A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to conduct a telephone interview with veteran freelance writer, Don Vaughan. Besides having 35 years’ experience as a professional writer, Don is also the founder of Triangle Area Freelancers (TAF), a North Carolina-based networking organization comprised of professional nonfiction writers. I met Don through my membership with TAF (an awesome group, by the way) and greatly respect and value his professional advice and support.
You can learn more about Don and see his impressive bibliography on his website or follow him on Twitter. In the meantime, see what he has to say about how he has found success and fulfillment in his career as a full-time freelance writer.
1) How did you get started as a freelance writer? How long have you been at it?
I majored in journalism in college and worked on my local newspaper back in Florida while I was still in college. It was a very educational experience. I ended up working for the newspaper for six years. This was in the late 70s, early 80s. I started as a columnist and worked my way up to associate editor. However, I realized community journalism was relatively low-paying, so I had an opportunity to take a job as a staff writer with a national medical magazine called Your Health. It was owned by Globe Communications in Boca Raton, which also owned a number of tabloid magazines.
I worked for Your Health for about six years and really enjoyed it a lot, but found myself writing the same kinds of articles over and over again. So then I had an opportunity to take a position with the National Examiner, which was a tabloid newspaper. I worked there as a staff writer and senior editor for four or five years. I enjoyed that immensely. It was great fun, but then there was an editorial change and a new editor came in who had previously worked for the National Enquirer. He was one of those management-by-terrorism types who thought he would get more out of his employees by screaming at them and treating them poorly. I don’t work well under those kinds of circumstances and my health started to suffer. I had insomnia. I was developing an ulcer. I dreaded going to work. It was just a horrible situation.
My wife, Nan, said, “Maybe now’s the time for you to start freelancing.” She knew it was something I had been thinking about. She was working, the bills would get paid. I put in my notice, but spent another six months at the newspaper getting my ducks in a row so that I had some freelance assignments in the pipeline when I finally left. I continued to freelance for the Examiner and Your Health and for other tabloids in the organization, which was very helpful.
That was in September 1991 and I’ve been a full-time freelancer ever since. In fact, it’s all I’ve done in those 21 years aside from working just a few months at Borders, following 9/11. I took a little bit of a hit as far as market after that and it took a few months for things to build back up again.
2) Describe/outline your typical day. How many hours do you work a day on average?
I’m actually working harder now than I was when I worked in an office, as far as the number of hours. I’ve come to realize this is essentially a 24/7 occupation.
I get up at 8:00 a.m., feed the cat and grab some breakfast. I spend a few minutes checking my morning email, work on either research or writing until noon, take an hour for lunch, and then I work until around 5:00 or 5:30. I take a break for dinner and typically I’ll work at least another hour after that, usually until 7:00 or 8:00, sometimes longer if I’m on a deadline for something and I have to get it out of the way. I try to keep it Monday through Friday, but it’s not uncommon for me to work on Saturdays and Sundays, as the job dictates.
Sometimes I will divide my day by doing research in the morning and actual writing in the afternoon and evening. It really depends on my priorities on any given day. It’s not a particularly exciting job.
I do most of my work via telephone. Only occasionally do I go out and do some research or an interview in person, but I do like those opportunities. The nature of what I’ve been writing lately hasn’t really facilitated that.
3) Do you find it challenging in any way to be your own boss or to work from home?
It has its challenges, but I’ll tell you right off the bat that freelancing is my dream job. I love it. It would take a tremendous amount of money to get me back into an office environment. The one thing I miss more than anything, I think, is the socialization that comes with working in an office, just being with other people.
I do work comfortably by myself. I love working at home. My commute is 15 steps. I can dress in T-shirts and shorts. I’m my own boss. I write for whomever I want to.
4) What is your favorite aspect of being a freelance writer?
The one thing about freelancing that I like more than anything is the variety it offers. As a general freelancer I write for an eclectic array of publications. So I might be writing a medical article one week and then a historical article another and then after that I might be doing something about popular culture. It’s a constant change and everything is new. I’m not writing the same things over and over again.
I also really love interviewing. I hate the transcription part, but I really love talking to people.
5) You mentioned earlier that you try to limit your working hours to Monday through Friday, but that you are working a lot more hours than you were in an office environment. Has being a freelance writer impacted your family life in any way?
My wife, Nan, is very understanding. She knows I’m very motivated in my job and I’m constantly trying to get more work. I’d say if I divided my time up on a daily or weekly basis, it’s about 60% getting work and 40% doing work. There’s a lot of trying to get work and sending out proposals.
Also, by working more I mean when I’m not physically working, I’m thinking about things. After a while you develop what I call “the writer’s eye,” where everything that comes into your life you very quickly wonder, “Is this something I can write about?” When Nan and I go on vacation other people are having fun and I’m looking at stuff thinking, “That would make a great article.” So that’s the kind of place where I am right now and as a writer it’s a good thing. I’m never at a loss for ideas to pitch. There’s always something on my desk for me to do.
6) Would you say that’s where you generate most of your ideas, just from your day-to-day interactions with other people?
The thing I tell my students is that the ideas are there. Most people don’t recognize them. Ideas come before us with the people we meet, the things we do, the places we go.
I’ll tell you I get a tremendous number of article ideas from the daily newspaper. I’ll see a national story that I might be able to turn into something local, but more typically there will be something going on locally that I’ll realize is newsworthy for a national audience.
I do a lot of work for Military Officer Magazine and many of the ideas I pitch to them I get from the News and Observer. I take the idea, expand upon it, find my own sources, conduct my own interviews, and do my own research. The idea was triggered, but the article is mine.
7) How do you stay current with changes in the field of freelance writing and publishing?
That’s one area where I’m lacking a little bit. Only recently have I started to ramp up my social media presence. I have a Facebook page, but it’s mostly personal. I don’t really do much with it.
I do have a website, which I keep current, but that’s mostly for when I approach new editors and want them to see samples of my work. I have gotten a tremendous amount of work because of my website. People will Google freelance writer + Raleigh and my name is one of the first to come up, so the website has been very beneficial work-wise.
Very recently, I expanded my LinkedIn page. I haven’t seen much benefit from that, but there might be something down the road. I also recently joined Twitter, for whatever that’s worth. I’m not tweeting every day and there are a few people that I’m following. Mostly I’m just keeping my nose to the grindstone and trying to stay aware of new markets and new trends in freelance writing.
(See the rest of Don’s interview on the next page.)
