If You Can't Say Something Nice...

I committed to writing this blog, but kinda fell off the wagon recently. It isn't that I haven't had anything to say -- it's that I didn't have anything nice to say. I love writing, but have been a little frustrated lately at the financial side of things.

Writing online can be rewarding if you have the right mindset, and work really, really hard at it. But it can also be irritating as hell. If you had any romantic notions about writing before going into it full-time, you're better off leaving them at the door if you're going to pursue writing online.

Like any other industry, writing sites are businesses looking out for their bottom line. They're going to pay you as little as they can for your writing, and that's something you just need to be prepared for starting out. It isn't that the people who run these sites are evil; it's just the nature of business.

That's why so many writers seem to become internet entrepreneurs. They have to spend almost as much time learning about marketing and how the internet works as they spend actually writing. The smartest writers usually end up being successful with their own websites. You can complain about sacrificing art for commerce, but the bottom line is that this is how it all works.

For all the times I long for the financial security I had as a member of the rat race, the thought of giving up freelance writing breaks my heart. Some writers have hourly dollar goals, and if they don't make them, they give up writing for a particular site. I just can't work that way.

I left a regular job because I don't want to feel like a worker bee. Despite what seems like unfair pay for a whole lot of work sometimes, I actually get paid for doing what I've always loved doing. And I am seeing some improvement in certain areas of my writing income.

Writing for a living is like any other business. We writers are entrepreneurs, and we have to educate ourselves on the business end of things. And like any entrepreneur, we have to get through the rough patches and use them as learning experiences.