When the company with which my husband contracted for writing projects, asked, he suggested it to me. Wow! Lucky me, I thought: no application — my husband’s word was good enough?
So of course, I said, “Yes!” to my first paid writing job.
I thought my life would now be all like this:
Mistake number one: not applying independently and learning more about what this company was all about, and what the work entailed.
My husband walked me through one of the things he typically worked on. It seemed easy. And the company provided a lot of material for these smaller projects.
Soon, we were all at a Zoom meeting, to learn about a new project. Stakeholders, current contractors, and editors were all there. So were me and my spouse.
This new project involved interviewing subjects and condensing their stories to 3 specific topics, each topic to be 300 to 500 words.
Wow! Lucky me! I had just started taking a Case Study writing course, - this could be up my alley. So I mustered a lot of enthusiasm and said yes, yes! To my first paid writing job.
Alas! My first paid writing job began to look a lot like this:
Mistake number two: I made the rookie mistake of not asking questions. I did not want to sound stupid in front of everybody. And there were gaps in my knowledge because this was my first paid writing job!
I barely knew how to use MS Word, especially the editing feature. I was going to use the company’s Zoom for interviews, but had never recorded anyone on Zoom before, or saved a recording to a specific file.
I admit that this mistake was the parent of every small mistake I made thereafter: Things like not immediately notifying the editors that I was waiting for an interview subject to get back to me, and receive further instructions.
But that was me, scared of looking inexperienced!
Well, what would you think of me if you were in charge?
Work that was supposed to wrap up in early May of that year took me until the beginning of July!
As soon as I could, though, I worked to improve my writing. I made the recommended edits and kept the editors in the loop through the rest of my time working with them.
When my work was done, and I could send them an invoice, I sent the people I worked with, each an email thanking them for working with me and for their patience with me, and telling them that I would love to work with them again, should they ever need someone.
There was a Mistake Number Three…a very important mistake… but I’ll tell you about it in the next installment…
In the meantime, enjoy this song by Lit. Sometimes, yes, I feel like my own worst enemy.
I really appreciate you sharing the mistakes you feel like you made & showing us how to be vulnerable. Good work, Eri.