Freelance careers are built in the gaps

Hello friends, happy (almost) Fourth of July weekend! I hope you’re planning to stuff your face with delicious BBQ and watch some fireworks (from a safe distance, of course, let’s not start any fires y’all).

If you spend any time on LinkedIn (like I do), you’ve probably seen posts from fellow freelancers saying that, generally, this whole week is pretty slow in terms of outlets commissioning new stories, and that we should all take this time to catch up on some non-writing/reporting admin work that goes into running a small business. Whether it’s literally true that editors are catching up on their own side work or on vacation this week depends on the editor, this is a great reminder that working on stories is only part — and, some weeks, a very small part — of what goes into freelancing.

So let’s talk a little bit about gap work — all that stuff in between directly working on assignments (dare I say ~downtime~). You know, those weird liminal spaces that can sometimes feel like wasted time (who among us hasn’t had a quiet-ish day and thought, “UGH I should be working on something right now”).

But those gaps are where growth happens. Think of it like working out: Muscle mass is built during recovery periods, not while you’re at the gym.

Take, for example, networking. I’ve said time and time again that the most important part of growing as a freelancer is growing your network. But it doesn’t immediately offer tangible returns, so it’s easy to let it fall into the category of, “I know I have to, but I’m busy today, so I’ll get to it when I free up a little.”