Freelance Writing as an Art and a Business

That’s a picture of my very own tuxedo cat, lounging in the window in her own special place where she loves to nap. She’s enjoying those first crisp days of early fall and soaking up the beautiful sunlight. After a whole month of steamy days and some scary thunderstorms (we even had a power outage one afternoon!), the days are finally getting cooler, just in time to usher in the first day of September.

My cat is quite chuffed to learn that another tuxedo cat, named Oreo C. Collins, is the first cat to earn a high school diploma online! (Chuffed is a British word that means she’s quite pleased with herself; my cat is American but it seemed like a good adjective to describe her happy mood...)

During the month of August, I did a series of articles for Associated Content about bizarre news and weird headlines. I wrote about the world’s largest cupcake, feral pigs in the Caribbean, the medicinal properties of blue M&Ms (the new wonder food!) and of course, some coverage of the first cat to earn a high school diploma. This is a link to my latest article on AC about Oreo C. Collins:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2086029/1224_pound_cupcake_and_tuxedo_cat_earns.html?cat=9

The news lately has been so grim and quite horrible (especially this week’s coverage of the Jaycee Lee Dugard case) that I decided to write some light hearted pieces about funny news. These articles are something to make people smile in the midst of all the tragic stories in the news these days.

I haven’t received too many page views on them, but they were still fun to write. I also put the bizarre news in a larger social context; for example, was the world’s largest cupcake a waste of food? And I highlighted the animal abuse that went on during testing of laboratory animals injected with blue dyes to determine if the dyes help heal spinal cord injuries (these blue dyes are made of a compound similar to dyes found in foods like blue M&Ms.)

So my freelance writing career (which these days is conducted entirely online) is going really well, and this month I enjoyed my best month ever as a writer! Here’s a look at my summer 2009 writing plan, which I’ve since tweaked a bit as I move into fall:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2086733/my_writing_plan_for_summer_2009.html?cat=3

One way I’ve changed the plan is by moving away from working with Triond and Picable. I spent a lot of July working on Triond and their partner site Picable, and my earnings took a dip. I love working with these two sites, so I wanted to give them every chance I could, but since I’m trying to make a go of it writing full time, I simply can’t spend as much time there when my earnings at those sites are so low.

Why are my Triond and Picable earnings so low? I believe it’s because the things I’m writing about there don’t draw in page views and neither do my photos. About a month ago, I saw a comment on a Triond article about writing that said making money on Triond is 25 per cent good writing, and 75 per cent promoting of articles. That pretty much sums up my Triond dilemma. I just write my article, or publish a photo, and other than some stumbling and tweeting, I don’t really use any of the other buttons you are given for bookmarking and promotion (like Reddit, Delicious, Digg, Fark, and so many more buttons!)

I probably should promote more, but with such a slow internet connection, doing a lot of bookmarking and promoting is very time consuming. I’d rather pour that effort into writing more articles. Unfortunately, just writing articles on Triond and publishing my photos on Picable, despite my best efforts, is earning me next to nothing. So I’ll still being working those two places, but only from time to time, just for pleasure and because I love the Triond community.

You’ll read about some Triond writers making three figures (or more) a month, but I think that’s in the minority. Lots of writers have moved away from Triond due to dismally low income there, and some who remain admit they just publish for the joy of it and their Triond income is irrelevant. For me, I’m involved in writing as an art and a business, trying to find the happy balance between the two. I feel like my time and my work has an intrinsic value, and the low pay on Triond is discouraging. Some who have published photos on Picable are quite happy with their income, but even though I’m seeing some page views, I’ve earned next to nothing with my photos there.

I’d say if you’re interested in Triond and Picable definitely try your luck; it’s a nice community of writers and photographers. You might just be a Triond success story! It just bothers me that the writer’s share is so meager there, and it’s not working for me. Color me disenchanted with Triond and Picable as a way to earn online income (but I am proud of my Triond portfolio and the work I’ve done there).

