✍️ 5 Perks of the Freelance Writing Life Nobody Talks About (But Should)
The underrated perks of the freelance writing life (including long lunches and cheap flights!)
Being your own boss isn’t just about skipping the commute or picking your clients — it’s about sneaky perks no one tells you about.
Like midday Pilates, uncrowded museums, and buying Thursday flights just because they’re cheaper. This week’s Sunday Tea breaks down the five lesser-known joys of freelance writing life that make me never want to go back to a 9-to-5.
✨ Quick Asks
📍Where are you located? I’m thinking of hosting freelance writer meetups in cities like San Francisco and beyond. Would you come to a writer hangout? Tap the poll below to let me know!
📚Want to be a beta reader? I’m looking for early readers for the upcoming second edition of Six-Figure Writer. If you’re interested, sign up here.
In today’s newsletter, you’ll read about:
✨ The underrated perks of the freelance writing life (including long lunches and cheap flights!)
✍️ High-paying writing jobs you may have missed last week
📚 Writing wins from the community here at From the Desk!
✍️ Missed This Past Week’s Writing Jobs?
Did you miss it? Here are the writing jobs on the most recent job board:
A bestselling fiction imprint is hiring a freelance outline writer to craft 20,000-word psychological thriller outlines with strong suspense and unreliable narrators.
A visual discovery platform where you pin your interests is hiring a contract brand writer for campaign, script, and experiential work across multiple platforms.
Four separate authors are seeking freelance editors for romance, paranormal, and romantasy novels — with a mix of developmental and line editing needs.
If you missed the last issue of my writing job board, check it out at the link below:
Also, these featured jobs are still open:
🙌 Writing Community Wins!
Here’s what some of your fellow writers in the community have been up to lately:
- just shipped his most recent screenplay. Keep up the awesome momentum, Patrick!
- just had her most recent Business Insider piece go live, which you can read here. Congrats, Katrina!
❓ Want to see your community wins featured in an upcoming newsletter? Every week in my subscriber chat I ask for what amazing feats you’ve achieved that week, and I pick a handful to highlight.
Access the subscriber chat below:
🫖 Sunday Tea: 5 Perks of the Freelance Writing Life Nobody Talks About (But Should)
Freelancing can sometimes get a bad rap. People love to focus on the chaos: the late invoices, the feast-or-famine panic spirals, the existential dread of quarterly taxes. But what no one talks about are the underrated perks that come from working for yourself. And frankly? Some of these are low-key life-changing.
Here are five of my favorite freelance writer perks that no one tells you about — but that just might make you never want to go back to a 9-to-5.
1. Midday Pilates & Empty Gyms
I used to rush to 6 a.m. workouts like I was training for an Olympic event in exhaustion. Now? I’m living the dream: 10:30 a.m. Pilates classes with zero crowds, plenty of sunlight, and enough time to digest breakfast before I hit the reformer. I don’t miss the days of working out on an empty stomach, or racing through my morning routine just to collapse into a desk chair by 9. Freelancing lets me build movement into my day without scheduling gymnastics.
2. Sunshine as a Work Benefit
One of the wildest upgrades from office life? Natural light. Back when I worked in offices, I’d get maybe 20 minutes of sun a day—if I remembered to take my lunch outside. These days, I bask in sunlight streaming in from the bay windows in my home office (when the fog isn’t rolling in!), and I take midafternoon walks through nearby parks or along the waterfront. It’s not just a vibe shift — it’s a health upgrade. Goodbye, fluorescent-light-induced skin cancer. Hello, vitamin D.
3. Midweek Travel Hacks
Did you know Thursday flights are usually cheaper than weekend ones? In fact, most weekday flights are waaaay cheaper than weekend ones. I can hop on a plane on a Wednesday morning, snag a discount fare, and still get work done thanks to in-flight Wi-Fi and quiet airport lounges. When you’re not tied to office hours (or Zoom-heavy team calendars), travel becomes both cheaper and more peaceful. No PTO requests. No scrambling. Just a beautifully optimized Google Flights search.
4. Long Lunches & Weekday Museums
Want to go on a 3-hour brunch and plant shopping adventure on a Monday? Me too. I regularly catch early dinners with friends, swing by local museums, or go to an event happening in the middle of the day. Freelancing gives me back time — and that time becomes connection, joy, and space to explore life beyond productivity apps.
5. No Office Politics. Ever.
To be fair, I’ve worked with some incredible bosses in past lives — shoutout to the rare mentors who have had my back.
But let’s be honest: those of you who are doing the corporate life know that your week can be a minefield of awkward Zooms, endless “quick syncs,” and that creeping Sunday dread about walking into a passive-aggressive team meeting.
As a freelancer, you take the power back. No more navigating cryptic feedback from someone three rungs up the ladder who’s never read your work. If a client’s a nightmare? You finish the project, set a boundary, and choose not to work with them again. You’re not trapped in office politics or a toxic team culture. You curate your collaborators. You choose your own adventure.
✨ In Conclusion: The Soft Life Isn’t Soft, It’s Smart
Freelancing isn’t just about freedom — it’s about reimagining what a workday can look like. It’s choosing midmorning workouts over morning traffic. Sunlight over sad desk lunches. Tuesday flights over Saturday markups. And yes, long lunches, last-minute museum dates, and afternoon hiking because you can.
It’s also about designing a life where your creativity isn’t rationed out in between meetings, and where your career supports your health, your relationships, and your sanity — not the other way around.
So if you’re still stuck in a job that drains you, or freelancing but not yet reaping these rewards — know that it’s possible. And honestly? I think you deserve it.
(Also: shoutout to all of you snagging dreamy jobs from the Writing Job Board lately. Seeing your wins in the Subscriber Chat and getting emails from those of you who have landed cool writing work? My favorite part of the week.)
Here’s to the perks that don’t fit neatly on a resume — and the freedom to enjoy them.
💫 Amy’s Favorites: Tarot Cards
If you’re a writer, creative, or just someone looking for a little spark of introspection, tarot cards are such a fun and surprisingly powerful tool. I love using them as part of my journaling practice — especially one-card draws when I need a quick check-in or creative prompt. The imagery alone in the classic Rider-Waite deck is inspiring, and there’s a whole world of symbolism and story built into each card.
You can grab a pocket-sized version online (perfect for travel!) and start exploring at your own pace. Whether you’re plotting your next novel or just trying to make sense of your week, tarot might just be your new favorite creative ritual.
Enjoyed today’s post? Please give it a “heart” ❤️ and share or restack it.
Sending creativity and good writing vibes your way,
-Amy
The flexibility to schedule a doctor/dentist/therapist appointment at liberty, without having to fit it in around when you have to be in an office, is also a massive perk.
Yes to all of this! Also a lot easier for hair/beauty appointments... I also love the tarot for inspiration - I have 2 decks on my desk. Would love an SF meet up!