On Freelancing 3: Writing about yourself and your work
As primarily visual people, writing can be - to put it bluntly - a pain in the arse.
As primarily visual people, writing can be - to put it bluntly - a pain in the arse.
Whether it’s entering awards, competitions, applying for funding, pitching, speaking to clients, social media posts and just telling the world about you and what you do; writing is part and parcel of life as a creative, freelance or otherwise, which many of us see as an unfortunate necessity. I don’t know about you but personally, it’s writing about myself and my own work - the two topics I literally know best - that often has me pulling my hair out and scratching at my eyeballs.
While you’ll still sometimes find me resorting to violence whenever I’m stuck with words, over time I’ve picked up some know-how that has helped me whether it’s where and how to begin, ways to write better, or finding ways to foster that ever-elusive flow state when words spill from your fingertips with ease.
I share these with you now in the hopes of making your lives a bit easier:
Keep it simple
This one’s probably obvious, but start simple. REALLY simple.
Forget trying to sound fancy right off the bat, forget big words and any sort of “flowery” language, and leave all of this to the end. Getting started is often the hardest part, so avoid adding extra hurdles.
Write whatever it is that comes to mind without censoring yourself whatsoever, don’t worry about errors, mistakes, bad grammar, unordered thoughts, total gobbledygook, whatever. Let it all out and get it all down on paper (or the screen). Once you have a rough outline, then you can start editing, rewriting, and adapting the language to suit.
Write genuinely
Sometimes, especially as artists and creatives, we feel like we should be using certain words, that we should sound a certain way. Wanky art speak is so notorious now that it’s become a full-on meme.
If you don’t feel comfortable or genuine writing a certain way, this could be what’s holding you back. Throw expectation and pressure out of the window and allow your words to form naturally in whatever shape they want to take, even if you go on to change it later.
Practice freewriting
This is something I learnt literally in the last month while on a creative writing course, and I wish I’d learnt it much earlier! Freewriting is a writing strategy similar to the brainstorming process but in sentence and paragraph form.
You can start with a prompt initially, and a set amount of time - five minutes is a good place to start. Most importantly, you do not stop writing or moving your pen for any reason during that time. It can be very stream of conscious.
The benefits can be a multitude, from improving your writing to realising new ideas and working through blocks. Take a look at the endnotes for some links.
An exercise in finding words
I’ve found this particular brainstorming exercise especially useful when it comes to writing about my photography work, and even trying to pin down what they’re about in the first place.
Whatever it is you need to write about, think of all the words you can to describe it, and only single words. Write down all the words you can possibly think of and don’t leave out any, even the ones you think are silly, boring or only vaguely relevant. Once you have a big list, start cutting it down. This all depends on how much you need to write, but you could go as far as cutting it down to two words if you need to.
Two shoutouts here: one for fellow photographer Mark Phillips who shared the exercise with me, and PhotoForum which got us all together in the first place for pub portfolio reviews (cry!).
An exercise in finding words from others
This is a similar exercise to the above. If you’re struggling - though I would recommend this wholeheartedly even if you’re not - invite others to share their words. It could be a friend, a peer, someone you admire or even a total stranger.
Again, focus on single, individual words. Ask them to look at your series, photographs, film, whatever it is, and share with you 10-15 words that come to their minds when they look.
You can use this to see if the message or story you’re trying to get across comes through, or you can use it to help you get started. You might even figure out what you don’t want. With anything like this, I always recommend asking a mix of different people, including non-creatives who can sometimes have interesting insights.
Shoutout to Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz (an amazing photographer and founder of Photo Scratch) who shared this technique in one of her workshops.
Collect words
Even if you don’t consider yourself a writer in any sense whatsoever, you probably come across words, sentences, poems, songs, quotes that you enjoy and admire.
If you aren’t already, collect these somewhere - a Google document, a note-taking app, or good old pen and paper. Whatever it is, start building up a library of words you like in relation to your creative practice. Then when you find you need to write something, you already have a bank you can pull from.
The ‘Pomodoro’ technique
The Pomodoro technique has become quite trendy over the last year of lockdown so you’ve likely heard of it already. If not, it’s a time-management technique based on the idea that our attention spans are really not as long as we’d like them to be.
It follows this structure: 25 minutes working, 5 minutes break. Repeat x4, after which you take a long break. Repeat for as long as you need to.
Though it may not work for everybody, it’s worth a try. I often use the technique when I’m struggling to focus, am low on energy or simply not motivated to work when I need to, and I find that the routine and regular breaks work really well with my attention span and makes it easier to get into a “flow state”.
What I’ve really become obsessed with are study-session-style Pomodoro videos that you can have playing in the background, which are created with timers, subtle music or ambient sounds and beautiful artwork. My favourite is this channel which produces film-inspired videos (of course Harry Potter is on there. What kind of millennial do you think I am?).
Invest in yourself
Whether you’re really struggling or want to take things to the next level, it’s always a good idea to invest in yourself and that often means consulting an expert.
I’m not necessarily talking about business-focused course or the like. Any kind of writing - fiction, poetry, song-writing, screen-writing, food, travel, science - can feed back into your practice, and if you find something you enjoy it will make it that much easier.
As ever, there are a variety of paid courses out there but there are also numerous free resources online. Take a look at the endnotes for some links.
Bonus exercise:
Do you have a piece of work you need some help with? Let’s do a word swap.
You can reply directly to this email and send me some photographs, a project, series, film or anything at all, and I’ll email back with words that come to mind.
Endnotes
Mark A Phillips
PhotoForum
Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz
Photo Scratch
Rewrite London: Creative writing courses for black women and women of colour.
Freewriting on WikiHow (I don’t normally use WikiHow but the illustrations give me life).
r/FreelanceWriters
Open University (Free course)
FutureLearn (Free course)
Stay tuned for the fourth chapter of the On Freelancing mini-series dropping next week.
A little about me
I’m a photographer and writer based in south London who enjoys telling stories about adventure, the outdoors, and our relationship with the natural world.
Donate a strong cup of tea
If you like what you read and would like to share the love, you can donate the equivalent of a much-needed cup of tea:
You can also support me for free by sharing this newsletter with others and sharing your thoughts!
Leave a comment here, or you can also find me on Twitter.