Making Room for New Work in the New Year

From the Life as a Freelance Writer department:

January was a pretty slow month for me in the-getting-paid-for-writing sense. I'm happy to report I used the down time wisely. Among other things, I worked on my marketing, including social media; composed query letters; made new contacts; and cleaned out my office including tons of paper. I'm actually thinking about transferring one of my file cabinets to my garage. That's how thorough I was, and that's how "paperless" I've become.

I'm happy to report that the new year lull ended with a surprise ghostwriting job dropped in my lap. Of course, that job begat other jobs and soon I was sweating some deadlines. What a great problem that is to have! I hope it lasts all year and into 2015.

Though I can't prove it or explain it, I don't think that dry-spell-ending job would have found me if I had not used my down time wisely. Maybe I didn't will it to me, but I certainly was ready when it arrived.

Below is the filing cabinet whose next destination is the garage. During a dip in business last month I used the time to purge my office. I'm a firm believer in getting rid of the old to make room for the new. On a less abstract level, I really think my filing cabinets are beautiful. I love the blond wood and compact size. My friend Susan gave them to me.