1. When people ask you what you’re going to do for your next story

2. When you have to fake it till you make it.

3. When you’ve been emailing back and forth with a major outlet and you think this MUST finally be your big break

4. When your inbox pings and you think it’s the BBC finally emailing to ask you to work for them and it’s only ever completely irrelevant press releases.

5. When you’re working with that one colleague who just won’t pull their weight. 

6. When you spend all day on a story that pays peanuts

7. When the organisation you’re freelancing for offers you zero perks of the job

8. When your editor tries to send you on a story you really don’t want to do

9. When you still get sent on the story you really don’t want to do but can’t afford to pass up and people ask you what it was like later

10. When you go to all the networking events because networking = commissions

11. But you still wouldn’t give it up because this is what you’re good at

12. And seeing your byline never gets old