I’m focusing my efforts on Adsense revenue sharing sites, not sites that pay for page views. The only exception I make to this is working for Associated Content. I’ve been writing for Associated Content for two years and I’m very loyal to them. I find that even without much promoting or bookmarking of my published AC articles, the more I publish there, the more my page views tend to rise. Plus, Associated Content offers upfront payments for articles! I make money upfront on my AC articles, and I enjoy page view earnings on all my published work also.

As you rise up the Clout Index at AC, which is tied to your overall page views, you earn more page view bonus. I’m just about to reach Clout Index Level 9, which should boost my page view earnings nicely. Part of my fall 2009 writing plan definitely involves continuing to work hard for AC, love it there! I’ve been receiving lots of wonderful feedback about my articles, and I’m so glad my readers are enjoying my work.

The most wonderful and exciting thing to happen with my online writing has been working with Google AdSense. Working with AdSense and revenue sharing sites has allowed me to enjoy my best month ever as a freelance writer! I am so happy to have found the web site Xomba last fall, just about one year ago. I write short articles for Xomba (called Xombytes) and also do some paid social bookmarking (called Xomblurbs) and I’ve been excited about the earnings (and earnings potential) with Xomba!

This summer Xomba launched a site redesign, and the site looks really nice! I’ve been working really hard on Xomba this summer, and it’s really paying off...I almost doubled my earnings this month. I just received my Adsense check today, and I just noticed I reached the payment threshold this month and I’ll qualify for another check next month also! I’ve made hundreds of dollars with Xomba and AdSense. If you’d like to sign up for Xomba and have fun earning money with AdSense, this is my referral link:

http://www.xomba.com/referral/777a8d8c

I have also added Infopirate to the mix this month, and I’ve earned a few dollars with them already. Infopirate is similar to Xomba in that you can write short blog entries or do paid social bookmarking. Here’s my Infopirate referral link if you’d like to sign up at the site and earn some Adsense dollars too:

http://infopirate.org/referral/696e7435

I don’t make a lot with this blog, just a dollar here and there. But this blog is really a labor of love for me, and I make the overwhelming majority of my AdSense income on Xomba, and now Infopirate. I started an experiment not long ago, following the advice of some other writers who blog their published articles. I decided to take some of my AC articles, and start a blog with them. I called it the “Free Coloring Pages Corner” blog, since I write articles sometimes about free resources to find coloring pages and printables for parents, kids and teachers. Here’s the new blog (drumroll please!):

http://freecoloringpagescorner.blogspot.com

I haven’t had many visitors, but it may pick up as I write more entries about resources for free coloring pages; I’m just getting started with it. We’ll see how it goes!

I’m finding out, it’s all about traffic! I get traffic for my work on Associated Content, Xomba, and Infopirate, so that’s why I’m so excited about them. I don’t do a lot of promoting on any of these sites, but still, the sites have great search engine rankings and lots of visitors, which helps increase my earnings.

For the past few days, I’ve experienced the agony of waiting by the mailbox for a payment check for my freelance writing! If you are hanging out by the mailbox, trudging out there every day at the end of the month, looking in vain for a check, I’ve been doing the same thing too! You are certainly not alone.

Today, I was waiting for a check that did come. I exhaled and was so relieved! I was so happy to get my check and take it to the bank! Still, as my earnings grow, I’m thinking about setting up EFT (electronic funds transfer) for some of my payments. It seems a lot faster than waiting by the mailbox for a check and besides, it’s eco-friendly!

I’m also thinking about doing my taxes as a self employed freelance writer, and things like health insurance for freelancers. There’s a lot to think about as a freelancer, running your own small company. I’m convinced that being successful as a freelancer in a creative field is really equal parts focusing on your artistic work, and running the business side. You need to focus on both sides for your creative business to flourish and survive!

I hope your writing business is flourishing and you’ll find the information about my writing plan helpful as you go forward with your writing goals. Happy fall...it’s almost autumn here in the Hudson Valley!

Feral Pigs and Blue M&Ms: Bizarre News for the Week of August 3, 2009

What a cutie! This fiber glass painted bear is part of the "Bears and Butterflies" art exhibit going on this summer up in the Catskills, in Cairo, New York.

