My Romantic Vision of Becoming a Freelance Writer
By: Jake Mura
Tags: Writing, Writing Journey, Writers On Medium, Self Publishing, Writers On Writing

My Romantic Vision of Becoming a Freelance Writer

I remember when I accidentally came across this website when I browsed the internet for marketing purposes. I found out that Medium has one of the highest domain authority on the web, so it was worth checking.

The real breakthrough came when I discovered the true purpose of the platform.

I found out that Medium is a platform that gives everyone a chance to express themselves through writing and monetize content not by ads, but by the unusual connection of writer and reader. It’s quite innovative, but the founder- Ev Williams, could be the definition of “innovation”.

When I found out about it, I changed my plans right away, signed up, and on the very first day, I wrote a 2000-word article. I was unaware of the curation system and publications. I was not interested in any trends- I didn’t know anything, I just wanted to write.

All I had was my romantic vision, which I intermediately shared in my journal on an internet forum that I was running at the time. Everything was sublime, exciting, and I was in a state of great fascination, the joy that I had found something I wanted to do. Sounds familiar?

Reality check on “writing game”

Medium is like YouTube for the writers. These days YouTube is dominated by professional channels, and very often corporations. It’s not that bad on Medium, but the competition is sure noticeable, as it is the leading platform in the writing niche.

By “noticeable competition,” I mean, I don’t know, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of active people trying to become a “freelance writer”?

The “race” has been running since 2012 — It is not a fresh platform. So, there are people who have been writing for several years yet still didn’t manage to achieve the dream of being a full-time freelance writer. It sounds depressing, but well, that’s the reality.

After all, anyone who likes to write would love to sit on laptops for a few hours, write some valuable articles, and get a good salary for that.

No one cares about my passion

The brutal truth is that — no one cares that I or anyone else found the passion and start fulfilling his dreams. Literally, not a single person cares, even the family. Most people will ask, “can you make a living from it”?

The times when we accidentally take up the guitar, and everyone was enthusiastic, “oh, maybe he will be a musician,” are gone.

Part of the growing up process is grounding yourself in reality, which often means giving up on your potential and doing something that ensures the safety and decent life.

In this sense, like any other passion, writing is a bit of a struggle with yourself and an attempt to combine it with other duties that are necessary.

Quality content and a sense of unfairness

Well, if you have more than twelve years, you know that the world isn’t fair. But if you are accidentally passionate about something, you may forget that.

You can write a brilliant article that shows your perspective on some important topic, but the thing is — no one cares, no one cares about your view until you have strong authority.

In this way, you may write better pieces than someone and be 100x less popular than him, and it’s become of the lack of authority.

Society life is a run or a “rat race’. Everyone has their own, most important life, and the only thing they are looking for in others is? Values.

Yes, that’s why articles presenting lifehacks are the best clickers. Nobody after work wants your 3000-word story, an argument on politics (unless you have authority), but is looking for some value for themselves or fun to rest.

You need immense authority to make people read you on some professional topic. Even if you have huge knowledge, it takes some time to gain people’s trust.