Tag: Copywriting

All in a Day #4 A Day in The Life of a Freelancer

Finding time to blog in 2023 is not proving as easy as I thought! This is a day in the life…

February 2023

Making time to journal or document your life is tricky when life gets busy. Unfortunately, I was lulled into the post-summer holiday’s false sense of “I have all the time in the world” earlier this month, and now I don’t have time to scratch myself.

So here goes #4 – A typical freelance writing work day.

6:00 am – up with the birds

I wake with the sun and the sound of chattering lorikeets in the trees outside my bedroom window – it’s usually 6:00 am (or earlier). As I drag myself from bed I grab some items off the bedside table – phone, glasses, and watch, always with good intentions of going for a brisk walk, a paddle, or a pilates class. Sometimes not one of those options occurs. Scooping a pair of lycra leggings from the floordrobe, I hop across to the bathroom battling gravity and the slight vertigo of getting up too quickly.

strawberry smoothie on glass jar

A quick check of my notifications, hoping to intercept a fantastic job offer where I can write for an hour and get paid enough to get me through to next month. No, just the usual Substack updates from writers like me who write for money but like to write for no other reason than they like to write.

 There is the occasional LinkedIn notification pleading with me to go “pro” again, teasing me with “someone has viewed your profile.”   I know from past experience that the only people who view my profile are writers like myself who are curious about what I do.    Don’t get me wrong, I have great connections through LinkedIn, and most of them bear fruit. Not this morning, however.

Somewhere between pulling on my Asics and reaching for a water bottle, my notifications ping. Once again, I am swept up in checking the latest headlines and finishing the Wordle for the day. Today is going to be the day I get it in two! Yeah right. What sort of a word is “usage”?

6:15 am – bothering the wildlife

Out the front door and down the path to the park for exercise, deep thinking, and communing with nature. I also check on the wildlife around the lake. Unfortunately, botulism has reared its ugly head, and water birds are prone to this paralysing disease during the Summer months – fortunately, fluids and a stopover in the wildlife hospital can have them back on their feet.  So I am now the weirdo walking up to ducks and asking, “are you ok?’ before scaring them into entering the water. (If they can get up, they are usually fine).

After three laps of the lake and much scrutiny of feathered friends, I am ready to return for coffee, breakfast, and work. I always set myself a time to start and get ready for work like I would if I went to an office, without the crazy peak hour traffic, school drop-offs and corporate clothing (shorts and tshirt do perfectly thank you!) I do miss my morning drive with a podcast, though, so sometimes I put one while eating breakfast, for old-time’s sake.

8:30 am – work meeting (with myself)

If it’s Monday, I start with a work meeting – me, myself, and I. We draw up a list of outstanding things from the previous week and list all those items we need to do this week. I make sure we all get to have our say, and then we delegate tasks.   My blog is an item that gets carried over and over until now! Chasing up accounts is another – why can’t people pay their bills?  

black and white blog business coffee

8:45 am I open my computer, log in to Google and check my emails. I have requests for social media posts, a start-up’s web content, and a Capability Statement brief. Once I have worked out my priorities, I get started. Social media posts are usually pretty quick; I have those finished in an hour. Then, I put them aside for a final read later in the day. A bunch of web content for a start-up – 50% of my time is spent researching and working out what I am supposed to be writing about.

12:00 – 1:30 – break time

Lunchtime arrives (anytime between 11:30 and 1:30), and I stop. Sometimes I will get in the car, drive to the beach, and float in the ocean for 30 minutes (yes, I time myself); it’s cheaper than paying $150 to float in a tank with woo-woo music filling my ears.   Sometimes I jump on my ebike and go for a spin – cool breeze in my hair and all that. Sometimes I turn on the TV and watch a doco to switch off my writing brain. Nothing like the dulcet tones of David Attenborough to soothe the thought process. Of course, I also eat during this time!

