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Am I An Asshole For Writing For Pennies?
Reflections from the edge
The question was bound to come up at some point.
The ultimate question. The inevitable question.
The question that was written all over my partner’s face everytime she saw me pounding the keys like an unsatisfied ape in front of yet another online writing platform* draft page.
The question that just got ten times more real in January, a month that made the recent dip in the stock market look like a little divot in the road.
It was bad enough when I was pounding the keys like an ape for $150 per month. Back then when we writers thought we had a lot to complain about.
Price of groceries. Electricity bill. Mortgage. Shit that $150 per month could barely chip away at. If anything, it teased you with the illusion that your efforts weren’t in vain.
Is writing my only job? Of course not. I tutor math and English to children with special needs. But I’ll be lucky to work 30 hours per week doing this, and I left my city council job due to the long commute.
I also told myself I would make up for it by writing more and tutoring more. But a…
