A recent comment from a reader made me realize that as the LIVINg SMALL community has grown, not everyone who reads this newsletter knows me like the first 500 subscribers. So, I’m sharing a little peek behind the curtain of my life as a writer.
I spent nearly two decades on staff at various national magazines, but it’s funny, I didn’t feel like a real “writer”—I was the lifestyle editor at Parents magazine or the home editor at Good Housekeeping—not a writer with a capital W.
However, four years into freelancing full-time and two books under my belt, I have zero hesitation when someone asks what I do. “I’m a writer,” I say with no hand wringing or extra explanation. Maybe that’s because last year alone, I wrote 114(!) editorial stories. (I also consulted on a book project, supported a furniture maker with content, and wrote marketing copy for a couple home brands and designers.) And every week, I penned this newsletter, which added up to 65,969 words in 2023. I write a lot!
Being a writer, and specifically a lifestyle journalist in the home and garden space, has also taught me a lot about how to live small and how to have a small and sustainable business. So, I thought it would be worthwhile to share the lessons I have learned in my writing career that I’ve applied to my own life. I hope that these will prove useful to you, too.
Lesson One: Less is (almost) always more
As soon as I started working at a magazine, I realized that I needed to master an economy of words because the space on each page was finite (unlike in college where I often padded my essays to make them longer, which I thought meant better). Learning to ruthlessly trim the excess from my stories has taught me that less really is more. It’s also true for business: It is preferable to have one big, juicy assignment than three small ones. Less is more for our homes, wardrobes, and more. It’s better to have one great set of dishes or one fabulous dress than three that aren’t quite right.
Lesson Two: Tune out the noise
Once I started working as a journalist, I learned about publicists: People who are paid to promote brands to the press, in the interest of getting those brands written about. I also discovered how much brands spend on advertising, and as time has gone on, how the lines between journalism and marketing have often gotten whisper thin. Being a journalist has made me keenly aware of how much money and effort is behind getting us to buy things. I believe my own ability to live with less comes directly from the fact that I’ve seen the inner workings of how we’re encouraged to consume.
Lesson Three: Consistency counts
One of the reasons I have been successful as a freelance writer is because I am consistent. I wish I could tell you it’s my superior prose, but most of my success lies in the fact that I study my assignment letters and turn my stories in on time–something that is surprisingly rare. Consistency counts in everyday life too: If I reset my home to baseline every night, it never gets too messy. If I spend part of each week doing outreach to clients and pitching editors, I have a steady stream of work. Gretchen Rubin explored this idea in her book The Happiness Project, in which she wrote: What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.
Lesson Four: Money isn’t everything
If you crunch the numbers I make less money as a freelancer than I did as a staffer, especially when you consider the benefits a job offers. (Health insurance alone costs my two-freelancer family $28,000 a year!) But in work and in life: Money isn’t everything. I’m unquestionably happier now as a self-employed writer. And I am haunted by how little time I spent with my son when he was young because I was commuting more than an hour each way and punching a clock at a 9-5. Likewise, I look back in disbelief on the times I sacrificed family for work, like one time when my son was really sick but I felt like I couldn’t call out of work again because he’d had a ton of sick days already. Likewise, a big paycheck won’t make a terrible assignment any easier or a difficult client more palatable.
Lesson Five: You are your own best publicist
When I got a book deal my advance was quite modest, so I didn’t have any money to spend on public relations or marketing. But as a journalist, I knew what I needed to do, so I did it myself. It was the first time I’d ever gone out into the world to promote my creative output, and I am so grateful I had the experience. I realized that I was actually better equipped to promote my work because I knew it so well. Tooting your own horn is uncomfortable for most people, but it’s essential. I never would have had the confidence to start a newsletter or branch out into garden writing if I hadn’t learned how to pitch myself, and now those are some of the most rewarding parts of my writing career.
What's a universal truth you've learned from your job or role as a homemaker or a parent? Please share in the comments.
📌 NEW: GET PUBLISHED WORKSHOP
The media and publishing world can feel impenetrable, and I often get asked how a small business can get press without paying for high-priced PR support. After fielding tons of questions about how to work with the press (and how I landed a book deal), I decided to put together a workshop on how to get published with my dear friend, entrepreneur and author
. We’ve designed an actionable, no-fluff 90-minute workshop ($149) to demystify how publishing works.If you’re a small business owner, an artist, maker, coach, or even a fellow author, we’ll teach you the public relations skills you need to connect with editors, pitch like a pro, and get your work featured in high-profile publications. I hope you’ll consider joining us! Click here to attend the class next Thursday, June 27 (or get the replay).
3 More Things
The best small space I saw last week
The New York Times strikes again with a colorful, transforming studio apartment (gift link) by Sara L’Espérance and Michael Putman, the partners behind the firm Suprblk. I love how affordable this project was–and that they shot it all as gifs. (I’ve also previously admired Suprblk’s work in Maine Home + Design, where I am a contributing editor.)
Tick season advice
Reporting on how to protect yourself from ticks for Gardenista was an eye-opening experience. If you’re planning to get out in the garden or onto the trails, I learned there’s a lot you can do to protect yourself from tick-borne illness. (Warning: You will not look cool.)
Park and recreation
I wrote about how to throw a birthday party in a New York City park for New York magazine. While a lot of the advice is NYC-specific, there’s still a lot in there for any parent hoping to pull off a park party this summer. And friends: A park party is the best party.
One last thing: Living in these right now.
Substack gets worried when I don’t include a little button asking you to subscribe. So, just in case you’ve been thinking about upgrading to a paid subscription but waiting for a little button, here it is.
Thank you for your continued support: You are the kindest, smartest readers imaginable!
I work in a school and was just reflecting last night on how meaningful it is to families when I know everyone's name. Greeting the little siblings in the car line, parents at the grocery store, or on a park playground helps the whole family feel seen. Names are just so important! For neighbors, community, schools, churches - I'm just thinking a lot about that life lesson this week.
I just took a $15,000 dollar a year pay cut so I can have better work life balance. I missed out on family time for years with my children, and I’ve missed out too many years with my grandchildren. My oldest two grands are 9. I finally said, “enough is enough”.
My husband and I are working on our budget to learn to live with less, and I’ve never been so excited!
I’ll have weekends and evenings off, and I’ll never have to choose between work and family again.
For me this is priceless!
Thank you for sharing. Your article is confirmation that I’m on the right path!