I was Cairo in July and took a few photos all around town on a really hot, bright summer day. Since then it's rained so much in the Hudson Valley, but this first week of August we're again enjoying some great sunny weather here.

Associated Content writer Robert Dougherty was just featured on CNN a few moments ago, for his article about the Obama Joker poster. How exciting! AC writers are being featured more and more these days in the media. I just had a new article published today on AC:

Feral Pigs and Blue M&Ms: Bizarre News for the Week of August 3, 2009

Weird Headlines and Bizarre News for Early August 2009

With news of feral pigs in the Caribbean and the health benefits of blue M&Ms, it was an interesting week for bizarre headlines and weird, sometimes shocking stories. Quite a few headlines caught my attention over the past few days, each one stranger than the last. Here's a look at two weird recent headlines that made me go hmm...Read on...

Spring 2009 Update

This weekend it’s about 90 degrees in the mid Hudson Valley, a lot more like summer than spring. After a long cold winter that seemed to drag on endlessly in these parts, I’m elated about the warmer weather, even if it is unexpectedly HOT today!

Yesterday I received a rejection letter about a job I applied for a few weeks ago. After working as a web content provider for almost two years now, I’m excited to say that I’m a lot closer to my goal of supporting myself through my writing income. I’ve been trying to make a go of it as a full time freelance writer, but still not making enough money. I want to move out of this tiny rural town I live in (and move to a wonderful village just down the road a few miles), so recently, I’ve been looking for work again.

The job outlook here has been especially dreary. I tried a while back to look for something, but found the opportunities and the working conditions in this area of the Hudson Valley to be really disappointing. So I’ve been trying to eke out a living as a freelancer and just living the best I can on what I have. But I’ve been feeling restless lately (spring fever?) so I really wanted to find an interesting job, hopefully in the nonprofit sector, so I can move to a new place in a different area.

The rejection letter I received was from the Executive Director of a nonprofit housing corporation over in Catskill. He didn’t even call me for an interview, just wrote that they had selected another candidate and would keep me on file. And best of luck in my job search!

It might have been a good opportunity for me to get my foot in the door at a nonprofit, and I mentioned to them that I was interested in fundraising and grant writing (their website says they are always looking for grants!) The job was in bookkeeping and I am a finance/business major who graduated Summa Cum Laude from a nationally recognized local college and I also have an Associate’s Degree in business from a local community college (where I also graduated with top honors and a high grade point average).

When I was young, my elders told me this degree was “something to fall back on.” It was supposed to be something to pay the bills when acting or writing or performing failed to support me. My situation is complicated by the fact that I worked for a while in banking years ago and then left the business world to fulfill my artistic dreams.

In that time I worked freelance, and was an entrepreneur, and some employers have seen that creativity and initiative as exciting and interesting. Unfortunately, in this disastrous economic climate, potential employers see my unusual background as taking a chance? Perhaps they want someone who has worked for one company for a long time, and I can totally see that point of view, but I’m not sure where it leaves me.

All of this has made me more staunchly determined to become a successful freelancer! These experiences trying to find work in the 9 to 5 life have only made me more determined to become fully self supporting as a writer. My reasons for looking for work right now are purely economic, so I can move to a new area where I’d enjoy living. Also I’d enjoy working for a nonprofit organization. However, I’ve been working for myself for so long, and have enjoyed the benefits and freedom of freelancing, so it’s really hard for me to return to the 9 to 5.

I think I’m going to just dig in further and work even harder trying to make a go of it as a freelancer. I currently write for Associated Content, Triond and Xomba. I have stories on a few other sites but I make the bulk of my income those three places.

I’m starting to receive upfront offers again at Associated Content, so I’m submitting pieces for upfront pay as well as performance bonus only (just for page view revenues). I’ve been trying to push myself to write 100 articles per month on AC, and publish some stories on Triond also. Xomba pays for social bookmarking of things like articles, websites and photos, and they pay very well through Google AdSense. My AdSense earnings with Xomba have started to really pick up again, so I’m going to throw myself into doing more Xomblurbs (social bookmarking) with them, as well as composing some articles for Xomba (called Xombytes).

