Movers, Lean, and Allergies: Day 1 as a Freelance Writer

After weeks of trying to bid on several different contracts, ranging from writing blog posts to editing academic work to simply entering data into an Excel spreadsheet, I managed to net my first contract via Freelancer.com yesterday. The pay is insignificant. The material I’m writing about has been vastly out of my interests and comfort zone. It is the definition of a job that would not support a human life. And yet, I am enjoying it so far.

Despite all of my bidding on Freelancer, the contracts I was interested in were always being given to other freelancers – those with online reputation, a portfolio expanding years, and several hundred reviews on their profile from jobs that they had completed in the past. Strangely enough, my first contract came not from something that I had bid on, but simply from someone looking at my profile, liking what they saw, and contacting me directly.

I am now a member of the freelance writing caste. I am currently at the bottom rung, below even people who write obituaries in the newspaper. I am unsure where I rank compared to several hundred monkeys chained to typewriters. But I am here, and I am proud that I have my first paying gig. I may have written three articles and still only effectively paid for a meal at McDonald’s, but I can only go upward from this point. Some day I might write for a big audience at a major-name publishing house or firm or brand or whatever. Today I wrote about the dangers of low-cost moving, lean manufacturing principles before ending my productive day with a content pushing email designed for doctors. I may not have written literary masterworks, but I wrote something and got paid money for it.

Well, I will, when I have completed 10 articles. The current model for my payment is that I complete ten articles before my wonderful German employer will pay me. That may give you an idea as to how insignificant the money that I am earning my pecking frantically at my keyboard, trying to dig out the words that I need to get out into the digital world. I am genuinely worried that I will produce 10 articles, the employer will not pay me, and then I will promptly curse loudly into the night, before trying once more to find a job. However, the employer does have a well-reviewed profile on Freelancer, so this is hopefully unlikely. There is still fear lurking in the back of my mind though, like a cat scratching at the crack of a cupboard it wants to get into and ransack.

All of this writing was made possible by the glorious fact that today is a public holiday in Korea: Hangul Day. I find it quite fitting that I spend the day that Korea spends celebrating inventing its own form of writing putting my own digital pen to digital paper, honing my craft and hopefully getting paid at some point in the near future. I even had some extra time on the side to write some more, both for GosuGamers and this post. While I wouldn’t say I’m gaining writing momentum, it’s certainly getting easier to sit down in front of a screen most commonly used for delving into imaginary worlds of light, sound, and sensation and simply type away.

The rest of the coming weekend is filled with activities away from our humble home, so I am glad that today I managed to produce what I have. I have learned things about industries I had not cared to think much about before today. I am sure that I will learn a whole lot more in the coming months. And I can’t wait for every less-than-minimum-wage moment of it.

Spreading the Ink

For most of my life, writing has been something that has just happened, that has always been there with me. From my first, one-syllable pieces when I could barely hold a pen, to fledgling short stories and poems in high school, to this blog post right now, putting words onto paper in a mostly logical and flowing manner has always been something I did for enjoyment, for myself. Today, that changed. I wrote my first article for GosuGamers.net.

It wasn’t delivering major, world-shattering news that needed to be put to the masses or society would collapse. It was just a little piece telling the lovely patrons to the site that an exciting tournament of DotA2 would soon be starting. Nevertheless, I felt an immense sense of pride and accomplishment when my current mentor from GosuGamers pressed the button, and my article, something that I had written, popped up on the front page of the site. I had contributed to something larger than myself.

This is the first step in a new direction that I am taking for myself. Next year, I hope to teach only part-time, and supplement my income through freelance writing or editing jobs. Having recently been told about Freelancer.com, a most intriguing platform that helps freelancers of all trades meet up with potential projects where their talent can be utilized, I am testing the waters to see whether this could be a viable option for me for the future. I am trying to net a few small jobs, build up my reputation on the site and my skills in the writing field at the same time.

While the GosuGamers article may not be the first time my work has been published online (with a short story I wrote forming part of a digital anthology called The Collective, available here), it does mark a step in the direction of more lucrative writing, and possibly even supporting myself by doing so. This causes me to stop and wonder: could I write for a living?

My heart says that I could. Hell, there are a host of people that put pen (or the digital equivalent) to paper (or the digital equivalent) and money happens to end up in their bank account because people like their work. My mind then reminds me of the much larger host of other people desperately flogging their creative wares to no avail or profit, and I feel more reserved and conflicted at the idea, but no less keen to walk the path, even if it is only for a little while.

So, I flex my fingers and carefully tread the next brick on the yellow road of writing. Will I walk long enough to reach the Emerald City of self-sufficiency and self-actualisation? Is that even where this road goes? I know not. But I am going to enjoy the view along the way.