Editor’s Life Choices

I recently attended a professional development session run by Editors Victoria. President Jackey Coyle led the session entitled Dance Steps for the Self-Employed. There is always something  new to be learned in these workshops and the networking with other editors is invaluable. This is great because freelancers work alone. Not for them the conviviality of the office with chats over the coffee machine or water cooler.

The arguments for and against being self-employed are many. When I left the public service where I was in Communications (or Public Affairs by another name) for 12 years, I told myself I would save money on clothes, transport and lunches. But then winter came and I was paying higher gas bills for heating; and in summer, higher electricity bills for cooling. So the cost argument didn’t really work out!

What I like most about working for myself is the freedom to choose when I do the work. After years of getting up on the alarm in order to arrive at the office by a certain time, I can now wake up naturally, get ready for the day at a relaxed pace and start work in a good frame of mind. And if I need to keep going well into the evening, that is my choice. Yes – choice is the key to enjoying life, and to a large extent I have that now.

So, editing and writing from my home office has turned out to be an ideal way of life. Checkword is alive and well in Melbourne! Or wherever I happen to be in the world!