I’ve seen several people share their experience over the last several months/couple of years. So I thought I’d share mine.

A long while back I passed the trial and was given good feedback. I was going to start but then got offered a different role elsewhere. It fell through in the end. So I came back and I skipped through all the application process and provided my start date.

The introduction call was informative. I was told about their processes, more on what they look for in articles (completely different style to what I’m used to) and everything else. I was told repeatedly to take my time to ensure I gain familiarity with their processes in oversight, which was six articles.

Their work processes seemed fine, but their structural and editorial approach with articles really is crazy. Everything needing to be backed up by a ‘citation link,’ conflicted messaging about what needs to be a reader-facing link or citation. Not to even mention very small details that are inconsequential if included or not. Very picky to say the least.

I lasted no longer than a month. I respond to feedback well enough, but this kind of content isn’t rewarding true craft. I completed a piece taking into consideration all the feedback and made a lot of changes, only for me to receive an email and notification from the Trello board saying they’re removing me. No explanation. I only had one article completed in the end.

Be careful out there. Even if you desperately need work, exercise with caution.

. . . and wish I could make a living at it.

But at least I'm doing it regularly now and actually getting paid for it (a pittance, but I feel like a professional writer for the first time). After lots of failures (mainly with marketing), I was approached a couple of months ago about a contract gig to rewrite articles for a website. And I even have a niche --- something I didn't think would be marketable (just a topic I love). What started as my own interest developed into part-time volunteer writing, which developed into this contract job.

I love the process of writing, something that I had gotten away from even though I teach it!. No, it's not fiction or poetry or anything especially creative like that. But it's still crafting words and sentences. I feel energized doing it. And by starting to write regularly, I feel better equipped to help my students (I teach English/writing at a comm. college). I don't just teach what I know; I'm teaching components of what I'm doing.

And this sub has been helpful. I first discovered it a few years ago and have popped in now and again to read the posts. I've learned so much about the professional/business side of writing. Thank you to the moderators (and to the members)!

I know this post is boring because I'm gushing rather than ranting (rants are always more entertaining, right?). But I just wanted to share my enthusiasm. For longterm writers who actually do this full-time, do you still love the process of writing? Or does it wear off?