When Age Grants You Freedom, Don’t Sell It Cheap
When you have less of it left, what’s your time worth?
I could probably make more money
I mean, I do okay. My monthly online writing income varies between coffee money and designer shoe money, with a few spectacular bumps and some fairly pitiful dips.
I got half of a book advance this year, which paid off a car, so that’s nice. But it’s a good thing I don’t have to depend on writing to keep body and soul together.
And for a long time I’ve felt kind of — I don’t know, guilty? Feeble? Half-assed? — about that. Like a poseur rather than a pro. In Western culture, especially American culture, money is the single inarguable measure of success. Therefore it is to be sweated after and hustled for. If I’m not, am I just farting around?
It’s not that there aren’t opportunities. According to the missives that land in my inbox, I could be writing white papers, ad copy, corporate blog posts, and/or copyediting for THIS much money (especially if I sign up for the course that’s a surefire path to success).
I could write more freelance pieces and pitch them to magazines and other outlets. I actually do that from time to time — when the impetus hits me and I think I have something saleable. And…
