Frank Chimero is a designer and the author of The Shape of Design, an excellent book I talked about on Tools & Toys recently.
Frank always has fantastic things to say about design and freelancing:
“It’s more important to do good and interesting things than it is to make money. If you do good and interesting things, then you have to trust that the money will follow.”
He also delved a little into the age-old "fake it until you make it" method:
“I learned to make websites because I agreed to do something that I didn’t know how to do and then I had to figure out how to do it. That seems to be a pattern that comes up all over the place because nobody knows how to do what was invented last week. You have to say you know how, then figure it out under the gun.”
and
“As soon as you start writing like you know what you’re talking about, then you have to back it up. But, I’ve always been very clear that I am making it up as I go along. I’m learning on the job.”
There are a hundred other things I'd love to quote, but instead I'll just tell you to go read the whole thing. Great interview.
