by Writing Workshops Org Admin
5 years ago
When I started falling asleep every day at my desk a few months after beginning my first adult job in Los Angeles, I knew something was wrong. I was depressed, and it didn’t take long to figure out why—I wasn’t writing.
I received my MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2014, and a few months later, I was in LA writing captions and subtitles for TV and film. The job quickly bored me, as there wasn’t room to share my voice and thoughts creatively. I’d gotten an MFA with the intent of becoming an author, and I knew that would take time. Until then, I couldn’t continue working as a captions editor. I had to figure out a way to make writing a full-time career.
I turned to Pinterest, where I discovered articles that introduced me to freelance writing. Before then, no one had told me that freelance writing existed or that it was a viable job option. Once I started researching freelance writing, it seemed the world conspired to make it happen. A friend introduced me to her boss, who had an online magazine, and I began to write for it. This part-time gig sent me to red carpets to interview celebrities and resulted in my pieces getting picked up by Huffington Post.
I left LA in June 2015 and moved in with my parents for a few months until I had enough work to equate to a full-time career. My hard work paid off. Within three weeks, I was making a full-time salary as a freelancer. I’d even scored a long-term gig with Oyster.com, which is owned by TripAdvisor.
When I moved to Dallas in September 2015, I worked between 40-60 hours per week, writing for a variety of outlets on different subjects such as travel, parenting, social issues, dating, beauty, and entertainment news. Over the next two years, I quickly realized that I preferred travel writing and articles about social issues. I took chances and quit freelance gigs that paid too little or weren’t in the subject field that I enjoyed. My goal was to write every day about things that brought me joy.
By 2017, I was writing a lot more travel articles for Oyster.com, and it caught sight of a public relations company. They invited me on a press trip to visit their hotel client. A press trip is a free trip in which everything is paid for—flights, food, drinks, and activities—so that the travel writer can experience the destination and ultimately write about it in publications. I jumped on the chance, flew to Florida, and enjoyed five days of beaches, boating, helicopter adventures, and so much more
After that first press trip, I trimmed away all the jobs that didn’t deal with travel writing and expanded my pitches to other notable travel magazines and websites. From 2017 to 2019, I went on press trips all over the world, including Serbia, Switzerland, Japan, Thailand, Mexico, the Caribbean, Canada, and Israel. At these destinations, I visited ancient cities, gave elephants baths, drove Rolls Royce cars, scuba dived on the best reefs, relaxed in hot springs, danced on private yachts, had relaxing massages by local healers, and ate Michelin-star meals.
My experiences in these destinations appeared in a wide range of noteworthy publications like Travel + Leisure, Architectural Digest, Fodors, Lonely Planet, Bustle, The Daily Beast, Elite Daily, Roadtrippers, Culture Trip, Hotels.com, TravelPulse, VICE, D Magazine, Texas Highways Magazine, LA Travel Magazine, plus many more.
I now work about 30 hours a week as a full-time freelance writer, which is perfect. In 2018, I finally became the published and award-winning author of a book titled Secrets of the Casa Rosada. When I started freelancing in 2015, no one told me how to write an article, find freelance gigs, create a contract, or explained standard rates. I learned most of it on my own, which is why I’m offering freelance writing classes at Writing Workshops Dallas.
Some people in the freelance industry believe that new writers must figure everything out on their own if they’re going to be successful. I don’t believe that. I have five years of experience and knowledge, and I’m happy to share it with those who want to live creatively and free as a freelance writer. My freelance writing career paid off for me, as it can for you. It just takes time and investment.