1:30 pm – more work

Back to work – I always feel refreshed after my lunch break and I am ready to tackle the Capability Statement (yeah, I had to ask what one of those was, too!); it’s a trumped-up version of a profile.  I sweat my way through the statement and then have a reread of any work I have completed during the day. I send any finished work to clients with an internal sigh of relief and then commence to second guess my writing ability – imposter syndrome is real. 

4:00 pm – imposter syndrome kicks in

4:00pm rolls around, and I start thinking about finishing up. I go back and check what I have already sent once more and cringe inwardly as I pick up sentences that could sound better – or could they?  Finally, I let it go and leave the computer for another day.  I check the pilates app to see if I can squeeze in a class – BINGO; there is a space. 

5:00 pilates and chill

Heading back from pilates feeling stretched and aligned on my ebike, I do another lap of Hyde Park Lake and bother the ducks again. If I have my camera, I will stop and take some snaps. Like, I need any more bird photos on my computer! Sometimes I chance bumping into my family and stop for granddaughter cuddles and family gossip.

Home for chores – taking in the washing, emptying the dishwasher, feeding the bird, and checking on the axolotls’ tank. If my partner is home, he will probably cook dinner; if he is away, I have eggs on toast. Time for some TV and then bed, where I attempt to read another two pages of my current novel. It’s two steps forward, one step back, I’m afraid. I feel my new year’s resolution to read more books slipping through my fingers like sand at the beach at lunchtime. 

Most workdays go like this – except when I am teaching small people, but that’s a whole other story!!

What’s the skinny?

  • Freelance writing can be very rewarding.
  • Australian Writers Centre hold courses for freelance copywriters, feature writers and travel writing – I did my courses with AWC but I am not affiliated with them or being paid to promote their courses.
  • If you like the idea of being your own boss and working from home this could be the career for you.
  • There is a lot of self-motivation required and some days are slow.
  • People will pay you to write for them because not everyone can write.

All in a day # 2 Myrtle Bank to Ansons Bay, Tasmania

Week 2 – All in a day 2023 – a roadtrip to the east coast of Tasmania

Tassie Roadtrip – Northeast to Ansons Bay January 2023

Travel companions: two enthusiastic travellers from the West

With Mt Barrow looming, we left Myrtle Bank in the Northeast of Tasmania/lutruwita for the East Coast – Tasmania’s Bay of Fires.  A convoy of two. Three adventurous women from Western Australia!

Ansons Bay, remote paradise (as the entrance sign declares) is on the Northeast coast of Tasmania.  The Bay of Fires, situated on the land of the Palawa people, was described as such by the early explorers when they arrived on Tasmania’s shores to see fires burning.  The eye-catching orange lichen that covers the coastal rocks in this part of the world contrasts directly with the wild blue seas and green coastal scrub.

Eddystone Point Lighthouse/lutruwita is the closest sentinel that keeps ships from the treacherous rocks of the area.  The lighthouse is just inside Mt. William National Park and is accessible by a gravel road.

Our first stop was Scottsdale – around 40 kilometres from Myrtle Bank.  Scottsdale is the small town where I went to high school, spent weekends with my best mate, and got up to all sorts of mischief—being an “out of towner,” I more often than not spent entire weekends in Scottsdale.

A stop in Scottsdale always entails a curly pasty at the Scottsdale Bakery, a browse in the op shops, and shopping for stores at Woollies. So, our op shop haul packed in the back, ice in the esky, food shopping done, and wine and beer purchased, we set off towards Derby, the mountain bike capital of Tasmania.

Derby was an ex-tin mining town with no future and cheap real estate before it became the darling of the Mountain Bike scene.  Tasmania now boasts world-class mountain bike tracks, and people come from all over the world to travel the trails.  It was here we used to go in the 80s to watch or compete in the Derby River derby – homemade craft set sail in the freezing waters over a weekend where Derby came to life for a moment only to go back into hibernation for the remaining 360 days of the year.

We stopped here for firewood and to call the Tasmanian Fire Department to get permission to light a fire on the block.  The town of Derby was buzzing with bikes and people.  A block in Derby that could be bought for next to nothing a decade or more ago now sells for six figures.

