Set Back and a Pep Talk

I can’t tell you how excited I am that the last few minutes of this month are ticking away and that a fresh, new start will soon be in front of me. After what began as a whirlwind and dream-like beginning to my fledgling writing career, I am (almost) back to square one. Some very unforeseen and unfortunate happenings have left me with just one client, but I guess this whole thing is pretty much feast or famine.

Early in the month, I learned that work that I was writing monthly (and that paid great) would be ending – there was a change in format resulting in no writing needs for the client at all. Then, just this week, the newspaper where my column resides went bankrupt. I don’t really care that I won’t be compensated for the last few columns in print; I just want to continue to write the darn thing. This has not been my month at all.

We’ve been unimaginably busy these last two weeks and I haven’t had much of a chance to pull myself up and forge into the pavement pounding work that I probably should have had to do at the beginning of this endeavor. I’ve tried little bits here and there, but no more than a few stolen moments at a time. While lots of things seem to be on the horizon for the fall with both new and old clients, it looks as if it will be one bone-dry summer. I’ll have a lot of free time to spend generating work!

There’s one thing that good about all this though and I’m not sure if it’s denial or just knowing in my heart that this writing gig for meant for me. I am disappointed, but I am not deterred. I fully intend on still making it – whatever that means for me. These last six months have been so personally rewarding that I just can’t let it all go. I have received such great feedback from editors, family, friends, acquaintances and strangers, my column must have struck a cord somewhere. And the bottom line is that I want this; for me, for a career, for our future. Thanks to all of you that continue to encourage me – it’s working!

So, as I write my 75th blog post, I begin again.