It was my intention to branch out into writing for newspapers and magazines; however, the time I’d spend querying editors and hoping to get an article accepted, is time I could spend writing more content and seeing money flow into my online accounts. If I want to be a full time freelancer, it’s probably a more effective use of my time to continue working hard as a web writer, where I know I’ll be paid. I wish it was different, and in time, I look forward to trying to break into the print markets.

There’s a lot to be grateful for now. Last fall I wrote about being screened for ovarian cancer because of an ovarian cyst, and I’m happy to report, my tests came back fine. Everything looked okay, and I’ll see the gynecologist this fall, not sure if she’ll do more ultrasound, or blood tests, or just wait a while. It’s such a relief to know that for this moment in time, things look good and there is no reason to believe I have ovarian cancer.

A few days ago I was surfing the site where I went to college and earned my Bachelor’s Degree in business and finance (after graduating, I also spent some time in the MBA program there, an unhappy time and not a good fit for me). I felt this lump in my throat and sadness wash over me, when I saw all the new programs they’ve developed. There’s a Bachelor’s Degree program in association with a college in Italy, with majors in things like digital arts, and English with a theatre concentration! It hurt my heart to see that, what I wouldn’t give to go back and study what I really wanted to take, all those years ago. Now it’s a lost opportunity that will never happen, because I doubt I’d ever go back for a second baccalaureate degree. Still, the college didn’t have such a program when I was in school, it didn’t exist.

I have to trust, that it is all happening perfectly. My writing means the world to me, and has come to occupy a place in my heart, along with performing. If the time I spent in college (where I did get to take a lot of cool English and writing and art classes along with economics, business and finance) made me the writer I am today, I am grateful for it, and it certainly wasn’t wasted time. If I want to go to Italy, I can. If I want to study English I can, and if I want more theatre training, it’s out there for me.

I’m thinking about keeping a gratitude journal. Handwriting a list each day, or on a regular basis, of all the things big and small of all kinds I’m grateful for. I’m dismayed about the economy and job situation, but I’m so lucky to have what I need, food, shelter, my loved ones around me and things that bring me joy. If you’re looking for work right now and feeling anything from concern to outright despair, I definitely feel compassion, I’m beginning to understand how tough it really is out there.

My late spring/early summer plans: brush up on my typing and MS Office skills, find a Reiki class for Level I training (mine just got cancelled for this Saturday!), looking into where I can volunteer at a local nonprofit (and learn grant writing, marketing, fundraising), possibly learn guitar so I can sing and accompany myself (I’ve got the urge to perform again!) and thinking about packing up the Jeep for a road trip this summer/fall...

If you’re unemployed right now, I challenge you to treat your freelance writing career as a full time job! I plan to go into my office every day and work harder on writing more content and increasing my freelance earnings.

I’m hoping to do more with this blog, and I plan to post a lot more links to my published articles about freelance writing that I hope will be helpful for other writers. Wherever you are, whatever your situation, keep on writing, and I wish you a very happy healthy spring!

Ovarian Cancer Awareness: My Journey Continues...

It’s been rainy and overcast here for the past week, and it’s sometimes felt a bit more like late spring than fall. On Friday September 26, I went to the gynecologist for my annual checkup. For the last few years, this process has involved the following of an ovarian cyst also.

That same day Paul Newman (one of my favorite actors) lost his battle with cancer. In the morning, I was back at the gynecologist, trying to figure out once again if a cyst that’s been inside my right ovary for about four years now could be suspicious.

I’ve been living in the medical gray zone known as “watch and wait” for a few years now. My doctor discovered a complex cyst in my ovary, and it’s been followed ever since with ultrasounds (and even an MRI). “Following the cyst” is what doctors do when the cyst doesn’t immediately look like cancer, but needs to be further evaluated with repeated tests like ultrasounds.

