Time's running out...

One of my New Year's resolutions was to snag a national, paying freelance gig. Actually, in the optimistic haze of a few vodka tonics and some champagne, I think I vowed that I would snag two paying freelance gigs by the end of the year.

Well, it's mid-November - and so far - zero. And I have no one to blame but myself. I wish I could say it wasn't for lack of trying. But it wasn't. I did a lot of stuff for The Reader (a weekly news magazine based out of Omaha), my full-time job put a ton of work on me. And for almost two months, I've dedicated my Saturday's (with the exception of two) to preparing my uncle's house for sale (he died at the age of 90 in August...he is survived by his mother, who turned 109 this year).

But ... I AM published. I have two Blogs going - two more than I did last year. It's not paid, but it's an international gig.

Still, there's no sugar-coating this. I will not likely meet this goal. I don't have time right now to constantly chase down freelance gigs. I'll have more time in January. It did get me thinking about the nature of writing. Like a career in music, you ultimately wish you can make a comfortable living by doing what you love. But in terms of securing a freelance gig, I had no beliefs this would pay my rent. I just wanted a publication to tell me that my work is good enough for someone to pay for its content. It means that there's some legitimacy to it. After all, any plebian can start a Blog and rail against something or translate their diary (or journal for guys) to an HTML format.

But even that is a grey area. Are we trained to believe that the only way to make our stuff legitimate is for someone to pay for it? That sounds sort of whorish. Are you trying to tell me that some of the articles in magazines like Good Housekeeping or even Rolling Stone are immediately better than some of the best blogs out there because the writer is receiving a paycheck?

The answer is obviously "Hell no." But a paying freelance gig (especially national) remains one of the most elusive goals for most writers. And no doubt, I'll be resubmitting this goal as a resolution for 2006.


Current list of favorite words...
- Unsavory - (longstanding joke from the Jim Rome show - the producer stated any email with 'unsavory' in the subject like stood a greater chance of getting read.)
-stentorian
- taint
- cauldron