Writer Attempts Freelance Career, Becomes Radio Host

disaster-desk (Photo credit: noodlepie)

Are you a freelance writer? I’m not. This year, though, I decided to give it a go. I joined a few freelance groups on Google+, picked up Christina Katz’s book, “Writer Mama,” and started researching the possibilities. This may seem strange, but I never gave much thought to who wrote all those articles in magazines. I assumed a staff of writers did that. Obviously, assuming was a bad idea. It turns out that freelance writers create most of what we read in magazines. Who knew? (Okay, apparently a lot of other writers knew this tidbit of information.)

I followed Katz’s advise and researched magazines that I thought were a fit for my areas of expertise. “Expertise” is probably too strong a descriptor. I’m a research junky. I devour information on a variety of subjects. That’s part of my challenge. I get really absorbed, immersed in, perhaps a little obsessive about, a topic until I get bored. I suppose this is an asset, but so far, it hasn’t translated into a single article worth submitting to any magazine.

Part of the problem is that I’m not a journalist. I don’t enjoy that writing style. So, while I love research, I don’t much care for formally writing about it. I like the relaxed, easy-going style of creative non-fiction, specifically in essay form. I plopped down in front of my computer and produced two essays worthy (I’m biased, of course) of submission to magazines. Great! Not so much, read on …

Finding magazines eager to pay a writer for an essay is a lot like trying to find Waldo. Will I stop trying to freelance? Nah, I’m just getting started, but now I need to figure out what I can write that other people really want to read. I’m open to suggestions. What do you want to read? What are you looking for tips about?

The fact is, it’s likely to take forever for me to get my fiction traditionally published. I’m not opposed to self-publishing — I did it once. (Remember, I’m a research junky. I felt compelled to learn the process of self-publishing not because I couldn’t get my essays published — some had been — no, I wanted the challenge of doing it myself. It gave me a better understanding of the publishing world. I highly recommend it.) But, I also want the challenge of publishing traditionally. Rejections don’t bother me anymore now that I better understand the game. It’s like shooting pool with a strong dose of luck for good measure. I’ve been beaten by a few exceptionally unskilled pool players because luck was on their side. I’ve also been beaten by skilled players who simply worked the game. (I prefer the latter. They help me improve.)

That last statement brings me to this: I felt isolated as a writer, so I started Back Porch Writer. When I was a shooter, I surrounded myself with great shooters. Now, I’m surrounding myself with great writers (and radio hosts – bonus!) I turned my desire to freelance into becoming a radio host. Neither is a paying gig so far, but you never know. Right now, it’s new, exciting, frustrating (a little — nothing to get your undies in a bunch over, though), and most importantly fun!

I’m not quitting my day job. Not yet. What about you?

KDM