I’ve lost track of exactly how many transvaginal ultrasounds I’ve had in the last four years. I’ve had at least six, maybe ten? I was ecstatic about a year ago, when my gynecologist said my CA 125 blood tests looked good and so did my ultrasounds, and we didn’t have to follow me with any more ultrasounds, unless the cyst started bothering me and I had symptoms.

During this last visit, the doctor changed her mind and ordered more tests. So this morning, on a beautiful, bright sunny day I headed off to Northern Dutchess Hospital (NDH) in Rhinebeck for another ultrasound. I’ve really come to dread the tests, so I wasn’t looking forward to it at all. Transvaginal ultrasound can hurt, depending on the skill level of the technician, and it’s invasive and I have to drink a lot of water, too.

It’s hard to judge how much water to drink for a full bladder, needed for the transabdominal portion of the ultrasound. I was supposed to drink two 16 ounce bottles of water, but I didn’t drink that much. The very first time I went for the test, I drank everything they told me, and then I had to sit around and wait. As my bladder got full, it felt so painful! It was agony! So a guy in radiology told me to go in the bathroom and “let a little out.” No easy feat when your bladder is about to explode, to just let a little bit out!

When I was an ultrasound newbie, it was hard. So I’ve learned to only drink what feels comfortable to me, just enough for a full bladder. If I am taken right away, it’s not too bad, the waiting. The only really painful part, in my opinion, is when they roll the ultrasound over your tummy, to take pictures of the ovaries (it’s necessary to have a full bladder for this portion of the sonogram.)

Then there’s that blissful moment of relief when you can finally go to the bathroom after drinking all that water. Then it’s back on the table for part two, the transvaginal portion of the test. A wand is inserted vaginally that gives a very detailed picture of the uterus and ovaries. This is gives a much clearer image than the abdominal ultrasound, but they always do both tests.

I scheduled my ultrasound for a really early time, the first slot at 8 AM, just to get it over with. The hospital has a new Dyson Center for Women, and it was so comfortable and modern. It seemed to me that this is the way medical care should be for women. Other times I’ve had the ultrasounds, it was done sometimes by a man, in a hot cramped room where I had to go down the hall to use the bathroom, then come back to the room to finish the test. It’s not necessarily a bad thing that a man does the test, it’s just that it feels so personal and invasive, I like it so much better when a woman does the transvaginal ultrasounds.

NDH has created this really nice, professional setting where women can get mammograms and things like pelvic ultrasounds. So my transvaginal ultrasound was still invasive and uncomfortable, but not that bad! I left the hospital with a good feeling. If you are facing something like an ovarian cyst, I encourage you to investigate your options and find a doctor and a hospital you can feel really good about.

It’s really nice to know that such institutions exist. The only shocker today was the bill! I don’t have insurance, so I found out I could see the cashier on the way out and get a discount for paying the hospital right after the test. As a writer, I’ve found it’s always this balancing act, not having things like insurance, wondering how the bills will get paid. I was able to pay, but scratching my head at the very high cost of medical care in our country.

I’ve read about the costs of transvaginal ultrasound, and heard a figure of about $250. I also had transabdominal ultrasound too, but the cost of both tests today was at least a rent payment in the Hudson Valley. That’s really one of the downsides of freelancing, wondering how to meet things like unexpected medical expenses. Last time I had an ultrasound I had insurance; now, I don’t have any.

So that’s been on my mind. And what will the doctor say about the results of this test? Did my cyst grow or change in some way? Is cancer now clearly visible? Will I need more CA 125 tests? (a test that monitors blood protein levels and is a marker for ovarian cancer). Do I need laparoscopy? Will I lose my ovary? Will I need to turn around and have another ultrasound next month, or god forbid, another MRI?

All these thoughts swirled around my head as I drove home from Rhinebeck. That’s life sometimes in the “watch and wait” period. I suppose I could put an end to it all, by asking for surgery to evaluate and biopsy my ovary. But no doctor has ever felt that strongly about me having an operation. They leave it up to me. Saying things look okay in their opinion, but they’re not one hundred percent sure I don’t have cancer.

