addition to working full-time,
you should especially beware of the pebbles. You don’t have
time to spare for them. Focus instead on the rocks, well-paying
assignments that will be an asset to your writing career and
provide references and possibly future networking experiences.
The pebbles will just take up all your time and provide you
with little to show for your efforts, especially after already
working 40 hours a week. Some freelancers fill their vase with
pebbles and when they find some rocks, don’t know how or where
to fit them in. This is the opposite of what you should be
doing for your writing career, which is dependent on the rocks
in your vase, not on the pebbles.
Keep your eyes on the rocks, and try to fill your vase with
them. Save the pebbles to put in the vase last, when you have
absolutely nothing else to do and/or really need the money,
despite the low pay. Your time is valuable. Don’t spend it on
less worthy pursuits, namely low-paying assignments. Save it
for the better ones.
BIO
Laura Gater’s articles have been published in Credit Union
Business, Corrections Forum, Courts Today, Diversity/Careers
in Engineering & Information Technology, Podiatry Management,
For the Record, Bottom Line/Women’s Health, Medscape, Successful
Meetings, and Healthcare Traveler, plus other national trade
and consumer magazines. She is the author of two books, Writing
for Professional Medical Publications,
www.booklocker.com , and
Small Practice Survival Guide,
www.doctorsdigest.net .
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