Understanding Writing Markets, Communities, and Online Resources

Understanding Writing Markets, Communities, and Online Resources
Your Name
September 8, 2016
Your Institution of Affiliation
Ever since I was a child, I wanted to become a writer. I wanted to write novels like J. K. Rowling, George Martin, Joseph Conrad, etc. Perhaps, it’s the idea of being able to create your own story that would affect the lives of millions of people is the part that interests me the most. Aside from that, I also wanted to pursue my writing career since it seems to be a lot easier compared to regular office jobs out there. However, I just recently realized how hard and daunting the work of a writer is. Yes, you can manage your own time and work whenever and wherever you want, earn a lot of money with the least effort possible, and if luck turns to your favor, then perhaps, you get to be famous in the general population of readers CITATION Car12 \l 1033 (Carpenter, 2012). However, as I try to build my career in the field, those dreams seem to get farther and my future darker. I just realized this when I heard stories and firsthand accounts from other writers that are stuck with their lives, barely even making ends meet. Hearing those accounts really made me think if I would really pursue my writing dream. Some of the questions that I asked myself are: (1) is writing worth it (2) where (or what genre of writing) do I find myself, (3) will I even find an audience for my work,(4) and what strategies should I employ to keep myself determined on working? However, upon reading WritersMarket.Com and WritersDigest.com it made me say to myself that; "this path doesn’t seem so dark anymore." When I explored Writer’s Digest.com I explored most of its pages, but the page that struck me the one about Freelance writing. By considering my work routine, my hobbies, my interests it made me realize that freelance work fits all of these factors the most. I realized that I love working on my own time, managing my own clients, working on small gigs than big writing projects such as novel-writing (at least for the mean time) and being pressured to work at a deadline and deliver high-quality content regularly. I know that these are required in any other writing works out there, but this particular genre makes sure that you do your best with every other work, since if you "don’t get hired for your next gig" CITATION Wrind \l 1033 (WritersMarket.com, n.d.). Upon further thinking, I also realized that I want to learn more about the general topics in life, travel, listen to music, explore other cultures, and these are things that a freelance writer usually does. In terms of audience, freelance writing can also touch base with more people (quantity and diversity) as compared to other writing genres CITATION Wrind \l 1033 (WritersMarket.com, n.d.). This is because freelance writing gigs make sure that your works are published and read all throughout the web. I do know that small gigs like these are very rarely recognized and remembered in the general population, since most of the time it’s the "big works" - such as novels, scripts, and memoirs - that people remember. But knowing this didn’t bother me, upon reading topics...