Actually, it’s really hard to detect ovarian cancer sometimes. The signs and symptoms can be very subtle and are often disregarded, misdiagnosed or overlooked. Ovarian cancer is often diagnosed in the late stages when the prognosis isn’t very good and survival rates are low.

As I chatted with the technician giving me the ultrasound today, I mentioned that September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. She said “Oh really? I didn’t know that, I just know about pink ribbons and breast cancer awareness in October.” It occurred to me, if a person working in women’s health at a respected hospital doesn’t know about ovarian cancer awareness, does the average person know much about ovarian cancer?

I think we really need to get the word out about this disease. There are women all over the country being monitored like me, and there are lots of frightened women who have been diagnosed or are experiencing symptoms but don’t know where to turn for information and treatment. We really need to start talking more about ovarian cancer awareness. We also need a specific screening tool for the disease (right now, we just have things like CA 125 tests, manual exams, and transvaginal ultrasound).

It’s really hard to believe that I could have no symptoms and no pain, but still have to go through all these tests and then sweat it out, trying to learn if my cyst might be suspicious. But since ovarian cancer is so subtle, I’m willing to be monitored and glad I’ve found a doctor who will order these tests and watch the cyst for anything abnormal.

I urge you to increase your ovarian cancer awareness. If you’d like to hear more of my story, I’ve written two articles on this subject. Click here to read my personal story of ovarian cancer awareness:

http://www.healthmad.com/Women/My-Journey-to-Ovarian-Cancer-Awareness.282775

Click here to read an earlier story I wrote about my ovarian cyst, and learn the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/395821/ovarian_cancer_awareness_learn_the.html?cat=70

I’ll be writing more articles this fall about ovarian cancer awareness, and how to join the fight for a cure.

Day Job

It’s April here in the Hudson Valley; spring has definitely sprung. Last week I was at Clermont State Historic site, and driving home in the afternoon I noticed how beautiful everything is outside, and those first touches of green. I felt this sad feeling wash over me, because I won’t be outside a lot, enjoying the season.

I accepted a full time office job, starting this week. So after a long period of making my own hours, being creative, and having a lot of freedom to make my own schedule, I took this day job working for a big health care organization. That’s where the jobs were locally, in health care. Jobs in this area have been hard to come by, and in a way, I’m lucky to get hired at a time when so many people are being downsized.

What a week it’s been so far. I had to go into the hospital at the crack of dawn, for orientation and processing, which takes days. Then there’s the probationary, training period. Human Resources and my department is located on one side of the road, in an old nursing home that was shut down by New York State for bad working conditions!

The hospital is on the other side of the street. The orientation in this big institution was really like death to the spirit. I think it represents the worst of our capitalist culture with its focus on big business. Working conditions in the hospital and in the office building were in my opinion, deplorable.

I got locked in a bathroom no bigger than a coffin in the old nursing home building, and the floor was covered with water and urine. I literally couldn’t turn around in that rest room, it was so small and hadn’t been cleaned in how long? The next person to come along happened to open the stuck door, and I got out.

Over in the hospital, we had a lunch break, and when I went in the restroom over there, right by the cafeteria, it smelled so bad I had to walk away. This is the one by the cafeteria! That was it for lunch. I didn’t have any. I just took a walk down the street for some fresh air. There appeared to be no fresh air, in either building. Some old vents circulated dead air all day, til I felt my allergies really start to kick in.

I tried to sit through the indoctrinations, and watched the clock painfully tick by. A lady who had been a nurse gave a presentation on safety for hours. She said: “you’ve all heard the rumors about the hospital right? Tell me what they are.” The new hires around me chimed in saying things like, if you’re sick, don’t come here! I thought that was pretty funny and ironic, the hospital talking about its bad reputation.

But, they’re trying to do better. (I was born in this hospital but don’t remember going there, except for a tonsillectomy!) They are trying to raise millions of dollars, and they’re constantly building and expanding and trying to raise capital. The old parts of the hospital are really crappy. When I got in and saw where I would be, the working conditions, it really broke my heart. It’s soul-killing work.

