Visions of Freelancing

Everyone says goals should be... not dumb, or something to that effect. I forget the exact SMART acronym, but I believe the basic idea is that they should be measurable and definable, and that you should be able to map out a clear path as to how to realize them. That works fine for most short-term goals, or for those of us who know exactly what we want and how to get there. It doesn't work out so well for those of us (read: me) who have no idea of the particulars of what they want to do, but have a vague idea of it somewhere in their heads.

The NY Times published an article today on freelancers renting out desk space so that they can bounce ideas off other people, and have some semblance of structure to their workday. They're not tied to their desks, but they're not stuck at home either. That's my goal. My eventual half-dream goal, where I can work on my own time and my own terms, without having to worry if my (hypothetical) children have a doctor's appointment in the middle of the afternoon, or if I stayed up late chatting with friends and don't want to suffer through a 7:00am alarm the next day.

The problem is that unless you're well-established, or in a profession like programming that lends itself to telecommuting, the financial outlook seems rather grim for freelancers.

I do translations every once in a while. I've never sold a piece, but I've thought about it. Four months ago I submitted a translated short story to a journal. They got back to me yesterday, asking for more information on the author, and a blurb on the political significance of the story. As I was going through my notes and putting together the required info, all I could think was, how do people do it? I mean, sure, if I were doing this full-time, I would be sending stuff out every week, to any publisher I thought would be interested, instead of just picking one or two of the most likely candidates and focusing on them. But still. Four months? The serenity I would get from setting my own schedule would be more than eaten up by the fact that I would be tearing my hair out wondering if/when I was going to hear back from people. I guess I won't be renting out desk space anytime soon.

Anybody out there a freelancer? Or a part-time freelancer? Do you have any hair left? If so, how did you manage it, or how do you plan to? Inquiring minds want to know:)