Group Therapy
Sometimes when I get together with other people in my field, it feels like a group therapy session. One person might bring up something they’re going through and we’ll all talk about our experiences with it, give advice or just commiserate. And I always feel better after these little sessions because I’m inspired to do more and try more. I really liked the idea of starting some “group therapy” in connection with Diary of a Mad Freelancer because the name dovetailed so nicely . . . and we all know that if you got a great name for something, you HAVE to do it.
So here’s the plan. . .
Monthly-ish, we’ll have one Twitter chat and one Google Plus hangout with any freelancer who wants to spend a little quality time talking about freelance life. You can do either or both. In all honesty, it’s possible that it will only be me and some guy from Lithuania who is just bored. But that’s ok. I think it still might be worth it. I’m sure that guy has some interesting thoughts on the sweater I put on every time I go into my office to work.
How can you participate?
I’m glad you asked. (Because it shows you’re picking up what I’m putting down here.) The Twitter chat just requires you show up at the assigned date and time and start interacting with tweets using the #DMF hashtag. Follow me on Twitter if you want more updates about when it’s all going down.
The Google Plus hangouts are a little more intimate because they occur outside of your public stream. Just show up on Google Plus at the allotted time, go to the Diary of a Mad Freelance page, and click “Join” when you see the invite. (If you’d like, you can turn off video in the hangout and just participate in audio–but that’s no fun!) Circle Diary of a Mad Freelancer on Google+ because it will make it easier to follow the updates.
January’s Schedule and Topics
The Twitter Group Therapy Chat will happen on Friday, January 20th at 2pm. We’ll have two topics we’re talking about will be as follows:
Question 1: How important is font to you when you’re writing? Not the font you turn the final draft in, but the font you work in when you have your picks and chooses?
Question 2: What’s your favorite font and why?
Question 3: What font would you love to round up and beat with a stick until it didn’t exist anymore.
Google Plus
The Google Plus hangout will be Friday January 27th at 2pm. The topics we’ll be talking about will be as follows:
Question 1: What’s your brainstorming process for a new project or piece?
Question 2: Who is your go-to idea bouncer offer? (Or in English, who do you most trust to bounce ideas off?)
March’s Schedule and Topics
The Twitter Group Therapy Chat will happen on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at 2pm EST. We’ll have three topics we’re talking about on the #DMF hashtag will be as follows:
Q1: How do you juggle personal emergencies and work? We’d love to hear tips if you have them.
Q2: Do you have a unicorn (favorite client) like Melissa Breau does? Tell us a little about them. (You don’t have to use names if you don’t want to. Or you can, if you do.)
Q3: What do you think of specialization? Do you specialize and if so, in what? What effect has it had on your business? What advice would you give others?
Google+
We’re not having one this month but I’m hoping to do so next month.
Mays’s Schedule and Topics
The Twitter Group Therapy Chat will happen on Wednesday, May 19, 2012 at 2pm EST. We’ll have three topics we’re talking about on the #DMF hashtag will be as follows:
Q1: When is your freelancaversary and how do you celebrate it?
Q2: When did you realize you would write for a living or that you seriously wanted to make a living writing?
Q3: How do you know that you’re a good writer? Not how would someone know they’re a good writer, but how you specifically know you’re a good writer.
Google+
We’re not having one this month again.
