Confessions After Writing for 92 Days Straight

It gets easier — but you’ll still face hurdles

As the hot summer months come to an end, I penned a new article for 92 days in a row. When I started my personal challenge to write every day, I thought it would be fun. Now, this has turned into an obsession.

I won’t lie. There were a few days last month when I thought about taking a day off. That didn’t happen, so my writing streak is still running.

I’m trying to work it in my schedule to write an additional article so I can take a break one day. But we’ll see if I ever do this.

Last month was an interesting month as other events popped up in my daily schedule.

August Was a Hot and Hectic Month

“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.” — Deepak Chopra

Last month was a little crazy. My kids started online school — I’m a stay at home dad since I work from home. So I have to keep my kids on schedule and help them with any tech issues they face and make their lunch. Then my wife started going back to work three or four days a week along with Zoom calls on the other days.

Then a tree fell down at one of my rentals as Hurricane Laura hit land. Fortunately, no one was hurt. I’m dealing with the insurance company and waiting to see how this turns out.

A few weeks ago, I talked to my boss since I have a day job when I’m not writing. He told me I was let go, which I knew was coming after sitting in on recent calls with other members of the section. I still work now until the end of the month. Then I will have occasional assignments from time to time since I’m the only one in the company that can do the job that I do.

So I needed to find other sources of money to replace the income I’m losing.

Applied for Other Writing Gigs

“You fail only if you stop writing.” — Ray Bradbury

Since mid-summer, I have thrown my name in for other writing jobs. A few weeks ago, I mentioned the one job that was a complete disaster.

Over the past week, I have had two other callbacks and I’m working through the details now. For one company I submitted a draft article on cryptocurrencies as part of the interview process.

This company is looking for part-time as well as full-time work. Without giving them a definite answer, I want to see how much work I need to do since there will be a lot of research for the articles. I do have a good feeling that I’ll eventually transition from part-time to full-time work.

The other company, I’m waiting for them to contact me since they want to do a Google hangout. I was never given a date for the meeting, so this is still up in the air.

No One Said Writing Would Be Easy

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” — Stephen King

Even though I wrote every day for the past month, my earnings are still up there with others who made over $100. My August income was actually lower than my July income by $9. I didn’t come close to breaking that covetous $1,000 mark. I’m sure I will one day, but I’ll need an article or two that goes viral.

A few publications rejected my work which I understand. Sometimes my topic isn’t what they’re looking for at the time.

The best thing is to submit your work to another publication. You should have a back-up in case you get rejected the first time.

Don’t take it personally, it’s just business.

Despite the other writing job(s), I plan to continue writing on Medium. I enjoy the platform as well as meeting other writers.

What I Plan to Do Differently in September

“Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets planning.” — Thomas Edison

Planning for September is a tough one, but I plan to put more thought into my article selection. I have an idea of the topics that do well for me and will try to write an article or two on new topics.

I currently research what is trending on Google as well as Twitter. These are both reliable tools to see what the general public is searching for.

One of these days, I’m sure my article will take off, or possibly one of my older ones will resurface and crack the algorithm. A little bit of luck goes into hitting the top ranks.

How was your month of August?