I should have known. The hospital was so intent on making sure they would get the maximum out of me and that I wouldn’t cost them anything, and I would add to the bottom line. I had to have a physical and get thoroughly checked out to prove I was disease free and fit to work. Then there was an intensive and invasive background check. And in return, they couldn’t even provide a decent working environment for employees. In my opinion, it’s not a fair exchange, what they ask of me, versus what they provide.

I think the first day of this job, was really a changing day for me. I want something better than this. I want a healthy environment. I want to do meaningful work. I want to feel like I make a difference, I’m not just a cog in a money making wheel. I want decent working conditions.

I was looking around me and felt like I didn’t belong, because I questioned the corporate indoctrinations. Everyone else was either dozing or eating or staring into space. Didn’t Kerouac ask: “What do you want out of life?” All of this is just so scary, and depressing, even though this is a nonprofit, it says a lot about big business. Ironically, for all this indoctrination, I get the impression there’s a lot of turnover at the hospital.

The attitude of the new employees and trainers was kind of disturbing. There were lots of nurses. All of them seemed quite jaded. It seems like in the big business of mainstream healthcare in our culture, the human touch is lost. I got the impression that patients were kind of like furniture, to be lifted, moved around, processed and handled. This is a scary realization, what really goes on in the hospital.

I had a car accident a few years back and had to go to the ER at the hospital. It was an awful experience. After living through this orientation and seeing the inner workings of the hospital, I hope I don’t have another accident and have to go to the ER!

The unhealthy environment in the hospital is also quite troubling. Lots of the new hires and one of the trainers were obese. I didn’t see many healthy, fit people. Yet the trainer threw all sorts of different candy to the crowd of employees when someone answered a question correctly. And a big table of junk food like chips, cookies and soda was set up in the back, and people just grazed for hours through the training.

It’s sad and shocking to me how this all went down. Not a lot was disclosed to me, about working conditions and benefits, til I took the position. I’m really interested in health and healing, and living a healthy lifestyle. I’m interested in things like alternative medicine and holistic living. So this was particularly hard for me.

I thought I would juggle my job and my writing, but so far I’ve just come home and slept after these rather grueling, unpleasant days.

The state of job hunting in 2008 and what it’s like to work for a corporate environment, I think it might be detrimental to my well being. Maybe it’s just the county I live in and things are better for employees in other parts of New York State or the rest of the country? So, I’m not sure where this really leaves me.

I took the job because it would allow me to relocate, and I’ve wanted to move for a long time. Since I knew this job was in the works, I’ve been looking at apartments and thinking about moving, and that makes me really happy and excited.

As I’ve been looking around at places to live, I sometimes had this pit in my stomach, because I knew I had to work at this day job I wouldn’t like, in order to pay for the move.

It’s not a creative job, at all. I continue to work on my writing, but I’m not making enough to live on right now. A writing career takes time to build, and it could take a while to get established and become self supporting as a writer. So, I decided to take this new job but the hospital is so awful I don’t think I can continue there. I’m taking a break this week, and looking for something better, while I really step up my efforts to be a self supporting writer.

I love the freelance lifestyle. Writing on weekends or at night is never a problem for me. I love that freedom and flexibility of working for myself. It’s something I’d really miss a lot.

So I ask myself, am I working hard enough on this goal of being a full time writer? I think this experience will be a motivator to try and make a full time go of it as a writer! I want to work harder than I ever have on my writing.

I’ve also been thinking again about a “parallel career.” Work that is also creative and complements my writing, that would support me financially as I am freelance writing. That could be teaching, or maybe graphic design?

Wherever you are I hope you’re enjoying this lovely spring weather, and even if you’re working a day job right now, I hope you’re also writing! I wish everyone a very productive and enjoyable April.

Reality Check

Hello again! I’ve been away from this blog for many months now. I’ll offer this excuse for my absence: I’ve been writing web content, and since I began this blog, I now have fifty articles published online.

I started this blog in June 2007, with the hope of becoming a published writer. Initially, I blogged about my early successes, and I set writing goals for myself each month. The blogging really helped kick start my writing career.

