Finding my voice, again.
How a Union for Freelancers became my callback to writing.
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For those who know me, tada!
For those who don’t, congratulations!
You may or may not recall, I’ve been away for some time now. It wasn’t because I fell out of love with writing, or the platform — but rather a feeling of not “belonging”.
See, for me, writing is an outlet — as it is for everyone who wishes to express themselves. However, in the past few years, writing became about “numbers”; and I found myself chasing that golden “numbers” goal.
Pump out articles, get clicks, get paid.
It wasn’t fun.
It wasn’t authentic.
It wasn’t why I write.
It was time to walk away, not because I had to — but because it was draining and soul-sucking. I wasn’t writing about subjects that mattered to me anymore, instead I was writing to fulfil my numbers goal.
A word salad about the most recent trending topic on Google Trends became my go-to. Pick something that’s on the move, get writing, throw in a few buzz-words, hit publish, watch the stats — Rinse & Repeat.
Clickbait titles and images, a great opening paragraph — one could say if there is formula to making money from writing, there it is.
But…it isn’t sustainable.
It’s not what defines me.
For every clickbait article, on any platform, there are a plethora of writers churning out passage after passage.
Some with the same message, Some with a different one, Some with exactly the same one, Some with absolutely none.
8 Months ago, that was about to change.
I found myself caring about a subject I wanted to write about, but there were barriers to entry. I couldn’t just waltz into the story, and I didn’t have the privilege of being associated with a Newsworthy Organization.
Red Tape. Red Tape.
I needed to figure out how I could write but also get access to the information I needed to complete the research necessary.