Gladstone, the last petrol station/shop/hotel before Ansons, was advertising a music festival that looked like it was heavy metal inclined for the coming Saturday night.  A mutual agreement to bypass this particular musical offering was made without any discussion required.

 The drive from Gladstone to Ansons Bay is via a gravel road and passes through some lush farming country where fresh-cut hay assaults the senses.  The occasional copse of bush punctuates the trip.  We had our eyes peeled for wombats and echidnas and were sad to observe roadkill that included wombats and Tasmanian Devils. 

After around 30 minutes, we crested the hill and entered Ansons Bay.  The view of the inlet and ocean beyond always takes my breath away.  The inlet on this day was dark blue, and the ocean aqua – remote paradise indeed!

My block is a bush block sitting on the hill overlooking the bay, a mere 100 metres from the bay.  Once the gate had been wrestled with, and we had given the caravan and shed annex a quick once over with the broom, we unpacked food, clothing, knitting, notebooks, novels, cameras, and games.

The beds could wait; it was time to go and check out the bay, where the local fishermen, pelicans, and dogs greeted us like long-lost friends. The water felt warm and was relatively clear, and the locals were curious.

“Where you from?”It seems everyone has a link to Western Australia, knows someone, or has lived there at some stage.

Our stroll took us past shacks and caravans of varying sizes – little, it seemed, had changed since my visit eight months earlier. Ansons Bay is like the holiday destination that time forgot.  Electricity is available, but some properties, including mine, are not hooked to the grid.  There is no petrol station, no shop and very little mobile coverage.  The telephone tower was placed tantalisingly close but not close enough.

The locals have signposted an area just before you head down the hill into the town named “connection cove,” where you can pull in to answer emails and messages and update your socials.  So close yet so far, and dare I say it – One Job!

We were feeling a bit warm, so we decided a swim was in order, and the nearby Policeman’s point was beckoning.  The road out to Policeman’s Point is gravel and takes you to the inlet, where the brackish waters of the bay meet the pounding waves of the Tasman Sea.  The tide was on its way out when we arrived at the popular camping site, exposing the vast sand flats, a popular fishing spot for campers and locals alike.

We immersed ourselves in the clear blue water, dodging blue bottles and rushing seaweed.  The water was deliciously cooling without being too cold. It massaged our skin and washed away a week of business and travel.  All that fresh air and salt water excited our senses, and suddenly all we could think of was nibbles and drinks.  So we started back for camp only to discover Elaine had lost her phone.  A trip back to the beach and the phone was right where she had dropped it!

The sun was still beating down at 5:00 pm, so we found some shade and set ourselves up with beers in hand and a tray full of delicious morsels. Never had anything tasted so good.

Even though it is nowhere near cool enough for a fire, we thought we should light one as we had permission to do so.  The fire crackled at a distance, and our senses were loaded with everything that is good and fine in a remote paradise.

A day to remember and one of many to come.

What’s the skinny?

  • Ansons Bay is situated on the “remote beaches” region of Tasmania in the North East.
  • If travelling from Launceston allow a good two hours and a couple of stops – 165 km.
  • One of those stops has to be the Scottsdale Bakery for curly pasties and scones. Supermarket shopping can also be done here.
  • Derby (Mountain bike capital of Tassie) is worth a stop to soak up the mountain biking vibe. The Blue Derby Mountain Bike Trail is world class.
  • Gladstone is the last petrol/booze stop before Ansons Bay where this are no shops and the Gladstone Hotel does a super counter meal.
  • Camping is only available in the designated camping area of Policeman’s Point (15 minutes drive from Ansons Bay) or further towards St Helens.
  • Check with the Fire Department before lighting fires.
  • Mt William National Park is accessible from Ansons Bay.
  • When driving at night slow down so as not to run over any wildlife.
  • Mobile coverage is sketchy – download any maps you might need.
  • You can use the telephone box situated next to the fire station to make free calls within Australia.