I wanted to have 10 articles published by June 2008, and then I could call myself a writer. It seemed like the ball got rolling pretty fast, and after I realized a dream of having my first article published on the travel web site Bootsnall.com, I discovered Associated Content (AC). I started publishing articles there on a wide variety of topics, like arts and culture, travel, health, opinion/editorial pieces, even some product reviews. Click here to see my full Associated Content Library of articles.

In December 2007, my article titled Are We Too Diet Obsessed During the Holidays? was highly rated and was featured on the front page of AC, which was very exciting!

In early 2008, I was contacted by Demand Studios for an assignment, based on an application I filled out in late 2007 at their site. I became a freelance contributor for the Demand Studios web site called eHow. I don’t usually write how-to articles, but it was a fun assignment and I learned a lot, plus Demand Studios and my editor were great to work with and I was very pleased with the paycheck (a great gig!) Click here to read my articles on eHow.

2008 rolled around and I realized a few things. I realized that I could call myself a freelance writer. I felt comfortable doing so, after all my hard work the year before. Also, it occurred to me that I had somehow become a web writer, not a magazine writer, as I had planned. How did that happen? I took my first travel writing class and finished an article I intended to send to print publications.

But the process of looking for markets and figuring out which magazine and newspaper editors to query about my article seemed a dizzying, time consuming process. Bootsnall, which I loved and which so inspired me for years, was calling my name and I decided to submit my article to their web site.

After that, I fell in love with writing for web sites. I love that my stories are archived online for years and years, becoming part of a library. At any time, someone could search the web and find one of my articles. Print publications, like newspapers, get tossed away after the current issue. But my online library is constantly there, and I can find new readers. I also love the interactivity of publishing stories online; I enjoy receiving feedback from my readers. Another plus: I can track statistics at sites like AC, to see page views of my published articles.

The downside of being a content provider for websites is the lack of respect I’ve often encountered, both online and offline. When I say I’m a freelance writer, I sometimes get blank stares. I get the question “Oh, you write for local publications?” and when I answer “I write content for websites” I get this look that indicates a total lack of comprehension for what that means.

I think web content writing is kind of a new frontier, and people automatically think of freelance writers as writing articles for print publications, at least that has been my experience. I initially became a writer to write about topics that interested me, for magazines that I loved. I’ve been doing a lot of work as a content producer, but this year I want to break into print.

Another goal of mine is to have 100 articles published on AC by June 2008. Can I do it? I have 39 articles published on AC to date. I think it’s possible, and I’m working hard towards that goal.

Now for a reality check: I don’t make a lot writing for websites. It’s been a constant financial struggle. So I’m very close to taking a job, to supplement my income. I’ll probably do that. I’ll have two incomes, one from this job and the other from my writing.

Some new thoughts and strategies have occurred to me this month. I could work this job, cut back on my web writing and just take some more writing classes, hone my skills and try to break into print. Print will be very low paying, so I’ll have this job to fall back on. I could continue to study copyediting and proofreading and try to build up those businesses, and continue to write articles that are meaningful to me. I’ve talked about studying graphic design, I could also do that. I’m interesting in copywriting, so maybe that could support my writing ambitions.

One thing’s for sure. If you want to be a full time freelance writer, it’s more work than you ever imagined. I also feel that freelance writing is one of the lowest paying professions out there. It truly is a struggle, but if you love writing, if it’s in your blood, the rewards are worth it.

I’m probably taking this outside, non-writing job, so I can move to a new area. That will make me happier, and that will fuel my writing. Change is good. I’ve discovered it’s all about staying open to change, going with the flow and staying adaptable to whatever adjustments need to be made.

Keep writing. Above all else, no matter what life throws at you and whatever’s on the horizon, keep writing. If it’s in your heart to write, or you have a creative goal of any kind, never give up on your dreams.

I hope to blog more in 2008. I’ll share my story and my successes and what I’ve learned in hopes of helping others achieve their writing dreams. I hope 2008 is a wonderful and productive year for you and that all your writing (and other) dreams come true!