I've been a blogger for a year, now and a writer for nearly that long.
I've learned a heckuva lot in this time. My blog started off as a little soapbox where I posted my musings and waited eagerly for feedback and conversations from others and hoped with bated breath that I'd see some Adsense tricklings.
A few months after I started blogging, I found myself following a few writers around and paying attention to their advice. I also discovered Blogitive. Blogitive earned me $5 a paragraph and all of a sudden, I was considered a working writer. I was making a few hundred a month blogging and having a blast. And the knowledge I was picking up...LOADS!
I met a lady in the blogosphere who was starting a magazine and did some book reviews for her and I was suddenly published. I met another lady who hosted a free workshop with advice for wannabe freelance writers and she also posted a list of her paying clients on her blog. I applied for every one of those clients to hire me and used my little soapbox blog as my clips. Every one of them hired me! I was suddenly earning money blogging, writing seo articles, ghostwriting an e-book, networking with writers, reading writer's resource books and reviewing them for a magazine and learning about tagging and pinging and social networking and social bookmarking. What a whirlwind!
Then, one day a neighbour asked me what I did for a living and I heard my voice answer, "I'm a writer."
I still get chills looking back to that moment. It was as if the earth went quiet for a minute.
I always wanted to be a writer but thought I had to endure a fist full of rejection letters first. I still haven't taken the plunge of submitting something for consideration to a book publisher but I'm getting closer every day and I'm earning a full time income doing this while I learn more and more every day about what it takes to live out the writer's dream.
Blogging is how I got started.
If you have aspirations of being a writer or pro blogger or even just someone who earns a decent internet-based income from home, check out the blogosphere as a good place to start and align yourself with some mentors. This blogging world creates a funny environment where you can see into someone's life and where they share the secrets of their success so willingly.
This year has taught me a lot and I am looking forward to how much knowledge I'll pick up in the next year too. I also plan to pay it forward by sharing my experience with those who are interested in becoming a freelance writer so feel free to stop in here on occasion to hear about how my journey is going.
Cheers,
Dana
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4 comments:
"I'm a writer."
That was a wonderful moment. I slowly made the transition from "I run a small daycare and I do some writing for the local newspaper" to "I'm a writer," and although I didn't have an 'a-ha!' moment such as yours, it still feels good every time I say it.
I'm a writer!
I still get chills when I say it - it's a great moment, Dana and you've worked hard for it.
Thanks Elizabeth and Sharon for stopping by.
Great to have you still visit me away from WU. I bet we can still maintain that community feel.
Funny how a little thing like blogging can lead to so much more if you're open to it...
"I'm a writer" - I love that phrase... "I'm a published author" - that one will be amazing, and I bet we both get to utter those words before too long as well.
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