I have to report a crashing lack of interest in my grant-writing career. It sprang up, flourished in the zero-oxygen world of non-profits for a brief moment, and died of exhaustion. I simply stopped getting up, dressing up, and showing up, which pretty much put a bullet in the head of my ambition.
Face it – I have a very small amount of ambition for anything that becomes tedious, and seeking grant writing opportunities became tedious fairly quickly. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but I wither fairly quickly without encouragement, and I got very little encouragement in this endeavor. I put it all back on myself. I’m just not someone who thrives on meeting and talking with people. In fact, it wears me out in a hurry.
So I decided to axe the people part of technical writing and just do the writing. I haven’t made much, but I’ve made 100% more than I did at grant writing!
There are days, like today, when I spend far too much time indoors, at the keyboard. I have been below this entire day, ignoring pathetic looks from the dog and my own eye strain as I apply, apply, apply for writing jobs on the internet. I just finished a series for a friend’s new magazine and sent those off. She likes the articles, which is great, but they’re freebies. Great practice, no money. My hit rate online is now about one in 20, which overall isn’t the worst. The money has, finally, begun to increase. If I can just be patient. If I can just trust that this is, finally, the forum that best suits my talents.
The wonderful thing about working online is the fact that I communicate almost entirely by the written word. I don’t have to hurdle the obstacles of age or physical appearance, nor do I have to appear sprightly, competent, and grateful for employment. I’m not much good at any of that. Of course the bad news is that to date the gigs don’t pay much and they don’t take long to do.
I have finally started exploring other online writing options as well. What on earth takes me so long to move out of my comfort zone? I guess it’s like anything else – I have to be miserable enough to take that leap.
I have got to walk that dog.
2 comments:
Hey Lady, Have you posted any of your articles on ezinearticles with a link back to your blog or any other site where you're advertising your writing for hire? There is definitely a market out there for good copy, especially on the internet for entrepreneurs who don't like to write, much less aren't any good at it. Not sure what the pay rate is, but I imagine it is directly proportionate to the pain of the person who can't write, who's faced with the need to create blog entries to brand themselves so they can market their products.
That's the comfort zone I'm leaving - writing articles and then getting them online, one way or another. I am pretty slow to pick up on the technology and the websites out there. I like to turn pages!! Cross your fingers that I can haul myself into the 21st century fairly soon...
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