This is the third challenge in your struggle as a freelance writer or an aspiring freelance writer. Of course you want to pursue your goals and keep your dignity.

Fear of your family and friends

You’ve proudly told them that you’re a Writer (with a capital W). Yet you haven’t earned more than $1,000 from 12 months of freelancing. You’ve dreaded so-and-so’s snickers and fake whispers, and your ever-shrinking bank account.

They said you weren’t a real writer and the abysmal amount of money you’ve earned proved them right. You’re still haven’t snagged that fat check to prove them wrong.

It’s hard to acknowledge that you haven’t achieved your financial goals yet. There’s a good chance that you initially set the bar too high.

So what?

That’s how you learn what works and what doesn’t. Here’s a couple of different ways to handle this scenario.

• Keep your plans to yourself. Only share them with people that you know will actively support you. If you have to think, would they support me, then most likely they won’t. 
• Ignore them. Unless they’re also writers they can’t possibly understand the risks and rewards.
• Listen to them. That’s right, listen to them, if they’re voicing legitimate concerns. Put your ego aside and see if there’s any truth to their concerns. Then use it to buffer any potential mistakes. Let’s say you have no savings and want to quit your day job to freelance, and your friends tell you that’s a bad idea.

Unless you’ve got a girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse/mother that will pay your bills, it’s a bad idea. You will be sorry.

So start saving money and give yourself as much of a financial cushion as possible if you want to be a full-time freelance writer.

But why not keep your day job while you freelance on the side? There’s no rule that says you must do this full time. Freelancing part-time is just as respectable and a lot less stressful. 

Here’s the second challenge that you’ll need to confront as a freelance writer. This is something that any writer worth her salt will struggle with.

Fear of your writing

You’re not confident as a writer. You’re your harshest critic.

• You’re terrified that if you dared ask for more than $50 for a 1,000 word article, you’ll receive a scorching email from the client that they’ve found a better writer for a much lower rate.
• You want to answer this charge, yet you’re worried that your reply email to the client will bounce back.

Remember, you gain confidence in your writing by writing consistently, not by thinking about writing without doing it.

Do a comparison

Go ahead. Compare yourself to more established writers and by that, I mean compare your writing to theirs.

Take their writing apart to see how they wrote the article, the story, the blog post. Then practice rewriting it and see if you can do it better.

If you have a website (and you’d better have one, if you’re serious), publish the piece and (if you dare) open the comments. You’ll definitely get pointers from some readers.

Fear of the client

If you’re new to freelance writing (or freelance anything), it takes time to adjust to frequent money negotiations.

If you’re like most people:

• You work a regular 40-hour per week job.
• The only time you have any type of financial discussion on the value of your work is when you’re hired or you’re getting a raise. 

So you don’t have to face this sometimes stomach-churning process often.

Then what do you do?

Just dive in

When it comes to freelance writing, money is discussed with every client. That’s where the fear sets in and there’s no avoiding it. After you discuss the assignment, you’ll either discuss your rate for the project. If you want to take the less painful path, you’ll email the client your bid.

• In your mind’s eye, you imagine the client bursting into laughter and calling over other people to show them your lofty bid.
• Or worse, if it’s an in-person meeting the client greets your request with stony silence. So you quickly drop your rates.

The fact is, after years of working as an employee, you immediately cast the person holding the checkbook as your boss. But as a freelancer, you don’t have a boss (unless you’re married, of course) and you’re not getting a salary.

Embrace reality

This is your potential client. The best thing you can do is view the negotiation as an equal give-and-take business transaction. You’re exchanging value for value, not asking your boss for a favor.

Rest assured you that your client isn’t confused and views it as a business transaction.

When I first started freelance writing, I followed the rules that assured success.

• Set up my website
• Gathered contracts
• Crafted pitches
• Focused on marketing my skills

Of course, I read up on the money side of the business too, like creating invoices, setting aside money for taxes and negotiating my rates.

All of these tasks are critical to freelance writing success, and I was prepared. Except, I wasn’t.

Because no one told me about the fears I’d have and I’ll bet you have them too. The first glaring fear is about money.

It’s not just about the money

The first thing I had to confront was that my fears wasn’t solely about money.

It was about being uncomfortable.

You have all these horrible thoughts about the challenges of freelancing or you’re frantic at the belief that some strangers hold your freelance writing success in the palm of their hands.

Skid row thinking

You imagine that you’ll end up living paycheck-to-paycheck as a freelance writer.

What if you fall into debt?

What if you have some big emergency?

What if you end up homeless or forced to move in with relatives?

These are the kind of thoughts that will keep you running on a treadmill of fear.