Thanks! A bunch of people have had questions about the type of writing work...I will try to explain.
As a writer I have committed myself to making a living with my words. This is craft more than art. I am not trying to publish a literary novel (yet, anyway,
). I am not trying to land work writing only about what my passions are - homesteading, local foods, the environment, living simply, parenting. It would be wonderful if I *could* land work writing about my passions and it's not like I'm *not* trying. But, first and foremost, my work has to pay the bills.
This means taking a rather unglamorous gig like the one I just landed. I will make good money per hour, but what I will write is rather dry and not terribly creative. It does require a lot of analytical work, which I'm good at.
I'm still working to get assignments for magazines in natural health and alternative medicine, parenting, and whole foods. I have a *lot* in the works right now - things that have been assigned but not yet published. Especially in April - I will post my biggest assignment yet when it comes out, and it is very relevant to this forum.
It is slated for publication then and I can't say more about it till then.
Anyway...all the magazine work is happening, and I'm excited about that. I'm building clips and getting work and establishing myself. It's going really, really well. Just slowly, because national magazines tend to go slowly. The work I just got - I don't want to downplay it, it's *awesome* - but it is the steady, mid-level work that I need in order to keep going with my loftier ambitions of writing for national magazines.
I will write anything. I love to write. But as I've let people know about my new work, I find there are many misconceptions - not necessarily here, I've just told a few friends and family and people kind of think I've gotten some big creative/artsy break. It's more solid, steady, grind type of work. But that's the real life of a writer. I don't wait for someone to decide to publish a nonfiction book based on my blog or whatever (though wouldn't that be wonderful, I have a few years of platform building before I can even consider that). I need paying work, now. My first and foremost goal: make a living with my words. I'm close to that goal now.