My unfair advantage as an online writer.
I’m a 21-year-old girl. I recently quit college, and I’m not employed.
Save the sad eyes, that is a good thing for me.
I recently discovered (even though it has always been right there) that this is my unfair advantage as an online writer; nothing competes with writing for my time.
I have seen a few articles illustrating the struggles of writers who have day-time jobs, kids, and other responsibilities. They have so much on their plate that they barely have time to write.
I, on the other hand, can write as much as I want from morning to evening with a few hours’ breaks to do basic chores and other daily activities.
It challenged me to do more.
The possibility of a writer out there who has a 9–5 and at least one kid helped me realize that I am doing so little to develop my writing career as a full-time freelancer.
I am a budding writer; it is at most five months since I identified as a freelance writer, which makes it so much better. I have a lot of time to learn, practice, and eventually achieve my dreams doing the one thing I am passionate about.
I have wasted a lot of time in the past because I had no idea what the next steps were in my life or took too much time to figure out where to go from a certain point.
I spent a lot of my high school life moving on autopilot, following a system that dictated my next steps for me.
When a system could no longer direct me, I spent at least three awkward years trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing and what should happen next.
After high school, I joined university to pursue a Bachelor of Education in Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
If you asked why, at first, I’d tell you because I had always loved Physics (I did), and it looked like the next best place to go.
That was true at the time, and perhaps that’s where I was supposed to be at the time because in trying to find my meaning in all of it, I eventually landed where I am now.
Did I want to become a lecturer? No. An engineer? I mean, that seemed cool. I remember picturing my (non-existent) baby girl bragging that her mama is an engineer, and it felt right.
The more I searched for the meaning in what I was doing, the more I wanted out.
I didn’t know what to do next, and that scared me a lot, not as much as staying and doing something that wasn’t serving me anymore.
I remember deciding to quit school after a morning run and declaring my insanity right at that moment.
I never went back on my decision.
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what next. I always thought I’d take up the same course online again. I liked studying online, which I first experienced during the lockdown.
I didn’t know I’d end up living a different trajectory altogether. I didn’t know I’d get to realize the only appealing thing about that course was the sustainable income if I got employed and a certain level of respect in social circles.
It would be a soulless trajectory, though, and I knew that.
After spending several months stuck and receiving weird looks from almost everyone who heard of my choice, I eventually landed on my saving ground.
I had a friend making good money on Fiverr as a writer, and I thought, why not?
I wasted a lot of time on that and many more content mills. Skipping the boring details, I wasted more months being an academic writer and receiving peanuts and unfulfilled promises of payment for hours of work.
Till then, I hadn’t fully recognized that I was slowly entering the writing realm. I was always looking for the next best thing that will give me a fulfilling life.
Fast forward to May when I first identified as a freelance writer and started being intentional towards achieving set out goals as an online writer.
I have always thought it weird how it took me years to help realize my passion, even though I have always been a writer.
I wrote my thoughts, emotions, and creative pieces all the time when I was bored in class in high school, and I received feedback that I was gifted.
How it took me more soul-sucking years to figure that out, I will never understand.
I, however, do not regret all the years I wasted being non-productive because they led me here. They helped me find something that would give meaning to my time and build the confidence to share my musings with the world on the internet.
Those awkward days, even though I didn’t realize it then, brought me to this trajectory; a more fulfilling life trajectory, and every day I realize just how much of an opportunity I have in my hands.
To top it all off, I have the least responsibilities a 21-year-old girl (turned today) can have.
And I am going to make the most out of my precious time.
Happy writing/reading!
