For those of you who have been following this blog for some time now, you’d know that I have only recently launched a career as a freelance writer. I guess, what I haven’t told you yet is how I became one. Let me share my journey with you. This is a slightly long post so please bear with me.
My love for writing started when I was about 10 or 11 years old when I started writing in diaries. I loved writing down my thoughts even though I had no intention of course to show my diaries to anyone. I guess, writing a lot was good practice because when I entered high school, I always got high grades and compliments from my teachers regarding my essays. English Grammar and English Literature were always my favorite subjects in school. However, even though I thought about joining our school publication, I never tried because I didn’t feel my writing skills were good enough. Besides, at that time, I was more obsessed with singing and dancing and so I joined the Dance Club and Glee Club instead. In college, although one of my majors was Communication Arts, I never really thought of writing as a career either.
When I finally started working, I ended up doing events and projects management, administrative and finance work as well as marketing for various companies. My jobs always involved some form of writing. However, they were mostly business writing only. Until then, I never really thought of earning from doing writing jobs. That is until I got pregnant with Ziggy and I had to quit my job and stay home because of a delicate pregnancy. That is when I started blogging seriously.
I’ve been blogging for two years now and I LOVE it! I also love that this blog earns me some income every so often. Still, it’s not enough yet to be called a steady income. I thought of putting up other blogs, such as a travel blog and food blog to earn some more but never got around to doing it. I wanted to find a job I could earn a steady stream of money from regularly and be able to do it from home. Finally, this year I finally thought about writing as a career. However, I still wasn’t confident that I was good enough. That was until a blogger/writer friend of my mine, whom I just met several months ago, gave me the push.
She had a client who needed some articles done for a website and asked me to audition with some sample pieces. So I did and they ended up loving what I wrote. I immediately got orders for 10 articles the following week. That started my new career as a freelance writer. It was a ghostwriting job and so I wasn’t credited as the writer, which was okay. However, I thought, wouldn’t it also be nice to see your name there as a writer? Isn’t having your own byline every writer’s dream? Well, it became my dream. I never thought it would happen this soon though.
Because of my blogger friend’s confidence in my abilities, I became confident in myself too and finally mustered up the courage to join a writing program wherein I will be working for specific websites. I initially only applied for one. What do you know? I got accepted!!!! That gave me more courage to try out again for another program, which accepted me as well. I was ecstatic! I would be writing for well-known sites and I would have my own byline as well!
So, what are the two sites I’m talking about? I first got accepted to write for the Colgate Oral and Dental Health Resource Center. I now have a couple of approved articles for them already though they haven’t been published just yet. The second site is Daily Glow, which is a site that features articles about skin care, hair care and beauty. I have a few approved articles for Daily Glow as well and two of them have now been published! Here are screenshots of my articles on the Daily Glow site. Click on the photos if you wish to view the article.
Did you see my name on the articles? Isn’t it great? It’s totally a dream come true! It’s such a confirmation that I am doing exactly what God wants me to do. So, what does it feel like seeing my own byline? I am totally over the moon with joy right now! I can hardly believe it, actually. The best part is, this is just the start. I will be writing more articles for these sites and I will be able to include them all in my writing portfolio, which I am building because I have bigger dreams for 2013. What dream, you ask? Well, I want to write online for a popular local parenting magazine. Guess which one? Haha! My blogger friend and another new blogger friend already promised me they’d write a recommendation for me when I apply. They’re contributors for that site too. I am so honored and humbled by their confidence in me. Ooohh I’m so excited!
So, pray for me, okay? It’s thanks to all you loyal readers of my blog that this happened in the first place. If I didn’t start blogging, I wouldn’t have ended up here. So, thanks to all of you!!! I hope you all continue to support me in my journey as a writer.
